Social Startups: Predictions for Snapchat in 2017 - StartupNation

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Social Startups: Predictions for Snapchat in 2017 - StartupNation

Small business predictions for Snapchat in 2017 include the increase of geo-filters and Snapchat Spectacles, as well as working with influencers.

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Obie16

I was curious about how Snapchat advertising works, and I knew it was hard to get in to. I may look into it for an agency I'm working with, but it would be good to know for any future endeavors I have as well. I am yet to see anybody wearing these so-called Spectacles, but they sound really cool.

Cara O'Bleness

Thanks for the feedback, @Obie16! It will be interesting to see if Snapchat offers more advertising opportunities to small businesses in the coming months. Geo-filters are a great start, especially for startups on a budget!

Obie16

Thanks, @Cara Boyer! Yeah, I don't think it is really fair to keep out the small business owners by making advertising prices so high. Although, I kind of like the fact that SnapChat doesn't put value on these social media "celebrities." There is enough of that on Facebook and Youtube. 

Ryan O'Bleness

Going along with these predictions, HubSpot put out a great list on its marketing blog about top brands to follow on SnapChat. These brands are leveraging the platform to not only bring an increasing number of visitors to their SnapChat accounts, but are also using the channel to bring more relevant content to their followers, while promoting their other platforms (website, blog, other social accounts, etc).

Link: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/snapchat-best-brands

Levi Leyba, MBA

It's also worthy to note that the majority of Snapchat users might not be the market for most startups. Mediakix created a infographic for Snapchat demographics showing 85% of daily Snapchat users are between the ages of 13 and 34, that leaves a lot of people not being reached...and often times it is these people that have the money to buy startup services. This is definitely something to keep an eye on and not something to "jump on the train" with in regards to spending cash strapped startup marketing budgets.

Ryan O'Bleness

I do agree, @Levi Leyba, MBA. We were actually just discussing this here at StartupNation. if your target audience is made up of entrepreneurs and small business owners, you're not going to find a lot of those folks on Snapchat currently. As you pointed out, the young demographic of Snapchat often does not include users who possess enough money to start and sustain a business.  

As SnapChat keeps evolving and becomes more of an advertising and social media marketing channel, this may change, but it's hard to tell right now. I'm interested in finding out. 

Levi Leyba, MBA

@Ryan O'Bleness you're right. It is hard to tell right now. And it may never change, which is okay because if I start a business that caters to the 13-34 year-olds, Snapchat may be my means of advertising.

Or, you can "create" the audience on Snapchat by educating them with how easy it is to start a business while they are still in school. You can look at this from either end, it is not a good market or it is a potential market of untapped users that has always wanted to start a business but never knew where to look. Interesting...I think I just may have sold myself on looking more at Snapchat :)

Ryan O'Bleness

Levi Leyba, MBA said:

@Ryan O'Bleness you're right. It is hard to tell right now. And it may never change, which is okay because if I start a business that caters to the 13-34 year-olds, Snapchat may be my means of advertising.

Or, you can "create" the audience on Snapchat by educating them with how easy it is to start a business while they are still in school. You can look at this from either end, it is not a good market or it is a potential market of untapped users that has always wanted to start a business but never knew where to look. Interesting...I think I just may have sold myself on looking more at Snapchat

I wholeheartedly agree with you that there is a ton of untapped potential with that platform -- one that probably Snapchat itself hasn't even figured out yet. I do believe with its reach, it can work for almost every vertical. However, the message, videos, photos have to be compelling. I don't think anybody cares about a 10-second video showing a startup team sitting around in a conference room talking about quarterly sales, for example. Things like workshops or Q&A sessions with startup founders would be good content. You could then use the platform to drive traffic to your other properties -- websites, other social channels, blog, etc. 

Entony

Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy started Snapchat in 2011 when three main giants - Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter ruled the online space. They risked a lot launching an app similar to the hottest apps, so they needed to add something that would make their app special. And they did. The idea of self-destructing pictures beat all the expectations. The new app managed to equalize the strengths of all three social network giants and create something absolutely unique. You can check Cleveroad company blog if you need more detailed information.

Jessie Hookie

Thank you for sharing it with us!