In a recent Mashable article about Snapchat, it was suggested that, as more brands embrace Snapchat in an effort to engage a younger target market, users may back away. Whether or not this happens will depend on how a brand intends to use this channel.
Brands engaging their audience with Snapchat should take two points into consideration:
- culture,
- lifestyle.
First, brands have to decide which approach works best with their current marketing. It may also behoove brands to consider changing their marketing strategy to better utilize the Snapchat channel.
If brands choose to engage through culture, they must empathize with their target markets (i.e., buyer personas). Brands must care about what’s important to their customers and be able to write remarkable content that will inspire and connect with them. For example, banks should write and post images about short waits, services that will make customer’s banking experiences both quicker and less intrusive (i.e., deposits from a mobile device, etc.), and community involvement. They should involve their customers by encouraging them to belong to this channel.
If brands choose lifestyle as their channel, they first should determine if their brand is a true lifestyle brand. A lifestyle brand engages with their customers by identifying with their interests, even if the interests have nothing to do with sales. Whole Foods provides an excellent example of lifestyle branding. The brand needs to be very aware of what matters to them besides sales; top-notch kitchens or favorite barbeque sauce recipes, for starters. This will allow content to be easily generated, and also encourages customers to post their favorite stories.
With the introduction of Stories, I believe Snapchat is in a good position to allow both lifestyle and culture brands to reach their audience. Their challenge in 2014: to ensure push and outbound marketing doesn’t take it over.
Discover who your brand is, and you’ll discover new ways to engage with your customers.
Be strategic. Be visible. Be found.
