By Courtney Jacobs, Account Intern

Snapchat has existed for under 5 years, yet has achieved incredible numbers such as 100 million daily users and 10 billion daily views, making it an acknowledged rival of Facebook. Most businesses have created their own pages on Facebook for posting original and curated content, and many have joined Facebook-owned Instagram as well. But with the growth and popularity of Snapchat, should your business add it to your marketing arsenal? Here are some questions to consider:

Is Your Target Millennials?

Before Snapchat gained this strength, back when it was known only as the “sexting app” in headlines, Facebook had a monopoly on the millennial generation. Now, Snapchat reaches 41% of all 18 to 34 year olds in the United States and reports that 45% of its users are under 25. This gives Snapchat an upper hand on a demographic marketers want. Whereas Facebook and Instagram include this demographic, Snapchat has the strongest concentration of those under-25.

Does Your Brand Need Personality?

Businesses can use Snapchat in 1 of 2 ways. You can either create an account and post to your Story or you can pay Snapchat as an advertiser and have geofilters and advertisements on the Discover page. These are custom ways to interact with users on a personal level because Snapchat is one of the most private forms of social media. Users choose who they follow and what they view. They’re looking for videos and photos from businesses that show an inside look or share an experience, just as a friend would. If your brand personality translates well into informal, in-the-moment video and photography, then Snapchat is the perfect platform for you to communicate it directly to millennials.

Do You Need A Guaranteed ROI?

Snapchat has yet to develop a native tool for its metrics, which keeps many businesses feeling left in the dark as far as knowing if their Snapchat is successful at reaching their target or not. There are a few ways to judge whether your Story is reaching people, like looking at completion rates and the number of screenshots. However, running your own account is much more an opportunity to build your brand personality than to convert users into consumers. This yields an uncertain ROI, but given the app is free it’s an ideal time for experimentation.

Paid advertisers have more statistics surrounding their investment. Snapchat reports that its ads get twice as much visual attention as Facebook and 1.5 times as much as Instagram. However, to have this presence on Snapchat your business must drop hundreds of thousands of dollars on an ad spot.

Are You Innovative?

This might be the most important question. Snapchat takes daily updating so that your Story pops up on followers’ pages. It takes an eye for funny, interesting or aesthetically-pleasing pictures and videos. Lastly, it takes an excitement for trying new things. Snapchat is constantly innovating and it’s the early adopters of these features, such as Story, the Discover page, geofilters and now, the soon-to-be-released Memories, that stand out. Be ready to try new things because after all it’s all temporary.