Have you heard on Snapchat? At first, I thought it was just for random selfies, and funny photos to friends… but since I’ve been using it a little more, I love using this App and see it’s amazing potential! Recently, I’ve started making Snapchat stories, which are basically a collection of photos or short films from whatever you are doing that day – only available for your followers to view for 24 hours.

Like anyone, I love behind-the-scenes content and exclusive sneak peeks from brands and products I like and use. But why should you care about yet another social media platform?

Snapchat is one of the fastest growing social media platforms with people worldwide! Users are sending more than 700 million snaps and viewing 500 million “Stories” daily. One of the developers explained that Snapchat is intended to counteract the trend of users being compelled to manage an idealised online identity of themselves, which he says has “taken all of the fun out of communicating”.

Top 3 reasons I love Snapchat:

1) It’s quick. You have to film or shoot things in the moment, content is fairly quick and easy to produce, but must be filmed or shot in the moment, versus uploaded from a camera roll. It’s an easy and authentic way to share your day to day life with others, in real time.

2) It’s fun. On Instagram, I love posting images of weddings I’ve shot, and other well composed images – consistent to my feed. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Instagram. The two are very different in terms of engagement and user experience. I feel freer using Snapchat because it’s fast and it’s not a photo storing gallery.

3) It’s exclusive. Everyone loves sneak peeks, teasers and behind the scenes content! Because your snaps are deleted after you view them, it makes it even more exclusive! For example, I got my sister Lydia to make a Snapshot Story for me on the day of my wedding photography workshop, Planted with Light. I also love how the makeup brand Nars (‘narsissist’ on Snapchat) used the App to give followers a 3 second sneak peek from their new collection. Snapchat gives you exclusive insight into the people and personalities behind brands you care about.

Snapchat is all about being casual and relatable. As with any type of social media, Snapchat gives you a chance to portray the true intentions and mission of who you are, giving people fun, easy, and exclusive content of your life behind the scenes of your brand and business.

If you want to add me on Snapchat, here’s my username – katerphoto

I love following: thealexbeadon

Do you use snapchat? Who are your favourite brands or people to follow? I’d love to hear from you!