SNAPCHAT has been around since September of 2011, but it has recently been gaining more popularity than ever before. Through this exciting social media platform, users may send photos and short videos to one another. While it may seem like a redundant app in the face of texting and Instagram, there are actually numerous reasons for its popularity – all of which make it possible to use Snapchat to increase your website traffic.
You see, Snapchat allows users to send images and videos (commonly referred to as ‘snaps’) to chosen recipients. Users are able to add text, emojis, and images to the picture or video before sending it. Videos and images can be up to ten seconds long. After that timer is up, the media vanishes and is deleted from the Snapchat servers – gone forever.
While this short lifespan may sound a bit counterproductive, it actually makes the snaps seem that much more relevant and important. Because the media will disappear after opening, there is a certain sense of urgency to them. In this case, the old adage of “less is more” truly fits the bill. This is a big part of why millions of people are actively using this app several times a day.
In fact, Snapchat has roughly 60 million total installs, which makes it bigger than Instagram was when it sold to Facebook for $1 billion. Out of all of those 60 million installs, Snapchat has 30 million monthly active users. Out of those active users, 55% (16,500,000 people) use Snapchat on a daily basis. That’s a lot of prospective customers!
You can benefit from this large app engagement by using Snapchat to increase your website traffic.
How Snapchat Stories Work
In order to effectively use Snapchat, it’s helpful to understand how the Story aspect of the app works. It’s pretty simple, and is sure to increase your customer engagement:
- Aim the camera and press the large gray circle to capture an image; press and hold that button to take video
- Edit and add the photo or video to your Story.
- The “x” at the top-left corner lets you delete that Snap and start over.
- The icons on the top right let you add stickers, bits of text, or drawings.
- The bottom left offers a timer that lets you change the length of time (up to 10 seconds) the image will be shown while your customer watches your Story. You can also tap the downward arrow to save the video or image to your device. The “+” lets you add the video or image to your Story.
- Confirm you want to add the Story with the pop-up that will show once you press the “+” to add the image or video.
- Watch your Snap Story to get an idea for what your customers are going to see when they watch your Story. If you change your mind about including it, you can delete it from your Story.
Now, let’s check out the three main ways to use this feature to boost your website traffic:
1. Add Personalization to Your Brand
While blogging is undoubtedly a critical component to any business website, that content isn’t as raw and personal as unedited, short snaps. Snapchat is all about sharing real-life, real-time things that gives your clients and customers a peek into the person behind the brand name.
One of the best ways to increase your website traffic is by personalizing your brand – and Snapchat can help you do exactly that. Give your followers and customers a peek into your life by sharing pictures of your morning coffee, your adorable cat, or a behind-the-scenes glimpse of your office area.
Interact with your business community by getting in touch with them and sharing images with them directly. You can create short videos or fun images (use the drawing feature!) to ask questions related to your latest content, product, or blog post. Ask your followers to snap you back with a comment, or to leave one on your latest blog post. Not only will this increase the traffic to your website, but it will also give you a way to personalize your brand and interact with your customers.
Just like with Instagram and other social types of social media platforms, Snapchat can be used by influencers to boost brand awareness and audience reach. By joining up with other influencers in your industry niche, you can give your website traffic a jumpstart as a new demographic is reached. Influencers who are familiar with Snapchat, and are skilled with the app, would be able to create exciting video and image content that will enhance your brand’s voice and personalization. Give it a try by letting one of your like-minded business friends “take over” your Snapchat for a day!
Do something that sets your brand apart from the rest. For example, someone shot an entire music video using Snapchat and the different lenses/filters available. Doing something different like this will increase interest and engagement with your brand, and will get people talking.
2. Special Offers
Perhaps one of the best ways to use the immediacy of this app is for the distribution of coupons, giveaways, freebies, and other such promotions. You can use Snapchat to send out special discount offers on your products or services, have them interact with your website (leave a comment, share a post) in order take advantage of special promotions, and host giveaways that center around your website. This is an excellent way to drive engagement to your business and increase your website traffic.
Sharing special offers through Snapchat is a great way to boost your traffic, since this app makes it easy to offer a variety of incentives. Numerous businesses use social media to host giveaways and other contests that ask customers and/or followers to like, share, and comment for a chance to win a big prize. Snapchat is a great tool for this! In fact, a staggering 67% of college students stated they would most like to receive discounts or promotions via Snapchat.
Everyone loves giveaways and promotions, but adding a creative spin to the traditional discount will boost your website traffic. For example, you could offer discounts or promotional codes to the customers who watch your entire Snapchat story, or who respond to it with a picture of them holding your product/using your service. Not only will this increase customer-brand engagement, but it will also increase your site traffic.
Finally, Snapchat is great for providing special content to your customers that they wouldn’t receive on your other social media platforms. This gives them some unique insight into your brand, and gives a feeling of exclusivity. Fashion brands like Michael Kors have used Snapchat to show off their collections to followers before the collections ever hit the runway. If you have some new products or services about to come out, you could do something similar. Have them enter a code, comment on a blog article, or share content from your site to show they watched the Snap. Make sure to remind them they won’t find this information on any of your other social media channels (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc.). This will give a sense of urgency to following your brand on Snapchat, and will get them to be more involved in the things your business is doing. This will give your traffic a boost, and increase engagement on the app.
3. Highlight Fun Events
Keep your customers in the know by sharing fun pictures and videos from certain events. If you’re hosting or taking part in any fun things like grand openings, trade shows, conventions, charity events, etc, then Snapchat is a great way to keep your customers in the loop. Sharing video and pictures of these events will give your customers direct access to this fun portion of your business, and will make them feel included and special.
Do you have a new product you’re about to release? Giving customers a special sneak peek of an upcoming product is a great way to ramp up the excitement and get them talking. Since the image or video shared over Snapchat will disappear after a VERY short amount of time, the immediacy factor will boost engagement. You can send the most loyal of your customers exclusive information like upcoming deals, discounts, promotions, etc. This will make them feel like a special part of your business, and will keep them loyal. It will also most likely lead to them sharing this great information, which would drive traffic to your website. For example, Mashable has an App of the Day story on their Snapchat, highlighting a fun new app each day. It has some funky music, an animated example of the app, and a bit of a description about the app itself. It keeps followers informed, engaged, and interested.
Is your business hiring? Use Snapchat to find your next employee! For example, GrubHub has used Snapchat to find an intern equipped with “wicked Snapchat skillz.” By using the Snapchat Stories feature, the company posted an image slideshow that instructed candidates to apply with a snap of their best Snapchat doodle art. By doing something similar with your own company, you would not only show your company is a fun place to work, but would also give your website traffic a boost as people check it out and/or apply.
Final Thoughts
Snapchat is a great way to drive customers and clients to your business website. If you haven’t already started incorporating Snapchat into your marketing strategy, it’s time to change that. This app gives your company a chance to connect with prospective customers from within your target audience, expand your audience reach, and even include a new demographic.
The sense of immediacy and exclusivity makes it perfect for several types of marketing campaigns, such as:
- Behind-the-scenes glimpses into your company
- Finding your newest intern or employee
- Special offers, promotions, and discounts
- Sneak peeks of new products or services
- Sharing slice-of-life happenings and special events, like trade shows and office birthdays
Fun and casual is a style that lends itself well to Snapchat, something which gives your company the chance to let your business brand shine through. Use its creative nature to think outside the box and set your brand apart from others within your business’ industry niche.
Do you use Snapchat for your business? How do you use Snapchat as a way to increase your website traffic? Let us know in the comments below!
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