Is Your Practice Ready For Snapchat?

Nowadays it’s difficult to keep track of the numerous social media platforms that seem to come and go. We could list a bunch of them off, but there’s a chance that by the time this publishes, the platforms may already be taken down.

However, there’s one social media platform that became prominent just a few years ago, and it’s still going strong– Snapchat. Snapchat has over 100 million daily active users, with 54% of Snapchat users logging in every day¹. With Snapchat, you share time-sensitive photos and videos (called Snaps) to your followers. A snap can be viewed up to 10 seconds before the photo or video disappears. Face-swapping, silly filters, messaging, and other functions are what have made this phone app successful. It can be a lot of fun to use Snapchat with friends, but you may be wondering how can it help your practice.

Here are a three key features Snapchat has recently implemented that can help enhance your brand:

1. Snapcodes: QR codes are still extremely popular in the social media game. Snapchat makes this a little more fun with a Snapcode. These codes create a simple and fun way for your patients to add your practice to their Snapchat friends list quickly. You simply pull up snapchat and take a photo of the code. Within seconds, a friend request is sent! Our advice: print out your practice’s QR code and frame it on your front desk to help increase the audience you want to reach– your patients!
2. Snapchat Stories: A Snapchat Story is a place that allows all of your followers to see your photos and videos. Simply swipe right to find the tab labeled “Stories.” Snapchat is a lot of fun for friends, but as a business, we do not recommend directly messaging, or just sending photos/videos back and forth with a handful of patients. You will want to post all of your snaps on your Snapchat Story. For example, you could post photos or videos of your waiting room, silly office staff photos, or special marketing offers. You can keep track and see how many people have seen your story, and if someone sees something compelling, (like a special Invisalign offer or discount on cleanings for life) and they wish to interact with you, they can send you a message directly from your story.
3. Custom Geofilters: One of the most popular Snapchat features is the filter system. You can make yourself look like a puppy, a kitten, or even wear funny glasses. However, we recommend taking advantage of Snapchat’s Geofilters. A Geofilter, is a fun way to share where you are or what you’re up to, by adding an overlay to your snap². This allows you to create your own fun and personalized filter to show that your practice is the place to be! You can also create a “location fence” as small as around your practice, or as big as around your entire city. One thing to keep in mind is that a geofilter can cost variable rates depending on what you’re trying to do. No need to worry, when you create your filter on the Snapchat website, they will give you the pricing.

Like a lot of practices using social media, you can learn a lot from trial and error. If you’re a practice that wants to show off all the fun you’re having in real-time, Snapchat might be the right fit for you!

Here at Sesame, we’re always trying to educate and help practices succeed within the social media realm. While Sesame doesn’t offer Snapchat management services (this is an in-office on a daily basis, real time, type of social media presence), our Sesame Social team is always ready to give you some fun and fresh ideas for your Snapchat account!

Resources:

1. Hootsuite Blog

2. Snapchat Support Site