You could be forgiven for mistaking Snapchat as a platform best suited to tech-loving teens swapping flower-crown selfies, but this couldn’t be further from the truth!

In fact, in the last year alone Snapchat has become increasingly popular for marketers, with 15% of Australian consumers found to be using the app (Sensis Social Media Report, 2015)! Snapchat was also recently revealed to be worth a whopping $16 billion!

Every day, Snapchatters watch over 10 billion videos – a 350% increase in 12 months! But as well as being fun and entertaining, a large part of Snapchat’s allure comes down to being able to share photos and short videos with your audience (lasting up to 10 seconds) without clogging up your feed.

For example, once the image or video has been seen, it disappears (with the exception of ‘stories’, which are featured on your page for 24 hours).

What are the benefits of Snapchat marketing?

Snapchat is also a fantastic way to get instant feedback on your products or service. A perfect example (as shared by Entrepreneur) was that of an international e-commerce startup who used the Snapchat to post test-version designs of their website; asking their followers to screenshot the designs they loved best and then rate their favourites.

As well as giving their customers the chance to be involved in the decision process, this strategy also allowed the company to gain a vital understanding of their business from a customer-perspective.

But enough about the stats. What do you need to know about Snapchat for SMEs, and how can you make sure your brand stand out?

How can you use Snapchat to make your brand stand out?

There are 3 ways to make your brand stand out on Snapchat:

1. Build trust through exclusivity
2. Use storytelling to drive campaigns
3. Advertise through Snapchat 

1. Build trust through exclusivity

Unlike Facebook or Instagram, where businesses often put a lot of thought into what content is posted, users are loving Snapchat’s less-polished, fun and quick functionality. So what are some good examples of ways to show your uniqueness?

Include behind the scenes videos and pictures to create a feeling of loyalty and inclusion with your followers. For example, why not consider showing them a sneak peek of a new product, or take them on an ‘exclusive tour’ of your manufacturing process? Show your customers what you do, and let them in on the process.

2. Use storytelling to drive campaigns

Everyone loves storytelling – it’s personal and allows people to connect with a brand, person or campaign while making it easier to understand the information presented.

In this way, storytelling can really drive your campaigns! A fantastic example of a campaign that went viral through Snapchat was  ‘The Climb Against Sexual Abuse,’ a campaign which used the apps ‘mask filters’ to help Indian survivors comfortably tell their stories; thus working to raise awareness and break the silence surrounding sexual abuse in India.

One woman also revealed that the use of the ‘fire breathing dragon’ mask made her feel powerful and protected while telling her story. The experimentation with Snapchat’s filters was a huge success; making news worldwide and demonstrating the power of Snapchat’s visual elements.

3. Advertise through Snapchat

For SMEs, Snapchat is the perfect platform through which to promote your products! Being such a visual piece of technology, you can use it to post images and videos of exclusive deals and products; creating campaigns around each one.

Another way to build sales is through Sponsored Geofilters – tiny pieces of art that can be seen and used for any Snapchatter who is in your chosen location – or ‘Sponsored Lenses,’ which are interactive ads that users can play with.

For example, using Taco Bell’s giant taco lens, you can see your face transformed into a giant, tasty taco filled with tomato, cheese and lettuce. You can’t say it’s not fun to watch!

By the way…anyone else got a craving for Taco’s now?

A third option, is to advertise through ‘Snap Ads’ – which according to Snapchat, are 10 second vertical, full-screen video ads that appears in the context of other Snaps. If a Snapchatter likes what they see, they simply swipe ‘upwards’ to see extended content (such as an article, mobile website or longer ad).

According to Snapchat’s website, the ‘swipe up’ rate for Snap Ads is 5x higher than the average click-through rate on comparable platforms.

Snapchat is well and truly proving itself to be a standout way to reach customers and followers, and if previous trends are anything to go by, it will only continue to grow!