Snap Maps, a Snapchat feature that allows you to see where your Snapchat friends are and what they’re doing (unless disabled), is undeniably creepy: sometimes, I have friends text me, “Where are you flying to?” after I’ve boarded a plane… and my bitmoji has boarded her own plane simultaneously, on Snap Maps; or, my brother will text me, “What are you doing at home on a Saturday night, loser,” when he sees my bitmoji chilling on the couch at home, with me. The creepy part is, I don’t need to update anything on Snapchat for Snap Map’s to update itself to my current location–it happens automatically, as long as I’m using the app.

But this also means great things for businesses, and since we’re just at the forefront of this revelation, I think it’s a great way for small businesses to get ahead of the curve. I mean, sure, it’s annoying to know my brother can see what I’m doing every second of the day… but how valuable is it for you, as a small business, to have the same opportunity to see what potential customers are up to… right now?

Sidenote: There are two ways to get the Snap Map information you need… first, you can simply have employees check their own personal Snapchat accounts to see what their friends are doing; or, you can make a Snapchat account for your business, and try to follow as many of your clients/customers as possible (perhaps provide some incentive, like 5% off a purchase if they become friends with you on Snapchat?).

Track Your Customer’s Sleep Times

You can log onto Snap Maps to see which of your friends bitmojis’ are considered “asleep.” Why is this a good thing? (In most realms, it’s probably not). Well, let’s say you’re gearing up to post a Facebook post about your new 24-hour sale at 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning, but then you see your fellow bitmojis are all asleep! Looks like it’s wise to wait until 10 a.m., when you see the bitmojis are up and moving. That’s pretty valuable intel.

Create Actions for Your Customer’s Bitmojis to Complete

Bitmojis can do a variety of actions: they can build sandcastles, hop in a car or on a plane, listen to music, and dance at a festival–but guess what else they might be able to do, using this same technology? Share your brand.

Think about designing an action that any Snapchat user can do when they buy your product or enter your store–for instance, if you own a tennis shop, perhaps you could create a tennis-playing action, so these bitmojis can check out your tennis racquets on Snap Maps while your real customers try them out, as well. Not only will this spread your brand (i.e. if I see my best friend’s bitmoji chilling at a cafe and drinking coffee, I might say, “Hey, where are you right now?”), but it can also create more foot traffic to your store, when bitmojis (and real people) want to get in on the action, too.

Become a Glowing Hotspot

See those eerie glowing spots on your map? Click on one, and you can see local stories from that location, which shows if something interesting or important is happening. If I see hotspots near me, I click on them because I’m curious if it’s something I should know about. So think about how great it would be if your sale, or event, could become a glowing hotspot. Consider creating some sort of user engagement that requires customers who enter your store to post stories about your sale or event to a local Snap Story.

Find out Real-Life Analytics About Your Store

If customers can “check-in” at your location on Snapchat, you can put together the data to figure out when most people are in or near your store–it’s easy enough to give incentive for someone to do this, by creating a point system or giving away prizes if someone checks-in at your location. I mean, the whole point of the map is to be able to see who is near you and what they’re doing, and although in a personal sense, this is borderline-stalker-fuel, in a professional sense, I can’t think of anything more valuable, can you?

At the very least, maybe engaging a little with your customers on Snapchat, and Snap Maps, is an easy way to look accessible, and even “hip,” with a younger demographic… like that cool uncle who understands technology a little before the rest of the family.

Can you think of other ways to use Snapchat, and Snap Maps, for small businesses? Comment below!