Snapchat To Snap Your Startup? Yes!

The fact that Social Media is a powerful force to reckon with, is well known. A few weeks go, at Startup Hyderabad, we discussed how to manage your personal digital brand. (in case you missed it, you can read about it here) But we also know that Social Media is a tried and tested avenue for branding and promotions. The usual suspects like Facebook, Instagram & Twitter, to name a few, are the top and obvious choices when it comes to promoting your startup and/or product. Have you given any thought to how ‘Snapchat’ can help you in this very regard?

Snapchat as a communication tool is considered by many to be in its infancy stage.  When it was first launched, Snapchat was embraced by teenagers and college students more than anybody else. While, this segment continues to be a significant demographic for Snapchat, the service has come a long way. I’ve been following the Snapchat story with some interest for a while now. For starters, I find the concept and business idea, to be nothing short of genius. For a little over a year now, Snapchat has been steadily getting more and more celebrities on its platform. From huge social media stars like Kim Kardashian to more local ones like MTV VJ Bani, everybody wants to share on Snapchat. The celebrity interest started when Snapchat launched the ‘Snapchat Stories’ feature: post video/image snippets that are active for multiple views over 24 hours after which the content disappears. Today, many products and companies are starting to use these features as a tool for promotion. And this is working great for  Snapchat, which was always known as a communication platform for 18-34 year olds. If companies can now successfully use this platform for promotion and brand awareness, this strengthens Snapchat’s credibility significantly.

Our home-grown startups, read on to find out different ways of using Snapchat to your benefit.

1. Have a Product? Showcase it on Snapchat. You can use Snapchat to send eye catching pictures and product videos. Let’s say you have a subscription startup, you can use Snapchat to showcase various products. Create a story, and make it appealing so your customers want what you have on offer, now. This particular concept was hugely successful for Taco Bell, when they used Snapchat to their benefit. Have a service to offer? Create a story on the top features of your service and how customers can benefit. For example, If  had a cab-sharing startup, I’d have compelling and real-time stories from my drivers and their day.
2. User Engagement. This reason takes the cake. You can employ various forms of user or customer engagement via Snapchat. You can answer real time questions that customers might have about your product with a quick video story. If customers have specific questions about your product, they can send in a video with the product and you can answer with a video explanation. This is perhaps the easiest form of engagement, because: No Ad’s. At all. It’s just you and the customer. You can also have customer send in Snaps and stories with them using your product or services.
3. Honest Content Creation. Think about it, a tweet, a blog or even Instagram text requires some amount of planning or skill to engage. A video from 1-10 seconds? Not so much. Plus the fact the content disappears in 24 hours (with the Story feature) makes you a little bold and confident. Having said that, one must also acknowledge that this short lived content is very powerful and goes a long way in building loyal customers.
4. Promotions. Like every other Social Media, the possibilities of promoting your product are endless with Snapchat. All it takes is to be a little creative. The perfect example of this is Grubhub (read how they mastered Snapchat here). Promotions can take on various channels, you can have product launch promotions. Show customers a ‘behind the scenes’ story. Have someone prominent take over your Snapchat account for a small period. Basically everything you can think of with other social media.
5. Increase footfall at conferences and trade shows. A live story of your experience at the trade show to customers snapchatting about their booth experience for some goodies are all excellent ways to increase footfall.

Word of caution, you may not see instant results on Snapchat, but perseverance will surely pay off. Also, if your company specifically deals with a customer demographic that is perhaps way beyond the 18-34 years, Snapchat may not be the best choice. Go ahead, give Snapchat a whirl and let us know how it works out for you! If have any interesting insights, we’ll find a way to share them with our readers.

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