You share what you’re doing on a day-to-day basis with friends on Facebook. So why not include what happens at work? One good reason is you could get fired.

Companies don’t want to place their reputations at the mercy of unthinking posts. On the internet, word gets around quickly. The juicier the gossip and the crazier the photo, the faster it spreads. At times that means free, viral advertising. Other times it means embarrassing notoriety.

Cultures vary greatly from one company to another. Find out what yours expects when you post. Meanwhile, here are 3 dos and 3 don’ts that are suitable for every workplace.

3 Dos

#1. Be positive and upbeat.

Tell followers about new projects, company get-togethers and your new co-workers. This shows the human side of the business.

#2. Match your company’s tone and expectations.

If you’re smart, you take a good look at what others are wearing, so you can match the prevailing dress choices. Do the same with Facebook postings. If you work at an insurance company, the tone will most likely be more conservative. If you’re at a tech startup, it will probably be more relaxed.

#3. Proactively decide what is public and private.

Before you start posting on your Facebook account about work, decide what aspects are for public consumption. What do you want your supervisor to see? What do you want to keep private? Consider using another social media platform for private sharing.

3 Don’ts

#1. Don’t badmouth the company.

You may be frustrated with your supervisor or cubicle mate, but Facebook isn’t the place to mention it.

#2. Don’t take the day off and post that fact.

Mental health days are a fact of life. But you’re daring the fates if you post what you’ve done on your Facebook page.

#3. Never post about illegal activities.

So you and your friends went crazy over the weekend and stole a street sign and took photos. Don’t post the photos. Anything illegal like that can easily get you fired.

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Eight billion photos a day, from 100 million users! That’s how many get shared with the Shapchat app every single day around the world. Smart business owners want to tap into this huge social media platform.

Here is a look at what Snapchat is, who uses it, and how you can use it to promote your products and services.

What Is Snapchat?

Snapchat is an app that lets people share photos and videos. What they send self-destructs after the recipient views them. They will last for 24 hours if the sender saves them to the My Story function.

The app lets senders enhance their photos and videos with graphics and text. It has doodles and interactive filters to personalize the images.

Who Uses Snapchat?

Millennials are the big users of Snapchat. But other demographics also play a part. Here is a breakdown:

• 13 to 24 years old: More than 60 percent of this age group in the U.S. use Snapchat.
• 34 years old or under: More than 70 percent use the app.

Businesses also use Snapchat. Gatorade conducted a successful camping using the filter function. Users of the Gatorade Super Bowl filter could make it look like Gatorade was pouring over the heads of people in their images. Taco Bell used another app function called moments to send Valentine’s Day cards. The virtual cards, funny and customizable, were a big hit.

How Can You Use Snapchat?

Here are three ways to get attention on Snapchat:

• Set up a series of photos, or snaps, to show a day in the life of your business. Make sure it’s no more than 10 seconds long. Avoid boring at all costs. Entertain and try to engage with your viewers, not sell to them.

• Do you make commercials for your company? Send the bloopers and outtakes over Snapchat. People love to see what goes on behind the scenes.

• Offer good deals on your product or service via Snapchat, and do it in an entertaining way. For example, start a contest. Anyone who sends a snap showing him using your product gets a coupon.

Snapchat offers businesses a huge marketplace. With the right approach, you can raise your brand recognition and entice users to investigate what you offer.

Please contact Blast Creative for all of your Social Media Marketing needs!

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You’ve certainly heard of Snapchat by now, particularly given that the CEO turned down a $3 billion purchase offer from Facebook a few years back. The fledgling social media platform is now worth upwards of $20 billion, according to Forbes and Fortune – and that figure is only growing.

So, how is taking video with a short lifetime beneficial to helping you boost your business? It is precisely the fleeting nature of the interaction that makes it attractive to companies. The following are just a few of the tried-and-true methods for making this social media workhorse one of your platforms of choice.

Do a Video FAQ Using Snapchat

One thing that will never change about business is that your consumers will always have questions. It’s the reason most websites have a FAQ section; instead of hoping they navigate to that part of the site, do a Snapchat video and displaying the kind of dedication to customer issues that keeps them coming back. You can also use this feature to send out coupon information and promo codes.

Your Customers are a Part of Your Company

All this means is that you can use Snapchat to increase engagement by being inclusive. For example, GrubHub used Snapchat to include their users in a campaign that involved promotions and giveaways; they experienced a whopping 20% increase in new users after their exclusive Snapchat campaign. If you always remember to employ the platform to engage your followers and provide them with valuable information, then there’s little reason why a campaign like this can’t work for you, too.

Additionally, being inclusive also means showing them how your company works and what’s going on behind the scenes. For example, if you sell the kinds of products that are amenable to conventions – take “Snaps” while there of interesting things and send them to your followers; studies show that this keeps them engaged.

Touch on Social Issues

Although this one can be a bit dicey if not done correctly, it represents a tremendous opportunity to connect with your audience. First off, you should use Analytics to identify your demographic; then, you can better tailor your snaps to represent social issues that concern them. Dove soap did this by jumping on the body image bandwagon to resonate with young women. Soap doesn’t have much to do with body image per se; but their core group of buyers is certainly concerned with this issue – so it works out very well for both parties.

Just think of Snapchat as the most modern distillation of the essence of communication – conveying a story or message. What better way to do that than with images; and better yet, video that captivates and holds the attention of your audience? As a business, you can hardly ask for much more than that.

Contact Blast Creative for all of your Social Media Marketing needs!

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