Did you know? Every minute 104,000 pictures are shared on Snapchat.
To be honest, I didn’t realize just how big Snapchat had gotten, until I saw this stat and investigated this new social phenomenon further myself. Admittedly, I was conditioned to blow off Snapchat as just another way for those young kids to share selfies and sexts.
While there is certainly some of that, the whole premise of Snapchat is to share fleeting moments with your friends. Each snap you send automatically gets “deleted” 10 seconds after your friend opens it. It allows for super quick, fleeting interactions.
While I am certainly not advocating for every brand, marketer or community manager to sign up for a Snapchat account, I did find a handful of unconventional and a couple of downright brilliant uses of Snapchat that are starting to pop up. Here’s six examples.
1. Solving crimes
You heard that right? The social network, most commonly known for sexting and selfies, has actually been linked to solving a handful of crimes, like this deadly hit-and-run accident in California.
2. Exclusive product launches
It takes a very brave brand to test the waters and start launching exclusive products via Snapchat. But, that’s exactly what Taco Bell did for their beefy crunch burrito launch. In this case, it proves to be an experimental way to connect with their core audience on a more personal level.
3. Sharing coupons
16 Handles, an amazing (personal bias) NYC-based froyo chain, made headlines for being the first brand to join Snapchat. Snapchat Community Manager Adam Britten uses it to connect with their audience and share coupons.
4. Live-Snapping your favorite shows
We have all heard of live-tweeting along with your favorite show. The majority of us have already done this. However, there is definitely a growing trend of people “live-snapping” moments from their favorite live shows.
Case and point, here’s an example during The Bachelorette final.
We turned Drews breakup into an epic snapchat saga #bachelorette #thefinalrose @MelllyBelly28 @DrDrea23 pic.twitter.com/FbmSI7maiE
”” Francesca Long (@missfreggles) August 6, 2013
5. Discover New Friends On Snapchat
While I would venture to say, the vast majority of people are only Snapchatting with folks that they already know in real life. There is a fast growing subreddit helping Snapchatters find new people to connect with on Reddit (Some NSFW).
6. Rumor has it. Even, Gary Vaynerchuk is on there, and willing to answer questions.
Snapchat me -username – GaryVayner
”” Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee) August 1, 2013
And if all else fails, you can always go back to sending “selfies” to your Snapchat friends.
What’s your thoughts on Snapchat? Please leave a comment below or “snap” me your thoughts on Snapchat. (username- jessicamalnik).
**I may screenshot and share your best thoughts here on a future blog post. ***
