February 28, 2017

How can companies use Snapchat to effectively market their goods and services?

Snapchat was created for friends to easily send pictures and videos to one another, and it has come a long way since being launched in 2011. It is not the most popular digital platform for companies to use for marketing, but it definitely can be effective if you go the right way about it. This blog is going to explore the factors and features a business can keep in mind when creating an effective Snapchat marketing campaign.

Source: https://www.marketingweek.com/2016/02/18/why-snapchat-is-moving-into-ecommerce/

There are different factors that companies have to think about when marketing on Snapchat, this Forbes article discusses some of these. DeMers (2014) suggests that embracing the 10 second time limit is the number one top tip in using Snapchat for marketing purposes. In fact, he suggests this is the perfect opportunity to give teasers to your consumers for new products. There’s nothing more exciting than seeing a short snippet of what’s to come.

On the other hand, this short time limit can be a major limitation to this marketing technique and some companies may not find having to do such a brief advert so appealing. DeMers (2014) also discusses that portraying the companies personality through Snapchat is an effective marketing technique, however, to show personality in such a short time frame will be difficult for a company and the image or video will have to be well thought out to contain content to portray this personality fast.

Parker (2016) discusses how companies have used Snapchat effectively in her guide to marketing on the app. It is said that the most effective way a company can use Snapchat is producing their very own filter, we all know everyone loves using these filters, the funnier the better. This article raised a good point that companies like Starbucks who have their own filter are doing it right. Starbucks used this technique to launch their Snapchat chilled summer drinks campaign. These filters get sent around to everyone, and seeing your friend constantly sending you this logo is probably going to get you thinking that you want a Starbucks. However, everything can be critiqued and even this wonderful idea has a down fall, creating this filter and making it available for a long time can be pricey, but it’s probably worth it.

Source: https://twitter.com/frappuccino/status/728231049516310528

Snapchat is used by millions of people, all kinds of people. This alone does show that using Snapchat to market your goods can be very effective, however, pleasing your audience is so important. Your grandparents probably don’t use Snapchat, they might, but they probably don’t so this does restrict what kind of company can use Snapchat for marketing purposes. But if your audience are Snapchat users then targeting and understanding them is one of the most important things you have to think about. The overall casualness of the app has to be taken in to account when deciding on what kind of language is going to be used and making sure that posts have a sense of fun.

There are fun ways that you can market your goods on Snapchat, SocialMediaExaminer discusses some of them here. This article discusses using influencer reveals, account takeovers and promo codes to effectively use Snapchat by taking the fun approach. Staging an influencer reveal can be a great way to promote your company, this includes having an influential, well known character talking up your company or product. McDonald’s have used this approach, for example; they used a video of LeBron James loving one of their new burgers. This kind of technique works because consumers love seeing someone they know using a product, and we can all admit that for some strange reason we have at some point bought something or used something specific because we’ve seen a celeb we love using it (guilty).

Source: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/10-ways-to-use-snapchat-for-business/

If a company wanted to use fun techniques when marketing through Snapchat, giving consumers VIP access to backstage of the product or service happening is a great one to use. It’s popular between fashion shows, giving previews of what’s happening back stage. I’ve seen this happen so many times and I’m sure there are loads of people that are interested in watching them, but I have never been too bothered about watching a 550 second Snapchat story, everyone knows; the longer the worst. However, there are thousands of people that are interested in watching these so from a company’s point of view this can be a fun and effective technique.

So, I don’t think anyone will disagree that Snapchat is a fun and effective way to market your product or service for short amounts of time. There are lots of choices of how to do so, even though it comes with limitations too, Snapchat is great once you know what audience you’re targeting and you understand the casual feel of the app.

References

DeMers (2014) Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2014/08/04/your-guide-to-using-snapchat-for-marketing/#14b568e43e35 (Accessed: 28 February 2017).
Parker (2016) Available at: https://blog.hootsuite.com/snapchat-for-business-guide/ (Accessed: 28 February 2017).
Siu, E. (2017) 10 ways to use Snapchat for business: Social media examiner. Available at: http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/10-ways-to-use-snapchat-for-business/ (Accessed: 28 February 2017).

November 4, 2016

Airbnb Marketing Analysis- does anyone read their emails?

How many of us actually read all of our emails? I know I personally just multi click them and mark as unread, unless it’s discounts on Pizza.

According to Ben Oren email open rates are great indicators of the quality of your mailing list, subject line choice, time of sending, and even an under performing email service provider, but I’d say emails are only really opened if you’re interested in that company or anything its offering at that moment in time, the subject could be the most interesting line in the world but if you’re not interested then there’s no chance of a read.

I received an e-mail from Airbnb, I would normally ignore an email like this as I’m a poor student and I know I can’t afford to go on holiday, depressingly. This email had attractive photo’s of beautiful Cities; Paris, New York, Berlin and had a personal touch, with the heading ‘Where travellers like you go to escape, Here’s where travellers in Brighton go when they want to live elsewhere. Even if it’s just for a week‘. I appreciate personal touches in email’s, even though thousands of other people are being sent the same one with their name or where they are living on it, it definitely makes me want to read it more. This email didn’t have my name at the beginning which it probably could have done with to be more personal and to ensure they’re grabbing the reader’s attention immediately.

I want to visit every City in the world so if there was any email I would find the most interesting it would be one like this from a company like Airbnb. The photo’s are clear and beautiful, however, the layout is simple which could be viewed as boring. A lot of people would agree that there doesn’t need to be a lot of writing on an email, it is time consuming and doesn’t immediately capture the viewer. Airbnb have added a minimum amount of writing, just short snippets of the greatest parts of these Cities. A downside to the appearance of this email is that the writing is all in black and doesn’t capture the viewer immediately, it is put up against colorful, bright photo’s and this makes the writing look dull and may make the viewer not want to bother reading it. Although, I wanted to because I liked the photo’s and wanted to read more.

Each Photo in the email takes you to a landing page; where to book for each City. It immediately lets you choose dates, a price range, what kind of room you would like and the accommodation on the Airbnb website. A map of the City with the different affordable prices placed around is also immediately visible once clicking on a photo, allowing you to choose price and location, this technique of one click taking you to the affordable and appealing accommodation in a City of your choice will persuade someone to book straight away. There is also a personal aspect to the landing pages, if you are already a member to Airbnb it will take you to the page logged in to your account with your details, making it easy and accessible to book quickly. A link of things to do in the city is also include in this page, another technique to ensure the viewer is seeing all the great parts of the City to ensure they are persuaded to book a room. Each page could have accessible to links to viewing the Airbnb’s available in other Cities as the viewer could then see the others if they change their mind and would not have to return to the email to do so, this accessibility would simply make it easier for the viewer to navigate the web pages.

This email caught my eye because it interests me and in retrospect I am glad I actually opened one of my emails. It showed me what Airbnb has to offer and also exactly what I would send out to customers if I am ever in charge of the emailing.

References:

Oren, B. (2016) 9 ways to fix your Email marketing strategy | SEJ. Available at: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/goodbye-spam-hello-inbox-9-ways-fix-email-marketing-strategy/147594/ (Accessed: 4 November 2016).