If you are marketing to millennials, chances are you already advertise (or at least have a presence) on Snapchat. With the emergence of Snapchat’s latest map feature comes a lot of opportunity for brick-and-mortar and event-based businesses to make their mark.

There have been varying opinions on the development of the Snap Map, ranging from “super cool” to “super creepy”. Regardless, The Snap Map has taken off with young users all over the world, and marketers need to yield to this development.

The map shows users where their friends are at any given time (users only show up if the Snapchat app is running), and features story ‘hot spots’ where major events are taking place. Users can submit their own stories and see other user-submitted content on the hot spots located on the map.

So, what does this mean for marketers? There’s now a broadened potential to serve your audience based on Snap Map hot spots (say that five times fast), enabling you to craft timely, location-based content.

Though you currently cannot interact with users right from the map and there aren’t any direct advertising options for the map (yet), there are still numerous ways to use this feature to gain insight on what your audience is snapping, where they are snapping it, and how you can fit into the equation.

Snap Inc., Snapchat’s parent company, recently purchased Placed, which helps advertisers track real-world purchases and store visits. Both of these moves have been incredibly calculated as they see the potential in location-based advertising.

Still failing to see the need for location-based marketing on Snapchat? Fun fact: Snapchat users (combined) watch over 10 billion videos per day—an increase of more than 350% since 2015, compared to 5 billion video views on YouTube. That number is due to increase significantly with the ability to easily view content on a global level.

Start Using Snapchat Like an Everyday User

 

Take your marketing hat off and think of how you use Snapchat. Which kinds of stories resonate with you the most? What kind of content do you find useful, entertaining, or helpful? How does Snapchat entertain you or provide value?

Not a Snapchat user? You can still develop content like one.

Pay Attention to What & Where Your Audience is Snapping

 

Oppenheimer analyst Jason Helfstein weighs in on the growing targeting availabilities on Snapchat, and who needs to be paying attention. “Who spends the most time hanging out in shopping malls, going to the movies, dining at fast-food chains, and buying branded apparel? Snap is gradually building content discovery that should appeal to advertisers looking to target young people at specific times and locations”, he said.

Create a Geofilter

 

Want to become one of the hot spots on the map? Create a branded Geofilter overlay if you haven’t already. You can choose the ‘fence’ in which your filter will show up. Keep in mind, the bigger the fence, the more you will pay. Don’t worry, you won’t have to compete with a dancing hotdog or the flower crown filter because your filter will be included in the lineup (within the geofence you have specified).

If design isn’t your forte, you can build on-demand geofilters that contain customizable ready-made templates.

Create an Offer

 

Studies show that 58 percent of college students would be more likely to purchase a brand’s product or service if they were sent a coupon on Snapchat.

Create a story with a one-day sale (since stories only last for 24 hours) to prompt urgency and action. If you want to extend the sale, make a series of stories to roll out over the length of the sale. Don’t forget to cross-promote your sale on your other social platforms, but reiterate that the coupon or offer is Snapchat exclusive. This will incent your audience to follow you there if they don’t already.