Snapchat has been all the rage among younger audiences (think middle school through college) for the last few years. And many businesses made the migration to the popular social media platform, with brands like Taco Bell and Sour Patch Kids gaining huge followings and becoming some of the most popular accounts.
But changes have occurred for Snapchat. It went public as Snap, grew quickly, had to make some layoffs, and recently, made a huge update that got negative reviews from their main users. Snapchat is certainly an app in turmoil, and it’s unclear where it will be even a year from now.
Snapchat revolutionized social media when it started, with it’s innovative technology using lenses and augmented reality to make photo sharing more fun. Their “Stories” feature has since been stolen by Instagram and Facebook. Some of the world’s biggest advertisers have taken risks on the platform and created innovative ad strategies.
It’s still a huge app – 3 billion “snaps” are sent per day worldwide. However, recent changes have lowered daily users, with all but the most passionate fans abandoning the pap for Instagram.
But you might still be wondering if Snapchat is a good choice for your business, and how you can use it to your advantage.
How Can Businesses Use Snapchat?
There are a few ways brands can have a presence on Snap. They are:
A Snapchat Profile: Post videos or images to a story – users have to follow the page directly to see these updates. Allows you to directly engage with your audience.
Snap Ads: Video ads up to 10 seconds long, that appear while a user is watching Stories or Discover. Good for generating brand awareness.
Lenses: A custom animated lens that’s available to all users. Typically used for big product releases (Taco Bell), or movie premiers (X-Men). Raises brand awareness, creates an interactive brand feature, and is shared by users to reach more followers.
Filters: A static image attached to a location’s address and accessed in the camera function. Users could include a filter on their post if they are in your business’ physical location, for example. Is shared by users to reach more followers.
A few years ago, lots of brand were experimenting with their own Snapchat profile, and maybe dabbling in Ads. Today, many brands and influencers that dominated the platform with their organic following have moved to Instagram Stories. Ads are much more common – 400 brands advertised with Snapchat with video in the first few months of 2018.
What Businesses Is Snapchat Useful For?
In March of 2017, 83.4 percent of U.S. mobile phone users aged 18 to 24 years were on Snapchat. If your business is trying to reach that demographic, Snapchat might be a good choice for you.
At this time, creating an organic Snapchat profile is likely not the best use of time. More users are spending their time following brands on other platforms.
However, Snap Ads and filters are still a good way to reach new or existing fans. Snapchat provides very specific audience targeting, so you could reach new followers in an easy way. If the ad seamlessly blends into the existing content, it’s less likely that a user is going to skip past it like they might on Instagram or Facebook.
Filters, for a special event or your business’s physical location, could still be worth investigating if your customers fit the demographic.
Snapchat also works best for visual brands – but that’s not to say you could create an engaging ad for your service-based business. One of the biggest brands on Snapchat is General Electric, who gives their profile over to different employees so they can show off life at the company.
What’s Next for Snapchat?
Only time will tell if Snapchat continues to lose to Instagram, or if it will come back with a vengeance. It’s still a major player in social media, but it’s declining user base could keep dwindling.
If you’re curious about getting on Snapchat, start looking around the app and investigating for yourself. But at the end of the day, there’s no point in starting a social media profile that you aren’t going to maintain. Be strategic with where you send your audience, and your hard work can pay off.