Can Business Utilize Snapchat?

A growing concern for those seeking jobs is their web presence. More and more employers are searching for their applicants online, and the last thing an applicant should want is for an incriminating picture of themselves to pop up in the Google search. Future employees are being warned to take down pictures on their Facebook and Instagram accounts that are deemed unprofessional. Recently a new picture-sharing app has been sweeping the nation where this will no longer be a concern, as these pictures delete themselves!

The latest social media fad that utilizes user-generated content is Snapchat. According to the Snapchat website, “Snapchat is a new way to share moments with friends. Snap an ugly selfie or a video, add a caption, and send it to a friend (or maybe a few). They’ll receive it, laugh, and then the snap disappears. The image might be a little grainy, and you may not look your best, but that’s the point. It’s about the moment, a connection between friends, and not just a pretty picture.”

I will admit that I have yet to jump into the Snapchat frenzy, but I have seen how popular it is. I can’t go through a Friday night without having to have my picture taken by one of my friends or roommates for a Snapchat sent to somebody else. While this may seem like a silly app right now, with it’s growing popularity it is hard to imagine that businesses won’t try to cash in on this fad as well. Here are a couple ideas I have with how businesses may try to cash in on the new app:

•          Limited-Time Offers: Companies often like to promote their products and services through offers for a limited time, so why not advertise through a medium that has a limited time as well? Advertisements through snapchat would be a new and innovative way for consumers to learn about deals, and may create a sense of urgency for them to cash in on the deals.

•          Promotional Give-Aways: Many companies give away coupons in order to promote their brand, products, or services. Businesses may begin to use Snapchat as a means to give away coupons. They may tell their consumers to Snapchat a picture of themselves using their product, or something of that nature, and then they will send a coupon to those who do it.

•          Guerilla Marketing: Wikipedia defines guerilla marketing as an advertising strategy in which low-cost unconventional mean are utilized to promote a product or idea. Snapchat can be an outlet for companies to send out creative, and even weird advertisements in such a way that will get consumers talking about your product, as they will have to since they can't look at it whenever they want.

5 Must-have Free Apps to Improve Your Business

Lately, people don't even have to browse the web anymore because more than likely whatever they're looking for, there's an app for that! There are nearly 1,000,000 apps out there, so how do you find the right app for what you're looking for? Here are just a few that focus on business and social activities related to business.

1. Bump

This app allows you to share documents, information, photos, video, etc. quickly and easily by just "bumping" phones. It is then easily transferred to your computer. 

2. Easy Note + To Do

Constantly making to do lists on multiple pieces of paper and forgetting where you put them? Easy Note + To Do is an easy app to help organize, assign, prioritize, and check things off as you go. 

3. Instagram

As many already know, this app allows you to take pictures and transform them instantly with easy uploads to Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Flickr, and Foursquare.

4. DocuSign Ink

Rather than have to sign documents then scan, fax, or mail them out, this app makes it easy to sign, send and store documents.  You can even create and save your signature in different formats, fonts, and colors.

5. CardMunch Business Card Reader by LinkedIn

Have a big stack of business cards and no where to put them? Now you can have them all in one easy place. This app lets you convert business cards to address book contacts and upload them to LinkedIn as connections. 

Apps can help save time and enable things to be done anywhere, anytime.  These 5 aren't even the beginning of helpful apps, but can help you start a core group of apps that can be used on a regular basis. So start exploring what apps you can use to make life and business a little bit easier!

Also - guess who got Twitter?! Check it out! @kaylabostwickk

User-Generated Content and the REI 1440 Project

In my last blog post I talked about how businesses are promoting their brand through Instagram. Instagram, and many other social media sites allow businesses to interact with their consumers on these platforms, which use “user-generated content (UGC).” A big question when businesses use these sites is if it is still considered user-generated content when a business is the one publishing the content?

A couple weeks ago I was able to attend a lecture by Paolo Mottola, the Digital Engagement Program Manager at REI.  He said a good way for a company to use user-generated content is to support marketing campaigns with incentives for utilizing user-generated content. He stated a better way to utilize UGC is to give customers the spotlight. But according to Paolo, the best way to utilize UGC is to make UGC part of the customer experience. REI is trying to integrate UGC with the customer experience in their most recent marketing endeavor, the REI 1440 project.

According to the site, the REI 1440 Project is “A celebration of every minute spent outside.” The project is essentially a “minute by minute timeline making up a 24 hour day” where people can submit photos of themselves doing activities outside and enjoying outdoors. The hope is for numerous photos to be sent every minute of the “virtual day” (1440 minutes total, hence the name of the project).

Here is the link to the site:

http://www.rei1440project.com/

On the timeline you can search for pictures based on time, location, or activity. Viewers can upload their photos, and by adding to the timeline REI hopes they feel they are part of a greater community that shares their love of the outdoor, upon which they will direct this positive feeling to the REI brand. While the 1440 project doesn’t direct consumers directly to the products they sell, the project is still a benefit to the company because they are building up their brand by having consumers share their pictures on their site, essentially displaying what cool things you can do with the gear and clothes you purchase at REI.  Since it’s inception the 1440 project has had over 1 million visitors, and all this advertising is being done at virtually no cost to REI. With the success of the 1440 project it will be interesting to see if other organizations begin to integrate the UGC with their customer experiences.

Business and the Instagram Fad

One of the most common mediums of user-generated content is the picture. Millions of people are uploading and sharing pictures on the Internet every day. There are many sites that enable people to share and look at other’s pictures including Facebook, Flickr, and Picasa.

One site that has reshaped how we share photos is Instagram. Here is how instagram “introduces” itself on its webpage.

“Meet Instagram

It’s a fast, beautiful, and fun way to share your photos with friends and family.

Snap a picture, choose a filter to transform its look and feel, then post it to Instagram. Share to Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr too – it’s as easy as pie. It’s photo sharing, reinvented.”

While Instagram is a fun way for individuals to see what their friends and families are up to, many companies have also created a page or account in order to advertise their company and brand. Two such companies are Starbucks and Patagonia. Here is a photo of each of their Instagram sites.

Such sites allow companies to build up their brand identity without directly advertising their products and services. The majority of Starbucks photos are pictures of coffee being brewed outside of a commercial Starbucks setting, and Patagonia’s photos involve people going on various outdoor adventures. Through these photos they are indirectly advertising their company by using cool photos to increase their brand awareness.

Instagram is not a one-dimensional site. Companies can link their photos from Instagram to other sites such as their own personal webpage, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. You can also use hashtags on your photos so that you can track people who are promoting or talking about your brand. Some companies even have Instagram contests to promote their brand. Last summer Red Bull had a contest to promote their King of the Rock competition, asking it’s followers to “Take a picture of you holding a basketball in the most unexpected or surprising location you can think of to play ball” and the winner won tickets to the Red Bull King of the Rock Finals in San Francisco.

Have a favorite company that you follow on instagram? Let us know about it by writing why you love their photos in our comment section!