Snapchat: What is it? Who uses it? How can you use it to market your business?

Chances are if you’re not familiar with Snapchat it’s because you were born before 1995 and you don’t wear skinny jeans—at least not in public.

Millennials, however, totally know what Snapchat is and that it’s quickly becoming one of the most important social media apps and photo-sharing tools ever created.

According to Forbes, over 60% of Americans between 13 and 38 are using Snapchat and Bloomberg reports that over 150 million users are active each day—putting other social media platforms like Twitter to shame. Even Facebook pales in comparison with just 8 billion views per day compared to Snapchat’s whopping 10 billion views per day.

What most people might not be aware of is that it’s shown a 12% growth year over year in revenue since 2014 and is expected to earn just shy of $1 billion in 2017.

Here’s what you really need to know about Snapchat:

100% mobile
150 million daily users
73% Millennial user base
10 billion views daily
Worth about $16 billion
Started in 2012

One interesting feature of the app is that the bulk of the content uploaded is intentionally designed to disappear after a brief time, lending to a sense of immediacy and a “what’s happening right now” mindset. Snaps expire in 24 hours and videos auto-delete after just 10 seconds, unless they are saved under a new “Memories” platform, which allows users to rescue content before it disappears forever.

In 2013, Snapchat introduced a new feature called “My Story,” which allowed users to compile “snaps” into chronological storylines that they could then share with their friends. Soon after that, they added a video chat feature and direct messaging functionality.

Since then, Snapchat has become one of the primary ways that Millennials are communicating to one another on their smartphones—using chat, video and photos and sharing their storylines with their friends.

How can you use Snapchat for marketing?

There are 3 ad options available:

Snap ads—10-second vertical video ads
Sponsored geofilters—only available in a location you specify
Sponsored lenses—photo mods users can play with

For the uninitiated, the snap ads are the quickest and easiest to create and share. Once you’ve become acclimated to the app, you might feel confident enough to start creating more advanced marketing vehicles using the geofilters or lenses to get your brand message across.

For example, the geofilters allow you to design and map out where people can use your filter, like at an event. Once your filter is approved by Snapchat, users in that geographic area can use your branded filter to let friends know they were at your event.

Full disclosure: Currently only about 1% of marketers are using Snapchat. But that low participation rate should encourage you to get in on the action early before your competitors discover this untapped marketing tool with the potential to reach an audience of 150 million daily users.

The options available to you are in both the paid and unpaid categories. If you’ve got a budget and money to spend on a campaign, you can create a photo or video ad and serve it up through Snapchat using their ad creation tools.

But if you’re interested in more of a guerilla, under-the-radar approach, there are still opportunities to share your photo ads and short videos via your own branded channel. Or you can create longer videos or “stories” that can be viewed by any of your followers.

Quick tips

Before you invest in an official corporate Snapchat account, it’s probably a good idea to create a personal account first and take some time to get acquainted with how it works. This will save you a lot of time and money in the long run.

Here are some key things to keep in mind:

Set your profile to public.
Update your settings to “Everyone.”
Create a customized Snapcode that makes it easy for users to add you as a friend.
Keep snaps to 15 seconds and stories to under 2 minutes.
Always film and photograph vertically—you don’t want to look like a newbie.

How should you use Snapchat?

Once you’re familiar with the app, we recommend using your account to share coupons, create contests, film background info about your business and introduce key members of your team.

As with all social media marketing, we recommend that you have at least one dedicated person on your marketing team who can monitor your account, respond to followers and interact with them often. Remember: Social media isn’t a megaphone. It’s an open line of communication between your brand and your customers.

If you engage with people and respond to their questions, concerns and comments, you can slowly but surely build a strong brand presence that can be successfully implemented to complement your overall branding and marketing efforts.

So, are you ready to jump into the world of Snapchat? If so, let us know in the comments below.