Strong social media followings are important for businesses, but most companies choose to apply their efforts only to the most popular and obvious platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
While those are important, they are also expected.
By sticking only to those social media platforms, businesses are missing out on new, exciting opportunities and audiences.
One of the social media platforms many business pass over, but shouldn't, is Snapchat.
With 4 billion video views every day
Why Snapchat For Business?
In most cases, you're not going to use Snapchat for business the same way you would use Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
If you're primarily posting ads or content to those pages, you're going to find that your standard social media strategy doesn't apply that well to the Snapchat world. That doesn't mean you should ignore the app.
Instead, you need to adapt your strategy to fit what Snapchat can do.
One of the biggest appeals of following a brand on social media is that it can give a customer an inside view of the company and a behind the scenes peak into the creation of their favorite products.
People like to do business with companies with personalities they can relate to and that let them glance into their world. There is no better social media platform for allowing your customers into your day to day life than Snapchat.
One of the biggest benefits of Snapchat is the interaction rate . Unlike Twitter or Facebook where your posts can be easily lost in the algorithm or timeline of the newsfeed, Snapchat users are given the option of what posts they want to see.Because Snapchat posts are full of action, new content, and not direct ads like other forms of social media marketing, people are more likely to watch their favorite brand's Snapchat stories.
This means that users absorb this content much more than they do your ads on Facebook. There is much more attention to your content on Snapchat.
Another benefit of Snapchat is how quickly you can add a post. Because you are uploading pictures or videos of events your company is hosting, days at the office, or other real moments, they don't need to spend hours or weeks in development or editing.
With over 9,000 Snaps added every second, followers don't use Snapchat with the expectation of seeing high-quality, professional ads and images as they might on Instagram or Facebook.
Instead, they want an in the moment, real perspective of the brand.
With a high interaction rate and expectation for real brand moments, the Snapchat social media strategy is unlike any other social media platform.
Growing Your Snapchat Following
As you begin your Snapchat strategy, the first thing you want to do is develop a strong following.
The best way to do so is to advertise to the individuals who already follow you that you have created a Snapchat account and will be posting new, interesting content on the app as well.
Snapchat provides you with a code that can be easily scanned by your audience, making it extremely easy to follow you.
As soon as you set up your Snapchat account, begin sharing your code on your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages, as well as in your newsletter and any other forms of communication you have with your clients, customers and target market.
But, if you want people to follow you, you need to provide them with some kind of incentive.
To get more followers on Snapchat, provide something exclusively through your Snapchat account.
If you sell a product, this could include a discount code exclusive for individuals who follow you on Snapchat.
Or you could promote a Q&A with your brand CEO or other individual with an insight or opinion your followers will want to hear.
Loyal customers love their brands, and they love being as close to the insides of the brand as possible, but they still want incentive to add you to their Snapchat friends.
Deliver Great Content
While an original initiative will make people follow you, it won't make them stick around.
If you're not consistently delivering great content to your Snapchat followers, they delete you as a friend just as quickly as they can use their new discount code.
The best way to deliver great content is to first think about who your audience is, and what kind of information they're looking for.
Do they want videos of someone speaking directly to the camera? Do they want a glimpse at your office? Do they want an exclusive look at an event your company is hosting?
Think about what the Snapchat platform is meant to provide, then think about what your customer would want to see by looking at your Snapchat.
Then create stories that gives the customer what they're looking for.
Get Creative
Snapchat doesn't give you very many boundaries, but it can be difficult to grab attention or see how well your strategy is working.
Unlike Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, Snapchat doesn't have a like, comment, or share feature. So while many people may watch your story, it can be difficult to see how it is resonating with your followers.
Try out some different campaigns and use varying strategies in your photos and videos.
Partner with other companies, give inside looks, and keep developing interesting content, always watching how your following grows or shrinks and use that as a gage for how well your strategy is working.
The connection between a brand and its customer is extremely important, and as social media continues to become bigger and bigger, brands need to use every outlet possible to develop a strong following.
Snapchat provides your audience with an inside perspective of the brand that most customers would never see otherwise.
Don't allow this unique vantage point to go unused.
Conclusion
Remember, provide an incentive to get your customers to follow you, consistently deliver interesting and different content to keep your followers around, and get creative with the strategies you use.
Snapchat is a short-term post provider, so whatever strategy you implement that doesn't work the way you hoped, you can start fresh tomorrow.
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- How to Promote Your Content on Instagram - Entry in our popular "How to promote..." series
* Adapted lead image: 
