Should my business be using Snapchat?

Snapchat launched in September 2011, and has grown into a social media giant – over 150 million people now use Snapchat to watch over 10 billion videos daily. Don’t be fooled into thinking it’s a craze for the 13-24 year olds either - over half of new signups are over 25. But should you be using it for your business, especially in the Northern Ireland market?

Well, first of all, B2Bs can look away now. Snapchat has every possibility of evolving into a social media channel which is very fruitful for B2Bs – but at the moment the amount of effort you would need to put in doesn’t stack up with the reward potential in Northern Ireland.

B2Cs come a bit closer, it is definitely worth your effort – but only if you are either currently producing regular photo/video content or have the ability to produce photo/video content on a regular basis. If you are going to commit to Snapchat as one of your social media channels, you will need a clear Snapchat social media plan – there is no point doing it by half.

Video content far outstrips photo content in terms of performance, and we wouldn’t recommend Snapchat if you didn’t have the ability or opportunity to at least produce some video content for your followers. The content does not need to be professional by any means, it works best as real life, informational content as opposed to traditional advertising to your followers – think content of your products, employees, your premises or warehouse, products being made, products being shipped, product information, customers in the premises etc.

Snapchat geofilters are also an option for businesses. There are 2 types, sponsored geofilters and on demand geofilters. Sponsored geofilters can cost hundreds of thousands of pounds – but on demand geofilters are affordable for all businesses. You create a Snapchat filter for a specific location and users in that location who take a snap can use your filter to send to friends or put on their story. It depends on the size of the location, and the length of time you want to use it for but Snapchat on demand filters start from $5. Snapchat on demand geofilters have proven to be extremely cost effective for businesses and can be used in a multitude of occasions e.g. if you are a bakery and you have a popup stall in a shopping centre you could create a filter for customers to snap themselves eating cake with your geofilter on that date and broadcast it on their Snapchat.

We could write for days on Snapchat but hopefully this gives you a bit more of an understanding of the social media platform, and ways you can incorporate it into your social media plan. If you would like any more information, please get in touch and we will be happy to help!