I’m a borderline millennial and all my friends don’t use Snapchat at all. They keep looking at me like I’m crazy when I mention it sometimes. When I do mention it, they keep telling me why I’m fussing all about it. 😒
It’s a weird world that we live in.
Now that Snapchat is going public and they see the valuation since the press is eating it up, they are now asking me about it and surprisingly, a lot of them already downloaded it, though I’m sure they’d stop using it right after signing up.
Snapchat isn’t really the easiest thing to understand for older people and that’s just the “idea” of disappearing messages, not yet considering how they get around the UI of the app, which by itself is confusing for most people when they first use it.
They’ll have a harder time understanding how this is even a social network since it doesn’t have a publicly visible “Follow” system, which is one of the staples for the other networks. They probably just have a couple friends on it if they browsed the contacts list, which is already a reason to not even “try” the app for most users.
Once you uncover the beauty of the app and it’s network though, you’ll start to see how fun it is as well as it’s power and value.
Everybody knows that Facebook tried to buy it off back then and now, it’s on an all out war to kill it by blatantly copying “Stories” and putting it on Messenger and Instagram. I’m not hating on Facebook. Just stating a fact. (I’m pretty sure Instagram Stories will work better than Messenger Stories though.)
With all those things going against it, why should you still use Snapchat?
Why Use Snapchat?
There are multiple reasons why I recommend getting on Snapchat, no matter how old you are but I do change up my answer depending on who I’m talking to.
As an entrepreneur, I think you really should give Snapchat a chance. Why? Here’s why.
1. Unique Perspective
You can show a different perspective on Snapchat Stories. It feels more personal as you show people how you see it from your point of view. Your followers typically see your pretty photos on Instagram, text thoughts on Twitter or just a picture of you and your bae on Facebook.
Snapchat shows a different, unedited side of you and that connects you better to your followers.
2. Self Expression
Draw cool stuff. Make cool shit. Create.
You can do lots of creative things with the tools you have there. From basic drawing, to sticking emoji’s to moving things, world filters, heck, even “cutting” an image of your friend’s face and making that into an emoji that you can stick anywhere in your Snaps.
As an entrepreneur, this is a creative outlet and it’s one that I use to express ideas I have in mind, or at the least, I can do mindless shit on it during a break, so I can refocus on the tasks that are coming up.
Check out CyreneQ on Snapchat and how she creatively uses the tools offered by the platform.
3. Self Development
There are a lot of ways you can use Snapchat for self development. For me, it’s a way to motivate and hold myself accountable.
I’ve always had trouble waking up early. I’m writing this now at 5 am. I tell myself that I have to Snap it so I can prove it. It sounds dumb, I know, but it has worked for me. I want to help inspire the people that see those Snaps as well.
I also do challenges to improve certain aspects of what I do. I just finished one challenge and there’s an upcoming challenge on the way.
4. Real Time Stories
As an entrepreneur, we’re always going to have our “marketer” side show up in the articles we write. Snapchat Stories opens new marketing opportunities that you can make use of for your business.
Increased your brand recognition and loyalty by connecting to your customers. Convert better through a richer customer experience by giving them exclusive deals and exclusive content, like how I use it to show behind the scenes of my startup.
It’s the sign of the times. People are changing, so are their needs.
Who would have thought 10 years ago that videos that can only be viewed in 24 hours would be good for marketing?!
5. Personal Connection
Your Snaps are tailored directly to the recipient and that makes your followers feel special. Your Snaps cannot be forwarded nor shared. It’s just between you and the person you are sending it to.
For your company, it gives you the ability to form a personal connection with customers. Can you do that effectively on another platform? I doubt it.
Though a lot of influencers and companies show other content types or promote more creative videos they make through their computer, for the most part, your Stories can be viewed in their unedited glory and that gives an authentic feel, which makes you relatable.
6. Engaged, Loyal Userbase
There are over 100 million active users on Snapchat all around the world. There are 7 billion views on Stories each day.
7 freakin’ billion views from rabid fans waiting for your content that are highly engaged.
Do your Twitter followers pay attention to your tweets? Do you see the fluctuating views on your Facebook Page? Do you get comments on Instagram that aren’t from bots?
Start engaging people on Snapchat and in no time, you’ll see that it really is different from the other social networks out there.
Look at Chris… Inadequate Chris.
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Kudos to Mr. Chris. 👍🏼
7. Mobile Only
The main weakness and possibly, the main advantage it has is that it’s exclusively available for mobile devices.
I don’t know if they will ever release a web app or a desktop app. They probably won’t, unless they add a killer “phase 3” for their app. (Phase 2 = when they released Snapchat Stories. It was a killer feature that changed the game.)
The good thing with mobile only is that you already know that more people are now “living” in their apps. The usage of apps has grown so significantly over the past years and it’s stupid to still ignore it. Snapchat knows it’s audience well because of this and it enables them to give more features that work for you and your followers.
It also challenges you to work with what you have and that leads to some really creative, awesome art.
Since we’re talking about Art and how you can make really awesome things with the tools given, take a look at how Geeohsnap uses Snapchat. Tell me how you can’t create anything because you’re “limited” because once you see this guy’s work, you’ll be blown away.
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8. Demographics
Once you hop on, you already know the demographic that’s already settled in there.
Primarily 13-34 year olds. Oh, and it’s getting older each day.
Your competition is already involved and the earlier you start, the sooner you reap the benefits.
Much like with any platform, you need to invest. Time, money and so on but potential losses at this point is insignificant. Waiting just makes you more vulnerable. Just do it.
Just Do It
There are definitely things going against Snapchat, from it’s not so easy to pick up UI, to having a limited follow system and even the current crop of copycats, but I still think that you need to give it a good go. Invest a month, really try to learn it and see what happens.
The audience and engagement alone will be different and the time you spend on it won’t be that much. You can also export the Snaps and upload them to Instagram Stories if you really have to.
Yes, ephemeral marketing is a thing now and you need to hop on board. Stop putting it off and just do it.
Here’s what you need to do:
1. Based on the stuff I wrote above, pick one thing that you’d like to do, either to challenge yourself, improve a skill, reach your market, etc.
2. Create an account and download the app
3. [wp_colorbox_media url=”https://denseymour.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Snapchat-Dennis-Seymour-Philippines.jpeg” type=”image”]
4. Tell me what you’ll be using Snapchat for. I’d love to hear from you. 🦄
