How Snapchat and Periscope Can Grow a Business

Do you want to use Snapchat for business?

Wondering how to incorporate your brand into live stories?

To explore how to use Periscope and Snapchat for business, I interview John Kapos.
More About This Show
The Social Media Marketing podcast is an on-demand talk radio show from Social Media Examiner. It's designed to help busy marketers and business owners discover what works with social media marketing.

In this episode, I interview John Kapos, part of a long family line of chocolatiers who have run Perfection Chocolates in Australia since 1939. Online he's known as Chocolate Johnny. He's very active on Snapchat, Instagram, and Periscope.

John shares how marketing on Snapchat has affected his business.

You'll discover creative ideas to help your own business succeed with Periscope, Snapchat, and Instagram Stories.

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Here are some of the things you'll discover in this show:
How Snapchat and Periscope Can Grow a Business
How John Got Started With Snapchat

John shares that his store in Sydney, Australia gets bombarded with kids at the end of the school day, and he had begun to notice his sons and their friends using Snapchat. Even though he was told he's "too old" for Snapchat, he decided to take a chance.

John, a self-described early adopter, started on Facebook and then got involved with Instagram. While he felt Instagram was cleaner, nicer, and crisper, he loved the functionality of Snapchat. For example, it let him do a video and include titles, add music, and so on.

In the beginning, John posted photos of customers and chocolate, as well as videos of him introducing himself and making treats.

In one of those early promos, he posted a picture and told his followers to screenshot it and then come in for a free hot chocolate. Two people did just that, and John shares that he's had as many as 60 people come to the store in response to a similar promotion.

Now, John explains, his Snapchat stories all have a beginning, a middle, and an end, and all have a tie to chocolate. Each story also has a call to action such as Come to Perfection Chocolates, Come to the website, Come to meet me, or Be part of the party.

For example, a Snapchat promotion of his Star Wars chocolate products began with an image of Han Solo and the text, "I'm in a dilemma. Help Me." The middle was an explanation of what John was making. The story ended with a call to action: "Please screenshot and tell me which one is better: milk chocolate or dark chocolate." A total of 63 people responded.

Listen to the show to discover how using Snapchat has turned John's store into a global brand.

Working Your Brand Into Snapchat Stories

Everyone has a story, John believes, and he says it's all about getting out of your comfort zone and telling your story.

People tell John he's got an advantage because he's promoting chocolate, and everybody loves chocolate. However, John doesn't think that should make a difference, and shares that he's helped a dentist create funny stories that make children want to come and see him, and a mechanic in New Zealand build a story around how to change a tire.

John reiterates that anyone can create stories with any product, they just have to step out of the box.

For example, he explains, spotting a large chocolate Easter egg in his store inspired a Snapchat video about two chocolate rabbits that mated to produce a 10-pound chocolate egg, out of which came a white chocolate elephant.

John also creates stories about his characters, Johnny Chocolate, a chocolate 'dealer'; Johnny's bodyguard, Frankie; and Johnny's drag-queen girlfriend, Vanilla Chocolate.

Listen to the show to hear what happened when John set out to prove he could go a week without using chocolate in his snaps.