Are you interested in exploring ways of how to reach out to a younger audience? Have you ever thought of using in your business? As has become increasingly popular in recent years, communication via tech devices has elevated to a completely new level. This is where walks in! Snapchat visual messaging Snapchat is, as you may have heard, one of the currently most popular social (messaging) platforms which enables a quick and efficient communication around the world. Many of us, especially the middle age generation, would shrug their shoulders to this and say “Meh!”.¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Snapchat However, the influence of Snapchat can easily be understood by looking into its achievement happened within only three years. Becoming the , Snapchat has been successfully increasing the number of its users on a monthly basis. In September 2016, for example, the number of Snapchat users grew to , with . Imagine that! Even Facebook saw Snapchat as the potential money booster which resulted in a offer unfortunately (or fortunately) refused by the Snapchat founders. mainstream messaging platform in 2016 150 million active users 9.000 snaps shared per second $3 billion How Snapchat Works The first thing to keep in mind about Snapchat is the limited duration of the posts. A posted video or a photo will be visible to others only for a few seconds. Users can choose the duration from 1 to 10 seconds, but bear in mind that it will disappear forever after its duration finishes. This is also a challenge for marketers — how to gain attention in only 10 seconds? Furthermore, Snapchat filters are the most popular feature at the moment (even Facebook is now copying/pasting this), and the three editing tools enable users to design fun posts and grab some quick attention. Filters include geographical location, time, speed, temperature, colours and interesting face changers. There is also a pencil with a variety of colours that help users create an interesting piece of art. Of course, what type of posts would there be if there wasn’t an option for writing something on top of it? Therefore, personalising a message with the tool “Type” is another interesting tool to use. Messaging has never been so much fun so far, and this is why users can find an option to chat with friends without sending photos or videos. This, just like everything else on Snapchat, has a limited duration, too. Once a user leaves the chat the message disasters unless saved. So, how to start using Snapchat for your digital activities? Snap Your Event Up One of the best ways to use Snapchat is to create and trigger audience’s interest. Streaming a live events gives an opportunity for others, who are not there, to be a part of the happenings from their living rooms. This is especially interesting if you’re planning an event, or if your business is all about events. Imagine posting interesting peaks into a live event that others can’t see — not even the people who are there. Doesn’t that sound like a special treat for those who follow you on Snapchat? It certainly does. live events Take , for example. When , sharing live videos and photos from the red carpet, they counted 12 million views! What did MTV do? It offered an exclusive view on the favourite celebrities during the popular event. Not only did this help them promote their event, but also helped them to be five steps ahead of all other media which would eventually inform about the event’s happenings a few minutes or hours later (via social media and news). MTV 2015 VMA awards MTV ran Live Story on Snapchat Promote Yourself Live (and Smart!) Snapchat is currently one of the most efficient ways to sell a business online. Forget about those ineffective ads, irritating bragging and repulsive ways of showing off. Snapchat gives a unique opportunity to actually say and turn this into a personalised advertising for a business. Hey, let’s play! One of the latest examples I’ve found is the promotion of . Users were given a Terminator filter to lay it over their pictures or videos and make themselves look like the movie hero. Of course, the greatest impact on s_napchatters_ was made by Arnold Schwarzenegger himself, who used the filter on his own picture and promoted it all over social media. The idea of a live promotion through a fun and day-to-day communication with your customers indeed gives a food for thought, wouldn’t you agree? Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator: Genisys movie Convince and Convert the Right Talent Looking for a young and fresh talent to join your company? Well, maybe Snapchat can help you with the recruitment process. One of the latest example with smart and fun Snapchat recruitment is done by the American multinational mass media corporation . Promoting diversity and searching for a talent while, AOL focused on recruiting more millennial women in the corporation. So they thought of . The first promoted was , a program that invests in startups run by women. The other one was a footage of AOL employees who were interviewed live for the Snapchat campaign. AOL launching two 10-second videos and Live Stories #BuiltbyGirls While the overall campaign also activated on Twitter and Instagram, because Snapchat reaches over 40 percent of the millennial audience globally, we felt that this was the best avenue for talking to millennials in a meaningful way and showcase to them what it’s like to work here at AOL. — Monica Cepak, AOL Senior Manager Marketing The campaign increased the number of application by 18 percent, increased in brand awareness for 4%, reached . 8 million users and generated 17 million views Snapchat on WordPress Of course, we want you to and reach out to your followers via blogs. All you have to do is use Snapcodes. connect your Snapchat with your WordPress Log into your Snapchat account and download the zip file, extract it on your computer and upload two QR codes, and to your WordPress media library. Add the Snapcode in a sidebar, an image widget in the footer or choose other paces of your WordPress website. snapcode.svg snapcode.png You can do the other way, by using a plugin . Activate it and create a widget. Snapchat Snapcode Widget So, now that we are aware Snapchat is the most successful app on the market at the moment and that the real-time communication has changed the way we communicate, it’s a good thing to start thinking about how to implement Snapchat into your digital strategy. The so called has changed the way we see our devices. They have now become more personal to us, so why not use all this to create a fun Snapchat activity for your business triumph? post-PC era This article was originally published at Avalon blog .
