The Snapchat effect.
People call it that nowadays because everybody’s jumping on the bandwagon now.
Disappearing messages and using them to give updates about your day to your friends and followers.
From Line’s Snow, Instagram Stories, to Facebook Messenger, heck, even Viber has joined in, at least for disappearing messages.
If this disappearing content thing is all new to you or if you have never gotten as to why people even want to consider disappearing content for their social feeds, let alone promote their business, then you should start to pay attention to it now. It’s not going away anytime soon.
Before we continue, let’s get some important things out of the way.
- People out there call this ephemeral marketing. I personally don’t care what you want to call it but it’s important to some people so I’m just stating it here.
- Obviously, there are 2 big dogs in this field. Snapchat and Instagram, mainly for their stories. Facebook Messenger now has it built in and Snow is great in Asia. This post is all about Snapchat but you can certainly use the things you learn here for Instagram Stories.
- I’m not giving you a guide on how to use any of those apps but instead, I’ll be talking about tactics that you can use for your business using Snapchat, which is my preferred platform (if you couldn’t already tell) but I still do use my Instagram account, so I’m no hater.
So, let’s get started.
Why Use Ephemeral Marketing?
Let’s churn out a short meaning for ephemeral marketing. Off the top of my head:
Content that’s here now, gone in 24 hours.
It’s basically marketing through apps that give you short term platforms to store images and videos for your followers to consume.
It’s like “Live” video but not so tedious to sit through. It’s almost real time but in short bite videos. Is is better than streaming?
For me it is, as the mass market today will have less time to consume content. Capturing attention is the name of the game. Live streaming is just too long for my taste and in most cases, there are a ton of parts that should really be edited out but since it’s live, you have to sit through it.
Things happen fast nowadays. Content is everywhere and saving content isn’t always ideal in today’s world.
So, why would you, a business, be generating content that’s just there for 24 hours? What’s the bloody use?
- You’re used to Facebook pages where you share content and it’s there forever.
- You’re used to Instagram where you put a highly edited image and it’s there forever.
- You’re used to using Twitter where you tweet out a bunch of stuff and it’ll always be there forever.
Yeah, they are there “forever” but does being there forever really have any use?
When was the last time you actually looked for your old content on Twitter? Did people actually see your posts on your Facebook page? Are people going back on your Instagram account to like them all?
See the point?
A majority of the time, the content you put out there isn’t really seen again nor would they always be relevant in this fast-paced era.
Snapchat is obviously the leader in this space. Instagram is practically equal to it now though I doubt the video engagement and video views are where they are claiming it to be. Maybe next time but not right now.
How is Snapchat right now in the Philippines?
Here in the Philippines, Snapchat isn’t really being utilized by businesses. I’ve yet to see a brand that’s really competent as to how they use it.
Does that mean that there’s no use? Does that mean that there are no users on Snapchat in the Philippines?
Of course not.
A quick look at the App Store and Playstore stats will show you how many users are downloading it daily and how many users there are on the platform.
Looking at the number of local (pinoy) celebrities on the platform just by using at Google, you can easily see how many Filipinos are really engaged on the platform.
In most cases, it’s being wasted by content creators that are treating Snapchat Stories just like an Instagram account. The usual suspect, posting images with a brand sponsor. That’s it. 😣
There’s a TON of potential if you can think about it, especially if it’s utilized correctly.
But how do you do that?
Snapchat for Businesses in the Philippines
All the following tips I will mentioned below are possible with all types of businesses, large or small. Much like with the other social platforms you’ll just need to commit to it.
1. Build Your Followerbase through Unique Content and Awesome Engagement
So, you have a platform. What do you need to do? That’s right, it’s time to create content.
The bonus? You have a bunch of toys (You can draw, you can attach emoji and make it move, you have filters, etc!!) and a 10 second time limit for each video.
With a combination of videos and photos alone, you have a bunch of options to do. Add the other things, then you can do a plethora of things.
You can create tutorials about your expertise. Say you are running a restaurant, you might want to share some cool recipes or show how to make your special cup of joe. Are you a graphic design company? You can show how to draw and get your audience to follow it.
Another thing you can do it to create unique stories by combining images and videos. Say your restaurant has a mascot. Maybe the mascot lost his way and needs to get back to the restaurant before the day starts. You can create the story of his “challenging” journey back to the restaurant. Mix videos and music with images and funny doodles.
How do you start with that though? Come up with a storyboard. Don’t overcomplicate it. Grab a piece of paper and plan out each “panel” you upload.
- Panel 1 – Image: Mascot + title of the story
- Panel 2 – Video: Mascot walking around then looks at watch
- Panel 3 – Video: Mascot panics and runs for it
- Panel 4 – Video: Mascot runs around like a goof (Speed up Video to make it funnier)
- Etc.
You get the gist of it. It’s really as simple as that! Create honest to goodness content and and stand out from the rest.
Grab some teaser content or export the whole story then upload it to Youtube, Facebook or Instagram. Get some interest from your other already available platforms and funnel them to Snapchat.
Above all else, get them to participate. Ask people to reply to your story or get them to post a reply on another social network (yes, some people jump from different social networks but prefer to reply and share on a single one)
2. Showcase Your Current Products and Upcoming Ones
This is pretty easy. Show them around your restaurant and show off the food. Running a cafe? Show off your different super javas. Running a SaaS (like us?) then show them a demo of the current version or maybe a sneak peak of the upcoming release.
Your followers will feel special and will keep checking back! FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) at work!
3. Exclusive Promotions and Flash Sales
Basically, you can use Snapchat stories to show limited promos and announce flash sales. Why? Because things disappear in a day. These will be exclusive to your followers on Snapchat.
You can mix up your content by combining the tips above then suddenly unveiling a coupon code at the end or maybe the date of the sale.
Even if it’s just a “coupon code” you can still make it fun and creative. That goes a long way in the eyes of your audience.
4. Behind the Scenes and Unveiling Events
Have an event? Part of an outreach campaign to give back to the community? Use Snapchat Stories to show behind the scenes of those events.
You can also partner with a Celebrity and have them take over your account to show your new products or have them do a tour of your backstage. So, again, if you have a restaurant, have a well known food blogger go through the kitchen and show the audience around. Holding a fashion show? Show exclusive videos behind the scenes and have fashion bloggers jump in and takeover the account.
Have a cool party or running a conference or part of a trade show? I think you already get the point. There’s a bunch of content that you can channel your creative juices to and just pump out cool shit.
In other countries, you can take it to the next level by getting a branded Geofilter done. It’s not expensive and it adds to the experience of your followers! I loved it when I had one created and used for a client. Sadly, we can’t use it yet here in the Philippines. Again, it’s cheap and worth it.
As you can see with all the things I mentioned above, there’s an “exclusivity” to the content that you share and that keeps your audience coming back. It’s why this platform’s engagement is off the roof. Through Snapchat, the content you produce just becomes highly engaging.
Here’s What You Need to Do Now
It’s tempting to do all the things I mentioned above but focus on just 1 strategy until you fully understand how to run it.
To maximize your time and experimentation phase, here are the things that I want you to do:
1. Know Your Audience – Who are they and what do they like to see? Tailor your content to them. Where are they? Find them and connect with them. Go 1 by 1 if you have to and in no time, you’ll grow your followers.
2. Plan ahead – This is the most obvious thing. You need to plan ahead when it comes to building a story. You can start with sharing product shots and demos. From there, you’ll be able to learn the ins and outs of the Snapchat Stories platform. That’s the time you can start with more elaborate stories. Try 1 story per week for your business and mix up images and videos. Ask your viewers to contribute and engage with your account.
3. Promote your stories in your other accounts – Yes, you can actually SAVE your stuff and your whole stories. You can then show them off in your other social accounts and even on your site. You can share teasers so they can join you on Snapchat. You can even share your Snapcode. Tell them about your promos and let them know that it’s the only way to get the codes. Be creative and they will love it.
4. Test, Tweak and Optimize – Tracking and analytics is the hard part with Snapchat but it’s pretty straight forward. Views, replays and screenshot details. It’s stupidly simple. Just keep trying things and commit that this is a cycle that will keep rolling.
Oh and number 5! Don’t forget to add me on Snapchat. [wp_colorbox_media url=”https://denseymour.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Snapchat-Dennis-Seymour-Philippines.jpeg” type=”image”]. Say Hi and snap it to me. You probably know how to scan Snapcodes, if not just add me by username (@denseymour)
Talk to you soon. 🦄