If you wondered how Snapchat could be of benefit to your small business especially if it is a service based business, a great way to consider how you can make it relevant to support your goals is to talk to other small business owners and solopreneurs.
In the second of the case studies I will be sharing at New Media Europe I will be sharing about how Roger Edwards, an ex-marketing director for a large UK financial services brand, is using Snapchat. Roger is based in Edinburgh and now runs a content marketing and social media consultancy business. He is also a fitness instructor teaching Body Combat, Body Balance and Yoga. Read on to hear how he uses Snapchat to support his small business marketing goals.
Krishna: How do you get your inspiration for your stories?
Roger: I’m very observant about things going on around me and often make connections between unrelated things. I try and make it relevant to marketing if I can.
So I might see a passive sentence in a poster or a spelling mistake in a shop window. I also like having a bit of fun too hence my talking yellow coffee mug. I don’t over do that though. Everyone talks about the yellow coffee mug but I only bring him out once every couple of weeks. I also look to create some consistency with my ‘Track of the Day’.
Krishna: What have been your objectives of using Snapchat for your business?
Roger: For me it is really just engaging with people who could become potential clients or podcast guests. I want to have conversations, create relationships and build trust.
I also just like seeing what like minded people are up to because they are a constant source of good ideas and inspiration.
Krishna: What has been the impact of you using Snapchat for your business?
Roger: I’ve met some inspirational people. I’ve had 5 recent podcast guest who I met entirely on Snapchat – with no prior contact.
And people have asked me to work with them as a result of seeing my stories. One was a simple copy writing project. The others were putting together a strategy for content marketing and social media.
Krishna: What has been the most successful way for you to build your Snapchat following?
Roger: Putting my Snapcode up on other social media has been the best source for me – mainly through Twitter.
I also wrote an article on my blog about how to use Snapchat and put that up on Medium too. That got some hits. I have also done a couple of “swaps” (Snapchat takeovers) with people in the US.
Krishna: You include lots of personal elements to your story such – what if any things do you consider re privacy when it comes to storytelling on Snapchat?
I do show my home (but will be careful to cover up car registrations and address details etc) and my cats – but my wife and son don’t want to appear on screen so I don’t show them. I talk about them but they are “off camera”.
I do think people want to see a bit of your personal life. It’s not all business. It makes you more human and people are more likely to relate to you if you show them the real you.
Krishna: Do you repurpose any of your stories for other platforms?
Roger: I’ve saved about 90 of my stories but found that the sound is often out of sync or there is no video. I’d intended to repurpose but I’m not sure I can.
But doing the stories has made me realise that people like the variety of jump cutting from one angle to the other – or using black and white filters.
So I’ve started remaking some of my stories as YouTube videos. Re-shooting them to trying to retain the Snapchat feel.
Krishna: What is the one thing that you have learnt from using Snapchat for business that you would like to share with the audience?
Roger: More than any other social media platform Snapchat is about engagement.
Even though I’m a marketing guy I despair of other marketers or salespeople who use social media as a sales channel without building a relationship first.
On Twitter I don’t like it when you follow someone and they immediately send you an automated DM trying to ‘flog’ you some stuff. It has started to happen on Snapchat now. Someone followed me and immediately tried to sell me a course by sending me about 10 personal messages. The result was that I blocked them.
If you would like to learn more about Roger and his stories you can follow him on Snapchat here.
Resources To Help You Grow Your Business With Snapchat
Read the case studies of Jane, Roger, Cliona and Mike who I feature in my Snapchat session in the forthcoming articles on the blog.
Find video and visual marketing tools to help you with your visual content marketing here.
Follow Krishna on Snapchat for visual content marketing tips.
