The Business of SnapChat 

What it means for the natural hair industry.   

I graduated with a bachelor's degree in marketing management and went straight into recruiting high school students for a college program as my first and only job. Although I was good at sales, that was the only immediate skill I had. As for everything that I learned in my “marketing management program,” well let’s just say it immediately became obsolete. Theory and practice are two entirely different things and as I began job hunting in the field more closely tied to my major I discovered that my skills were not relevant. Fast forward 1 master degree, and 8 years later I start my own business, a natural hair and beauty business.

What is my strong point? Marketing. What is my weak point? Marketing. I consider myself currently enrolled in the Hard Knox MBA Program at Carmella Marie Inc. My first initial reaction with the business was to educate those around me on how to make natural products for themselves and oh by the way I make hair care products right? Right. With that said, I sold product without selling. As time passed by I was doing so many classes (for free in person) that I kept selling more and more product. What I did not do was implement this same strategy on my social media platforms. Rather I was pushing product onto an uninformed consumer when I should have been getting to know them and answer the questions they had. Thus, sales were never as good online as they were in person. Fast forward two and a half years later, and I am finally having that Ah Ha Moment. Do not sale, but tell a story and let the story be real and unpolished, so people can see who you truly  are.

2016 I joined SnapChat. At first I was afraid because it was new and I couldn’t figure out for the life of me how to find people to follow. But, with research and time I got the hang of it. What I discovered is that SnapChat is a way to tell your story in an organic manner. Since SnapChat is comprised most of teens ages 13-17 this is the prime opportunity to build an audience with future consumers. If your goal is to be in the natural hair care business for the long run you must start building your next generation of naturalists now. This is why SnapChat is so imperative to your company. The big surprise to SnapChat? People can’t discover you, they have to know your username in order to follow you. Consequently you have to use your other platforms to tell them to follow you on SnapChat. With SnapChat you can have more face to face interaction with your followers. If done correctly those whom you SnapChat with will feel more like family rather than followers. The overall goal one should have for their company is to have family and not followers. Because followers can un-follow immediately but you never quit on family.

Follow Carmella Marie on SnapChat Right Now CarmellaMarie30 or copy this picture and use the code to follow.