Social Media Marketing: Snapchat

January 13, 2017

Today’s topic covers a platform that many restaurant owners and managers may not use or may not even have heard of: Snapchat. However, this social media, is the second most used social media platform for 12 to 34 year-olds. This demographic could help give your restaurant a competitive advantage in the market place. Here are some statistics about Snapchat that will make you reevaluate this platform:

Over 100 million people use Snapchat everyday.
Snapchat’s video views are now greater that Facebook’s.
Over 1 billion snaps are created every day.
60% of all smartphone users are on Snapchat.
Snapchat ads have a 5x higher click-thru rate than other social media sites.
On any given day, Snapchat reaches 41% of 18-34 year old in the United States.
Snapchat users spend an average of 25 to 30 minutes using the platform.

Snapchat Marketing Statistics - Restaurant Technology Guys

The facts are too good for a business to ignore. That is where we come in: we are here to offer some help and guide owners and managers to experiment and use Snapchat more effectively to build awareness and grow additional business.

Snap and snap often.

Snapchat is unique because directly sent videos and/or photos disappear forever immediately after being viewed. If you post a story, it lasts for just 24 hours. This means you have to keep creating new content over and over to stay active and relevant for your customers and followers. To some, this may seem annoying. But for savvy business owners, it’s a great way to test out new content and show your creative side.

Think of it as a behind the scenes of what you do and how you do it. Here are a few of our ideas:

Show what it’s like before the store even opens. Give your customers a sneak peak of what you do.
Secret Snapchat deals that expire in 24 hours.
Post a meal or food item on your story when it comes out looking really good.

Encourage customers to snap on-site.

Snapchat presents a great opportunity to engage customers while they’re in your restaurant. Frozen yogurt chain, 16 Handles, pioneered this type of promotion, having customers snap a photo of themselves at one of the chain’s locations. In return snappers received a discount of 16 percent, 50 percent or 100 percent off their frozen treat. If you’re considering running a similar promotion, consider having signage around your restaurant with all the details.

Use Snapchat Geofilters

After you take a snap, they are logos that appear in specific locations when you swipe to the left or the right. You can purchase these around a specific location and have your branded logo show up inside users’ snaps. Those logos are called geofilters. They are used by the movie, alcohol, governmental and many other industries. Geofilters are an advertising opportunity to get the word out about your brand in a geographic location in which you choose. This is great to do if there is an event happening with a large group of people around your area. Check out Snapchat’s FAQ on geofilters and how to get started.

Use Snapchat for exclusive announcements.
Revealing a new menu or special? Announcing an event? Use these exclusive tidbits to draw people to your Snapchat. Let your customers know on your other social channels that you’ll be making a special announcement on Snapchat, encouraging them to add your restaurant to be the first to find out.

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