Chances are you have probably heard of Snapchat, if not don’t worry. Snapchat is a popular picture messaging app with a very creative twist that makes it stand out. Every message and picture sent is automatically deleted after a set period, a maximum of 10 seconds. What this enables, is a way of communicating in a quick and almost impulsive way.
When Snapchat was launched in 2011 it rapidly grew in popularity especially with younger people, an audience that is notoriously hard to reach. What this means for businesses is that if used in the correct way, it would be a fantastic opportunity for marketing a younger audience, but, what is the correct way?
Snapchat is all about being in the moment, and being a fun way of visually communicating, and trying to keep this, while promoting your business needs some creativity. The first step is to get people to snap you; this then gives you their username which lets you snap them back. A New York based yogurt shop called 16 handles came up with an ingenious way of getting their customers to snap them.
The process was simple; send a snap to 16 handles of you tasting any flavour of their yogurt. 16 Handles would then snap you back with a random coupon code, which needs to be opened in store, at the register because when opened, it is automatically deleted. This method is a great way of giving back to those that shared their username. The idea of offering discounts varying from 16% to 100% off their order simply by sending a snap drew a huge amount of attention.
Some companies such as Taco Bell simply posted their username on other social media channels and have since drawn a huge following on Snapchat. Taco Bell is a great example of how companies can use a visual instant messaging to its fullest by promoting future products first to their Snapchat followers.
All this means, is that there is no ‘correct way’ to communicate via Snapchat, to have such a simple method would steal away some of the ingenuity that it provides. The best way to use it, is in a way that reflects the fun and passion of you and your business, using a platform that embraces creativity, who knows how to do that better that you?
You can find out more about Snapchat here.