Are you up for a challenge? Create a marketing campaign in 10-seconds or less.

Turns out not many marketers are, making Snapchat one of the easiest platforms to infiltrate to get your message out to your audience. 

Not sure how? Check out how four successful companies are using Snapchat as a marketing tool.

About Snapchat

While I am sure you already know about Snapchat, let's recap.

Snapchat is a mobile app that allows users to capture videos and pictures that self destruct after 10 seconds or less. When the app originally came out, many parents feared that it would be used for sharing inappropriate photos, however according to a study conducted by the University of Washington, this wasn't really the case — users mostly engaged with funny content.

As one of the quirkiest ways to interact with friends through social media, Snapchat has taken social media by storm, focusing on making talking with friends "fun" again. 

"Somewhere along the way, when we were building social media products, we forgot the reason we like to communicate with our friends is because it's fun."

- Evan Spiegel, Snapchat CEO

At NR Media Group, we love Snapchat — and not just because the filters can turn us into hot dogs, lambs, kittens, or puppies (but we also love it because it can do that too!) Just check out some of our teams' most recent silly snaps.

Why Use Snapchat?

So why should marketers be using Snapchat to reach their audiences?  There are three main reasons:

4x Higher Engagement on Snapchat

Research shows that Snapchat gets 4x higher engagement rates compared to other platforms such as Instagram. This is believed to be true because fewer Snapchatters follow brands, thus they are more loyal to those who they do actually follow.

Followers Does Not Equal Reach

One of the best reasons for marketers to use Snapchat is because your audience does not determine how far your brand's message will reach. Data shows that 100,000 Snapchatters is equal to 2 million Instagram followers.

More Than 150 million Daily Active Users

Today, Snapchat serves more than 150 million daily active users, which is greater than the amount on Twitter. This shows nearly a 21 percent growth between 2016 and 2017.

How to Use Snapchat 

When determining the best strategy to use when crafting your Snapchat campaign, it is important to first look at the buyer's journey:

• In the Awareness stage, buyers experience a problem or curiosity that they explore through social media and search engines.
• In the Consideration stage, buyers consume content from credible websites on how they are able to solve their problems.
• In the Decision stage, buyers determine who can solve their problems and the sales development process begins.

Snapchat is most effective as a marketing tool when used in the Consideration stage of the buyer's journey. By creating great video content for your audiences, Snapchatters will see your business in a different light and engage more and more with your content, until they are ready to move into the Decision stage of the buyer's journey.

Below are some of the best examples of successful companies using Snapchat as a marketing tool.

Who is drinking the Kool-Aid?

GrubHub

GrubHub is one of the most successful case studies to date that shows how creatively using Snapchat can impact your marketing strategy.

GrubHub is the nation's leading online and mobile food ordering company dedicated to connecting customers with local takeout. The company’s online and mobile ordering platforms allow customers to order from more than 55,000 takeout restaurants in over 1,100 U.S. cities and London.

GrubHub began releasing Snapchat content on a weekly-basis in 2013 and have basically been killing it ever since. Examples of their use of Snapchat include sneak peeks, contests, event promotions, discounts, fun food stories, and even candidate recruitment.

GrubHub is basically crushing it. Read the full GrubHub Case Study here.

Eastern Kentucky University

One of the latest trends in higher education is reaching students on social platforms such as Snapchat and Twitter. 

Eastern Kentucky University has seen success from implementing Snapchat in the Enrollment Office, specifically when congratulating students that have been accepted to the University. Beth Brashears, Digital Media Student Recruitment Specialist at EKU says that almost 1/3 of students will screenshot the snap and share on their other social channels.

In 2015, EKU President Michael Benson also garnered a lot of attention for his use of Snapchat and Twitter. In just a few hours, the president had 80 new followers and saw 800+ views of each individual snap.

Way to go, EKU!

Interested in learning more about how you can use social media for Higher Education? 

Listen to the Digital SkillsCast to learn more about the
Social Media Summit for Higher Education.

General Electric

General Electric is also making a buzz on Snapchat. 

Known for having a great social strategy in general, the industrial giant joined Snapchat in 2014 and has since produced quirky and educational content that supports their mission of powering the world with the cleanest technologies and energy solutions.

GE has successfully used Snapchat as a way to showcase events, brain teasers, fun facts, and puzzles. The brand has produced a significant amount of content promoting and encouraging science, even featuring the Bill Nye the Science Guy for Emoji Science.

GE's Global Director of Innovation Sam Olstein says, "We're excited about Snapchat's potential. The disappearing nature of Snapchat content encourages repeat usage and provides us with a unique way to celebrate invention with an expanding community of young fans."

Gatorade

Gatorade has also been making a splash on Snapchat.

In 2016, the popular sports drink sponsored a lens (or animated filter) on Snapchat for the Super Bowl Game. To promote their filter, a GIF was created of the lens being used by professional tennis player Serena Williams. It showed her having a jug of Gatorade virtually poured over her head, as per the tradition after a winning football game.

In order to gain momentum, Gatorade tweeted the GIF and by the end of the day, the filter had reportedly been viewed on Snapchat more than 165 million times.

Although contractual costs of the ad were undisclosed, on a regular day (i.e. not the Super Bowl) a sponsored lens costs around $350,000.

So you know... #goals. 

You Can Do It!

No matter what your industry, Snapchat is a great way to engage younger audiences. Statistics show that 63 percent of Snapchat users are between the ages of 18 and 34 and they watch more than 8 billion videos per day.

This means you are really missing out if you're not trying to tap into the benefits of this platform!

But before you jump in, remember the strategies of the successful companies currently using Snapchat. Focus your Snapchat marketing efforts on:

• Creating custom geo-filters that promote events and products
• Creating animated filters/lenses that audiences can share with friends
• Crafting engaging stories or content that follows the inbound methodology
• Sharing discount codes or flash sales
• Participating in one-on-one interactions with customers.

Good luck and happy Snapchatting!