Capturing Your Target Audience on Snapchat

Snapchat is a growing social media platform. It offers users the ability to creatively share moments of their lives via photo or video and offers marketers a distinct opportunity to connect with their audience on a more personal level. In order to make the most of the platform, you need to not only understand how to use the platform, but also how to make your posts visible to the right people.  

What makes Snapchat a good marketing tool?

Snapchat is a uniquely casual social media platform with picture and video capabilities that embrace a sense of fun and creativity. Using this platform for marketing creates an opportunity to humanize a brand. It also allows the brand to connect with various audiences in a more intimate way. Building relationships is key to brand loyalty and if your audience is active on Snapchat, then using the platform might be a huge opportunity to develop engaging relationships with current and new customers.

Who uses Snapchat?

Snapchat has about 173 million daily users across the globe. Of these, 68 million are Americans. The users on Snapchat skew towards younger age demographics. This is a platform that is more commonly used by teenagers and millennials, where they can avoid the possibility of their parents lurking. While the highest market penetration rate is among teens between the ages of 12 and 17, it is also considerably high among young adults between the ages of 18 and 34. The platform also reaches a predominantly female audience and a large population of college students.

How do I effectively target my audience in Snapchat?

Snapchat can allow a brand to reach their audience in a creative and personal way. Because followers chose to connect with the brand, they are more likely to feel an emotional or relational connection to it, and to develop brand loyalty. Having followers connect with your brand organically often leads to stronger relationships, but this is easier said than done.

If you’re looking to target a particular audience, Snapchat Advertising allows for more specificity, but they lack the organic nature. When looking to place an ad on Snapchat, you can choose from over 300 predefined target audiences, which are divided based on interest, purchasing patterns and geographic locations. Snapchat also allows ads to be targeted based on demographics, such as age, income or device type. If neither of these methods fit with your messaging, you can also create a custom audience to reach your brand’s needs.

Things to keep in mind when using Snapchat as a marketing tool:

• Always make sure the stories you post are stories … with a beginning, middle and an end. Don’t post just for the sake of posting, but be thoughtful and strategic.
• Don’t get too eager. You don’t want to post two stories with two different messages within 24 hours of each other.
• Snapchat is built on creating and maintaining relationships. Think of your audience as friends, rather than just consumers.
• Be creative and playful. The ability to be raw and intimate on Snapchat is what makes the platform unique. Don’t strive for perfect visuals and scripted verbiage, but instead focus on authenticity.
• Don’t be afraid to use Snapchat to cross-promote other channels.

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