Without the benefit of a physical retail store, the rapidly-evolving world of social media is a vital tool for E-Commerce companies. Utilizing mobile photo app sensation Snapchat as a marketing strategy is relatively new, but a number of companies are engaging readers with unique content – and seeing tremendously good results as the app has exploded in popularity.
With Snapchat’s recent $16 billion valuation, it’s been clear that the platform has moved far beyond its former persona as an outlet for self-destructing risqué interaction. Now, as Snapchat emerges as an effective and hugely promising way for brands to acquire and interact with customers, businesses are beginning to see a wealth of marketing potential and revenue opportunity.
Snapchat Discover offers a new content publishing feature, with channels of original content at launch from CNN, Cosmopolitan, the Daily Mail, Comedy Central, ESPN, Food Network, Warner Music and more. The Discover platform provides advertisers with a way to reach customers with daily series, swipeable ad-editorials, sponsored content between ads and more. Additionally, a new advertising program will allow brands to get their geofilters automatically approved as well, adding thousands of them at once with a small “sponsored” tag.
Brands Leading The Way in Snapchat:
Audi
The luxury carmaker partnered with The Onion in 2014 to Snapchat the Super Bowl live, utilizing its agency Huge and Onion Labs for a humorous content team-up. The event grew Audi’s Snapchat following by over 5,500 users before the end of the big game.
McDonald’s
Going behind-the-scenes with world-class athletes such as LeBron James, Richard Sherman and Johnny Manziel, McD’s has ramped up fan exposure on Snapchat and built a steady stream of unique user incentives including coupons, contests and more. With the recent addition of geofilters, the french fry kings are poised to tailor their marketing to more specific audiences.
Taco Bell
Launching its Spicy Chicken Cool Ranch Doritos Locos Tacos, Taco Bell was among the first to embrace Snapchat Stories with a six-minute mini-movie. Connecting culture constellations, the fast food giant snapped a scene on the red carpet of the MTV Movie Awards, unveiled its Doritos tacos, and delivered a completely immersive new advertising ecosystem for readers virtually in realtime.
General Electric
On July 15 last year, GE’s Snapchat presence came to life, engaging users with trivia, puzzles and exclusive content featuring legendary astronaut Buzz Aldrin. It was a prime opportunity to announce The Mission sneakers as well, celebrating the 45th anniversary of GE’s contribution to the 1969 moon landing.
Bottom line: exclusive content is key, and there’s an open field of opportunity for innovation on Snapchat.
As Snapchat continues to evolve, E-Commerce businesses have a virtually blank canvas of opportunity to engage people, expand their consumer base and bring new colors to their brand. Original content, stories, contests and giveaways provide a high-potential entrypoint for gaining a promising new E-Commerce foothold. And while it’s still in its infancy of advertising possibilities (metrics are virtually nonexistent, editing is limited, etc), the future looks very bright for business opportunity on Snapchat.
StackCommerce will soon make the leap into our own Snapchat journey, utilizing calls to action across our existing social platforms and incentivizing friends & followers with contests, behind the scenes content and more. We’ll continue to share our insights and developments as we embark on another new adventure at Stack.
