Why your company needs to be on Snapchat (yes, Snapchat)

Maybe you haven’t used Snapchat quite yet. But by now you’ve definitely heard of it. The “ephemeral” network for sending pictures and videos that disappear shortly after viewing now has 100 million daily users, including an incredible 77 percent of college students, and is valued at north of $20 billion.

Those users log 10 billion daily video views, surpassing even Facebook’s numbers. Snapchat has even won unprecedented rights to show Olympic highlights this summer. One thing is clear: It’s definitely not just for teens anymore.

Not surprisingly, companies are finding creative ways to harness Snapchat, too. Early adopters like Taco Bell and Disney combine zany artwork, text overlays and video cameos from Internet stars to delight followers. Special “disappearing” promos and video teasers generate high engagement from users and build brand awareness.

For many businesses, however, the question becomes is it worth investing time in yet another social channel. These are still early days for Snapchat, and it’s easy to dismiss the network’s potential as a marketing tool.

But here are several reasons why it may be worth a second look for your company

It offers access to a coveted demographic.

Snapchat users are generally still young – very young. They’re mostly 13-25 years old, compared to Facebook users, who average out at 40 years old in the U.S. And, according to a recent study, teenage social media users now rank Snapchat ahead of Instagram, Facebook and Twitter as their favorite social network. For brands and media companies, forever trying to get tomorrow’s consumers hooked early, Snapchat offers a unique portal.

It’s (already) bigger than TV.

Last year, 40 million people tuned in to watch clips of the annual Coachella music festival – on Snapchat. The “Live Story” consisted of a short montage of videos taken at the event by users, then curated and broadcast by Snapchat staff via the app.

Compare that to this year’s Grammy awards in January, which drew a TV audience of just 20 million viewers. These numbers hint at a bigger trend: millennials from the ages of 14-25 now turn nearly equally to TV and social media as a source of news content. If the success of Snapchat’s Live Stories is any indicator, the company is poised to become a major player as a content provider.

It’s painless to experiment with.

With Facebook and other networks, posts are more or less permanent, and careful prep is required before leaving a digital footprint. But because Snapchat updates disappear, the network is inherently off-the-cuff and informal. High production value and polished posts aren’t expected (and may even be a turnoff to users).

This low barrier to entry makes Snapchat attractive to individuals and companies looking to test out new marketing concepts. Worst case scenario: Your effort flops and disappears into the ether. (One caveat: Determined followers can screenshot your updates – so don’t post anything too unsavoury.)

Advertising is getting better.