Here's a picture of DJ Khalids Snapchat open rates for his snaps.

It's mind blowing! Each one is in the millions. Almost 3 million people watched his snaps!

If you're a marketer always on the hunt for new marketing avenues then you need to try snapchat.

Ever since the birth of FaceBook and Twitter, shortly followed by Instagram and Pinterest, people have been trying to figure out how to use it to drive traffic to their website/business.

The above mentioned platforms work pretty much the same.

You get likes, pins, shares or whatever they're called in their respective platforms and your post/tweet will grow in reach.

This is how traditional, (organic marketing), has worked.

But Things Aren't as simple as that anymore.

To better monetise their platforms, social media giants have limited their free/organic reach in a bid to get admins to start using their paid platform. Basically, they want us to keep dishing out $$ to re-engage with our audience, every single time.

How Snapchat Works

Snapchat works a totally different way to your usual social media platform.

In fact, it's easier to see it as a 'messenger app' then a 'social media app', because it works more or less like a messenger.

Step 1 - Take a Picture or Video with the App

Just like a normal camera, the snapchat app will open up this screen where you can take simple picture OR a video, (up to 12 seconds).

The Unique thing about snapchat is that this video or picture can only be viewed once from your friends on the receiving end.

Step 2 - Select who you Want to Send it To

Similar to sending a pic through simple messaging. Just select who you want to send it to.

You can choose individual people OR put it on your Story. I'll explain this part later.

Now, people on the receiving end of your snap will get notifications like the below,

The arrows mean that you sent a snapchat

The boxes mean a snapchat from this person has been sent to you and you can tap to view it.

The below screen allows you to see peoples snapchat 'story'. Stories are created when people places their pics or vids in their story and are available to be watched any time and however many times someone wants.

It's a way to capture what you've been up to for the day and for others to view it whenever they want.

That's basically it!

So, How Exactly Would You use this as a Marketer?

First, it depends what you're marketing.

If you're a blogger/spokesperson/personality or even an athlete, it's a window into your personal life.

I follow Aamir Khan the boxer and he regularly snaps about his workout regime, his family and random things about what's happening in his world.

Gary Vaynerchuk posts business ideas, pics of what he's up to, etc. If he's got a webinar or seminar or launching a new product, he can snapchat all his viewers and they can immediately see what he's just sent them.

I personally can show my campaign stats, new ideas, new products I'm testing, new blog posts I'm working on, etc.

Similar to what I'd normally share on my Blog, FaceBook or Twitter BUT the difference here is that Twitter or FaceBook don't decide who gets to see my post.

That's the issue. As these platforms mature, they get more strict on distribution as I've mentioned earlier and force you to pay every time you want to reach all of your fans. Screw that!

With snapchat, you pay no one. Everyone gets to see what you have to share. You get way more distribution. That's the keyword.

If I had a new startup, I would send my product for free to popular Snapchatters and get them to snapchat about it. Instead of 5% of their FaceBook fans seeing it, you'll get almost 100% of their Snapchat fans seeing it!

Do you see the power?

Snapchat is comparatively new and people haven't learned how to make money form it yet. That's because you have to think out of the box.

I wouldn't be using it to sell the usual affiliate offer. It's more to grow a brand or to kickstart your eCommerce store or something that people will get excited about.

If you have enjoyed this article, if you think you have learnt more about Snapchat and this lecture has been useful, please kindly let me a little comment, just below.

Philippe

Socialfave's CEO