Can Snapchat Add Value to Marketers?

Snapchat’s Current Value to Digital Marketers

A picture says a thousand words. Businesses are beginning to use Snapchat to promote themselves through this new short-term visual message format. The best part for Digital Marketers is that it is a cost effective way to gain brand visibility and carry messages to massive amounts of audiences. Here’s a preview of how a recent Snapchat promotion run by New York City based yoghurt shop 16 Handles worked:

How I think Snapchat can enhance their business model and value add the marketing community

Snapchat recently rejected a proposed buyout of $3Billion made by Facebook which sparked off a firestorm of commentary criticizing Snapchat’s lack of a sustainable business model to move from generating eyeballs to generating revenue.

Instead of operating as a standalone OTT Social Media Mobile App, Snapchat might be more valuable if it works with Telco Providers to provide Location Based Services (LBS). Snapchat now becomes a mobile marketing tool. So for example, to boost traffic to 16 Handles’ new stores or stores which are losing human traffic to nearby competitors eg. Sour Sally Yoghurt Parlour, marketers can now use Snapchat to send the discount coupon to potential customers in the Telco’s subscriber base who are in the vicinity to influence impulse buying. Alternatively, they might even consider sending the discount to potential customers who are in Sour Sally’s Yoghurt Parlour across the street to influence their buying decision (for those who have not purchased).

Snapchat can then generate revenue by charging marketers for Real Time Customer Targetting based on Cost Per Thousand Impressions. Snapchat splits the revenue with the Telco based on Partnership Agreement

For a start, this is what I can think of. Do share too, what you guys think can be a viable business model for Snapchat.