“I need another social network for B2B marketing instead of Facebook and LinkedIn” I was thinking. “But I don’t have much time to spend hours and days on any new social network that doesn’t offer me any value,” I said to myself buy snapchat score.
I was quite uncertain about using Snapchat for business purpose due to the varying opinions from my acquaintance. But somehow it got my attention and I decided to try it myself.
IN addition, views from Garyvee and HubSpot about Snapchat that “it can be wonderful for B2B” influenced me to take a closer look at Snapchat. And I found myself somehow curious thinking after all what it is all about?
So one day I decided to go for an experiment and determine whether it suits my needs or not.
Starting Hands – On to Snapchat
I used Google and YouTube to fetch every piece of information that I could to get started with snapchat and finally downloaded the app from play store. As I looked into the app icon it flashed me back into the early years of the 21st century when I started using Facebook and everyone around was excited to make new friends and share images and videos.
A thought popped up in my mind – Am I going to follow the same old trend along Snapchat as adults do on Facebook? At first sight, it did not catch my interest. I had a feeling of same old stuff “sharing and posting” that we used to do on Facebook.
I started doing trials of taking pictures with Snapchat, and then I felt like hanging on with this app.
You can make a short video by holding the round-shaped record icon, and one can take a photo by tapping the phone screen. Moreover, you can add graphics, emojis, colors or text and so forth. The hardcore users of Snapchat typically go crazy with geo-filters, double filters, and filters. But I don’t like to go crazy and do all these things on Snapchat.
Networking with People
The next phase after the primary hands-on experience was to find out ways to connect with people. Here I had to discover how people will follow me and how am I following back. However, I allowed the app to access my contacts and figure out who is already using Snapchat. Furthermore, I browsed some quick searches over Google on following people on the Snapchat keyword. Consequently, I start following some of my friends and ask some friends to follow me on Snapchat.
The important part of my interest is to see how users find brands on Snapchat. So I picked one of my friends asked him to tell me about brand searching over Snapchat. This is how I managed to add friends and soon built a list of friends.
I added few brands by using their username and started following them.
As much as I was using this app, the more I love it. I dive into the stories of different brands as well as certain friends. By the end of the month, I was enjoying my moments with Snapchat. But apart from all the enjoyment, I was also cautious to stay away from a single bit of addiction with this app. Because I believe the more you spent time in using social media apps, the more it will waste hours of the day and can make you counter-productive.
What’s in it for Marketers
As far as marketing is concerned, I do not find this app noteworthy when it comes to effective B2B marketing strategies. For B2C industry, companies like GE (General Electric) and Everlane are breaking through the clutter by exploring the new generation of consumers or shoppers. Snapchat pulls a tiny fraction of dollars as compared to big social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn.
But when we look into the B2B industry, business buyers who make transactions in bulk will not be likely to use Snapchat for B2B purchasing and business correspondence. On the other hand, financial transactions of B2B industry comprises of big numbers. However, I have not seen Snapchat make any transaction beyond 26k.
Although, Snapchat adds value to the trends of the video but they are so limited because videos disappear after sometimes. This element brings break-up of Snapchat with many B2B marketers I have observed.
Nevertheless, here are some scenarios where Snapchat can make some sense to B2B marketing. They are mentioned below:
B2B Events:
In B2B industry, many live events can be uploaded on Snapchat such as business meetings, visits, tours, and Tradeshow participations, opening ceremonies of the new plant, product testing in the market, B2B research survey with consumers, media conferences and press releases.
Sharing videos of live business events can spread a positive word of mouth among the target audience.
Reinforce Brand Image
In the similar context, launching a new product or a new brand, sponsoring any sports event, sharing customer feedback or reviews over a product can strengthen your brand among your target market.
You can experiment video with different subjects and lengths by uploading it to the Snapchat. Make sure your product and brand videos as memorable as possible and also aligned with your brand and marketing strategy. The video marketing on Snapchat can play a crucial role in the success of your content marketing.