Snapchat is a newish player on the block, centered on chatting with people via photos. The photos, however, are only visible for some time (unless, of course, you take a screenshot.) Many businesses have picked up on Snapchat marketing, and it seems like if you do it right, it’ll provide you with a whole new target audience.

The Ghost of Photos Past

Engagement Is Always Important

Try to talk to your fans instead of at them. Ask their opinion. Once you engage with them and are able to squeeze answers out of them, you’ll find that your fan-base is made up of loyal followers. Send them a photo of your product or service and ask their opinion: what do they love about it? Request photos from each of them. This way, they’ll feel they’re a part of your brand. This further spurs loyalty – I mean, who wouldn’t want to buy merchandise from a brand that asks its customers’ opinion and actually answers them? Plus, it’s helpful when it comes to market research, too: you’ll be able to conduct surveys with your questions for no cost at all.

Everybody Loves Promos!

Start by showing off just a couple of drops of information on the upcoming promo. Make your fan base excited about what’s to come. Send them promo codes that they can use for a limited amount of time. Or, if you just want to spike their interest, use the tactic of Heineken at Coachella Festival: during their SnapWho campaign, Heineken sent out small clues via Snapchat and prompted people to guess which performers are going to play on a special event in the Heineken House. Every person who guessed right would get admitted to the event and would know when exactly the concert would be starting. Even people who didn’t go to the festival ended up trying to guess who was going to perform.

Heineken’s SnapWho Was a Huge Hit

Content on Another Level

Naturally, Snapchat is all about providing content, too. But why not shake it up a bit by showing another side of your brand to your fans? You probably use all the channels of social media and you post photos daily. With Snapchat, you can make your fan base feel special. Show them photos that they otherwise wouldn’t gain access to on other social media channels. This way, you’ll spur their curiosity, which will provide you with more loyal followers who are just dying to see your brand as an insider.

Each Snap Should Reflect You

You are your snaps. That’s a fact. As a result, be smart about what you post. Try to be genuine, humorous – attributes that people appreciate. Your plan is to make your brand popular. So, use subtle ways to do so! When sending a photo to your fans, hide elements of your brand on the picture. Use your colors in the picture. Or, you can go completely obvious and pop a logo here or there, too. The main point here is that there should be an element in your photo that fans look at and immediately, your brand pops into their mind.

Goofy-Funny Always Goes

Let People Invade Your Snapchat

Well, not anyone, of course! Try to find people who have a lot of followers or fans and are also within your industry (or, at the very least, can be associated with your industry.) Let them “take over” your account for a while – they’ll post the usual things that their fans love and give you free advertisement. It is also a wonderful way to show your fans how multi-faceted your brand is and how easily approachable you are – these elements will further spur loyalty and brand recognition among them.