Some people don’t understand how obvious it is when social media platforms go through life stages and have the ability to reach a specific audience, especially with a high percentage of indulged content.
Most don’t see that these platforms start off young, start off consumer based, start in a niche, and then go mainstream.
When an app hits 100,000,000 active users, it has gone mainstream and will end up moving into a mature stage of its lifecycle. What does this mean? It means it opens up deeper business opportunities.
Apps start to gain attention by the youngest generation or at the least, the millennials, and if successful attract attention to users aged 35-65. Once this older group is attracted, you now have the right eyes on the app to put yourself in a B2B (business to business) situation.
I always like to say “Behind every B is a C,” meaning, behind every business there is a human making a decision. If you are selling a product to a large corporate company, a human is still making that decision. If you’re able to make content on a platform sparking attention to a specified industry, you’ve put yourself in a position to do B2B business where others want to pay you for that eye space. The point is not to be publishing “work” stuff. It is to humanize a brand, show thought leadership, and bring consumers or clients into your culture.
Snapchat is not the place that I would recommend doing B2B activity right now but places like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Medium for articles are the best options. I am completely convinced that in 2-3 years, as the platform dramatically ages up and starts hitting the older demographics of 30 to 50, there will be enormous possibilities.
Snapchat will be an excellent place for B2B players who act like media and entertainment companies that create stories to bring value to their end users. Many celebrities have massive followings on snapchat and can control their personal content; who says endorsements through snapchat haven’t already started to happen? Users will find their niche and their audience, allowing them to disproportionately pick up business. Meanwhile, their competitors will still be debating the ROI of Snapchat. These companies who wait, will be left behind if they can’t adapt and mature with the evolution of these platforms.
The reason I believe B2B will be so successful on Snapchat is because I see it as being very similar to YouTube. Snapchat might be a different context, but it could become an entertainment platform. YouTube started as an entertainment platform, and it has become a search engine, the second largest in the world. The amount of how-to videos available on it, information, and DIYs is insane. I feel that Snapchat will get on the same level.
When Snapchat or users figure out a way around the 10 second video clips or how they can upload their footage to new accessible public places… you will see a huge change with the traffic levels.
Don’t wait too long, don’t wait until it’s too noisy and crowded to see the huge advantages and upside you’re looking for. Analyze your opportunity cost at squeezing your current marketing efforts and move on to the next big thing.
Remember that attention is the number one asset. You always need to be ready to shift, to go where people are spending their time. In 2016, for an enormous number of people, that place will be Snapchat. The platform evolved very quickly in 2015 and showed their full potential.
