As we move farther into today’s generation, the use of different social media sites and applications such as Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat are heavily used by younger generations. The technology world is evolving more and more everyday allowing for businesses to use the technology platform as a direct connection to their customers.
Snapchat is a fairly new application used by many people but mostly hits home for the younger crowd. Sometimes it can be hard for businesses to get in touch with younger generations because typically younger people don’t often use web pages like facebook anymore.
The idea of snapchat is to be able to communicate via pictures or videos allowing for friends and family to instantly view whatever you send them. Whether it is selfies, showing where you are, or a picture or video that can spread awareness, snapchat allows for the use of mass communication with the press of a button. Many companies are starting to use snapchat as a social platform for promoting their businesses in a number of different ways.
Filters:
The use of filters is a more recent feature within the application. Filters and lenses allow for customers to add different fun and playful effects to the video or picture they choose to send. Being able to create your own personalized filters or lens allows for customers to be able to become aware of a promotional deal, an important event in the companies history, a new product, ect. while doing it in a interactive way. The idea of using filters can appeal to younger generations allowing to possibly involve and expand a company’s demographic area.
Allowing customers to use filters and lenses does two things. One, it allows for customers to further promote your brand due to the fact that customers can take pictures with the lense or the filter and then send it to people they are friends with on snapchat. Users can also post the filter or lense on their snapchat story which allows for all of their friends to receive access to view your photo and the allowing them to use the filter. Snapchat just came out with a new feature allowing for friends to use filters posted within another story. For example, if I post a story with a lense regarding a promotion done by Three Ring Focus, any of my friends that can view my story, now have access to that specific filter or lense allowing the promotion to spread around the application.
Filters and lenses are great snapchat tools that businesses can use to advertise and promote using interactive and fun means.
Stories:
In addition to filters, Snapchat stories are a quick and easy way to market and promote a business. The idea of a snapchat story allows for everyone that you are friends with to be able to receive videos or pictures of what you are doing throughout the day. A snapchat story lasts 24 hours before it expires allowing friends to visit that story whenever throughout the day. Stories are usually used to spread the word in a quick and easy way. A business can potentially use this feature to promote ‘deals of the day’ or to inform their customers about what the company might be working on. This allows for customers to continue to be in the loop with local companies.
The story feature also allows for customers to ‘swipe up’. This feature allows customers to ‘chat’ with the company which gives customers quick and easy access to get in contact with a certain business.
Streaks:
The idea of snapchat streaks allows for people to strive to reach a certain amount of consecutive days talking. For each day you snapchat a certain person, and they snapchat you back, you receive an emoji next to their name indicating that you both have talked to each other for a consecutive amount of days.
Businesses can do this with their customers by sending them a job they are working on, a new product that just came out, informing them of a ‘deal of the day’. This keeps customers aware with things that are going on with the company and it also allows for a business to potentially strengthen a relationship between the company and the customers.
Stickers:
Stickers is a term that was started on snapchat to be able to add different real life objects or people into snaps or stories. The process is quite simple allowing for anyone to do it. First, take a picture of the object, person, or place you want to be in your snapchat or in your story. Then you can use the scissors tool to cut around the object. The object will go to the ‘stickers’ category where you can easily retrieve it from. You then can take a picture of whatever it is that you want in your snapchat, go to the stickers tab and add the sticker to the new picture. You can modify the sticker allowing it to alter size or orientation.
Businesses can use this to create different digital announcements. For example, if a local restaurant wants to inform their customers about an upcoming deal going on during a football game, they can make a funny snapchat by taking a picture of chicken wings and a pizza, making them stickers, and then adding that onto a picture of the running back carrying the food instead of the football. It is quick way for small businesses to use an ‘easier’ version of photoshop to promote different deals as well as different marketing techniques.
Snapchat is an application that allows for businesses to quickly and easily market and advertise as well as keep in touch with their customer and client base. With features such as filters, lenses, stories, and stickers, Many companies are turning to snapchat to try to target a younger demographic group.