Tips for Today: 3 “New” Social Media Apps

As a small business owner, you’re likely familiar with the marketing and customer engagement power of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. But what about the “newer” video apps like Snapchat, Periscope and Vine? Below, we’ll review how your business can use these tools to connect with a new generation of customers.

Snapchat

While most people use Snapchat to connect with friends, many brands are having success using it to promote their business! With Snapchat, users can send photo and video messages one at a time, and the messages expire after a time period you set. You’ll find it most useful for promoting new products (like Taco Bell does, below) or for showing your customers “behind the scenes” at your small business. Like most social media tools, Snapchat is a great forum for humanizing your brand.

Periscope

Periscope is a live video streaming app – allowing people to see the world through the lens of someone else. Essentially, Periscope allows your brand to “go live” via your smartphone from any location, at any time of the day or night.We think Periscope is a great venue for live streaming important events at your business (grand opening, special guests, customer events) or hosting live Q&A or feedback forums with your customers! Real time engagement is something that is unique to Periscope.

Vine

While not as “new” as the previous apps, Vine is still a relatively foreign concept to most small business owners. Vine allows users to make six-second looping videos that they can share with their social network. While 6 seconds sounds like an insanely short amount of time for a marketing video, most users have found that the shortness of the clips can inspire creativity. Plus, short clips are likely to be watched and shared. We love Vine for instructional videos (like Lowe’s does below) –  you can show your customers how to style an outfit, how to properly open a bottle of Champagne, or how to assemble a cheese plate. You can also use it to show your products in action (a bike shop can show bikes on the road or on the trails), or use Vine to entertain your customers (with a funny video of a dog visiting your restaurant).

Do you use any of these social media apps for marketing your small business?