[Snapchat for ecommerce] Advantages of this social network and some tricks to sell your products on it

Tell us something: Which sales channels have you included in your social media marketing plan?

I bet you settled for the typical ones:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Twitter
• And even YouTube, perhaps

Right, the same as most online businesses.

But have you considered including Snapchat too?

“Snapchat? That hasn’t disappeared already?”

Well, not really. It’s actually quite the opposite: according to a study by Hootsuite and We Are Social published in July 2019, it has 6 million users in Spain, and is still growing.

And the best part is that the site has been implementing very interesting options for ecommerce over the last few years (though most companies still don’t know).

Thanks to this post, you’ll be ahead of the curve since we’re going to tell you all about Snapchat and how to make the most of it to get the edge on your competitors and boost sales.

So let’s give that little yellow ghost a shake. 😉

👉 What Snapchat is and how it’s different from other sites

Snapchat works similarly to messaging apps like WhatsApp since you:

• Add contacts
• Take photos
• Film videos on your phone that you can edit (if you want) and send to others

But here’s the most characteristic feature of this social networking site: all the content “self-destructs”.

When you share a publication (or “snap”) with someone, you choose how long the receiver will be able to view it for (from 1 to 10 seconds max).

As an exception, though, you can add the content to “my story” in your profile.

Your users will be able to see snaps in your story as much as they want for a period of 24 hours.

You may be wondering how you can profit from that functionality, but don’t worry just now – we’ll give you more ideas later.

First, let’s figure out if Snapchat is a suitable option for your online shop. 😉

✅ 1. What kind of ecommerce is Snapchat best for?

Remember that you don’t need to be on every social networking site. Instead, focus on being where your target audience is.

As far as Snapchat is concerned, you should consider it if:

• You’re targeting a young audience: If your buyer persona is between 14 and 35, betting on the little yellow ghost could be a very good idea.
• You have a highly visual product: Due to its multimedia nature, Snapchat fits well with ecommerce strategies for cosmetics, jewelry, and clothes, among others.
• Your product is sold internationally: While in Spain its impact has been limited (so far), Snapchat has more users than Twitter in the English-speaking market.

The only downside of this social network is that its organic stats are quite limited. It tells you who’s interacted with your post but doesn’t give you demographic information like many other social media sites.

✅ 2. Why should you use Snapchat for your ecommerce?

Let’s suppose your audience profile meets the previous requirements.

Even so, why should you use Snapchat instead of focusing your content strategy on a site with a larger number of users like Instagram?

Here are some reasons:

• There isn’t much competition: Despite its potential, there aren’t many online businesses with a Snapchat account. That means less investment in publicity, among other aspects.
• In-app purchases are allowed: Snapchat has been spoiling the ecommerce sector for a while. It even has functionalities (like the possibility of buying without leaving the app) that essentially turn it into a sales channel itself.
• Forget about perfectionism: You may have been reluctant to post an image (or even throw yourself into video marketing) because you didn’t have high-quality equipment. With Snapchat, there’s no need to worry about that since its content is so ephemeral that no one expects to find magazine-quality images.

Snapchat values spontaneity and, above all, creativity.

But if you’re already an expert and want to improve some of your product images as well, you can always check out this guide. 😉

👉 5 tips to get followers (and customers) on Snapchat

A promise is a promise.

If you’ve decided to include Snapchat in your ecommerce strategy, here are some formulas to get followers and turn them into new clients.

Let’s have a look at them.

✅ 1. Treat your followers to something unique

If you want to get more followers on Snapchat, you must give them a good reason, such as exclusive content for the platform or special offers.

If you already have a high number of followers on another site, tell them you’re posting a different kind of content on Snapchat so they start following you there too.

✅ 2. Hold interesting quizzes

Quizzes are another great way of gaining followers.

In the case of Snapchat, its featured filters can give you ideas to create fun and original quizzes.

If you need ideas, you can extrapolate some of the tips on creating Facebook quizzes that we included in another post and apply them to Snapchat.

✅ 3. Offer discount coupons

One of the basic tricks to sell on social media consists of creating a sense of urgency and using it to your advantage – and Snapchat is great for that.

For example, you can publish a voucher on “My Story” and tell your users they have 24 hours to use it.

After this period, the discount will vanish automatically.

But let’s take it a step further: what if Snapchat could become another part of your loyalty program?

Since it lets you choose which of your followers you send a snap to, you can reward the most active users with an exclusive offer. 😉

✅ 4. Show the human side behind your brand

Sometimes your followers like seeing what everyday life is like in your company and learning more about your employees.

This creates a feeling of closeness for your brand image and makes your users more willing to buy something.

✅ 5. Make use of all the different kinds of ads

Snapchat offers you different ad formats, but we’re going to tell you about two of the most interesting ones:

1. Augmented reality: This can work as a filter. Users take a photo with their phone camera and some graphic element is pasted on their image. Just to give you an idea, you could create a filter with the latest sunglasses model in your catalog so your customers can try them on. 😉
2. Product catalog ads: This kind of ad allows for clients to buy from your online shop without leaving the app. And, as you know, users are more likely to make a purchase if you make it easy for them.

Snapchat is trying to gain ground on other ad platforms like Facebook Ads. It’s even developed its own “Snap Pixel” for retargeting.

👉 Success Stories: 4 ecommerce shops that are doing well on Snapchat (and that can inspire you)

Despite everything we’ve told you, you may still have some doubts concerning Snapchat: Is it worth investing in a social networking site where the content vanishes after 24 hours max?

The answer is yes.

Serving as examples, here are four companies that have managed to get the most out of Snapchat.

Give them a follow once you’re done reading this and you’ll see just how many ideas you can get from them. 😉

✅ 1. Everlane

This online clothes shop doesn’t use Snapchat to sell. Instead, it’s to strengthen its image as a brand committed to ethical manufacturing.

Thanks to this strategy, the company has managed to create a solid and growing community of users sharing the same values.

This Business Insider article does an in-depth analysis of Everlane’s Snapchat use.

✅ 2. Nisnass

Here’s another clothing ecommerce that’s made the most of virtual reality ads.

During one Black Friday sale, this Saudi brand launched a branding campaign called #NisnassCrew with the objective of making a name for itself among young Saudi audiences to capture potential clients.

To do so, they created a virtual reality ad like this one:

This campaign helped them increase their ROI by about 40% compared to previous campaigns.

✅ 3. Casper

A clear example that there are no dull businesses, only dull imaginations.

Casper is an American mattress company. That’s it – nothing else.

But they chose to give their Snapchat strategy a twist and focus on emotions:

• • • That feeling when you lie down in bed after a long hard day at work.
    • The guilty pleasure of putting your pajamas on and wolfing down a tub of ice cream.
    • The convenience of watching a Netflix series in bed.

This, together with their parallel branding strategy, allowed them to establish themselves as the most popular mattress brand among millennials.

✅ 4. MDacne

MDacne offers personalized acne treatments for teenagers.

To capture more users, they launched an ad campaign targeting users interested in cosmetics.

Interestingly, they didn’t even have to create new content – they simply took whatever they had on other social networking sites and adapted it to Snapchat (adding emojis and animations) to make it feel more natural.

Just by doing that, they were able to reach quite a wide audience and reduced their lead acquisition cost by 30% compared to other platforms.

👉 Ready to gain ground on your competitors with Snapchat?

There’s just one thing left to do: install Snapchat on your smartphone and put the tips we’ve given you into practice.

Mind you, this is not to say you should forget about the rest of the social media sites.

On that note, here are some posts that may help you improve your social media marketing strategy:

• • • Tutorial on Facebook Ads for ecommerce
    • Tricks to get followers on Instagram and Facebook too
    • And, just in case, a tutorial on YouTube ads

Now go get some customers with the help of that little yellow ghost and other social media sites. 😉