Snapchat for small business: Consider 3 key factors

Consumers are making a huge social shift from Instagram to Snapchat.

The migration to the popular self-destructing photo/video social network is happening right before our eyes.

Snapchat is a multifunctional app: People use it to communicate one to one, one to few, and one to all. They share moments, not just pretty pictures, through stills and videos with added captions, doodles and filters to make them even more fun and personal.

The social shift is official when most consumers ask followers on all their other social media networks to join them on a newer or more popular social network.

When this shift starts, I recommend that small businesses prepare a marketing strategy for that up-and-coming network. The first movers will dominate and connect with their consumers faster than their competitors will. Social-savvy small-business people know that taking advantage of social media to market their products and services can be a cost-effective way to drive sales and consumer engagement.

Using Snapchat as a marketing tool goes against everything you’ve learned about marketing from the dawn of time, which is creating repetition and staying in front of a potential customer as long as possible. On Snapchat, you have a limited amount of time for your target audience to see your promotion before it disappears forever.