Any marketer today knows the importance of social media. From Facebook to Instagram to Twitter to Snapchat to Vine to Pinterest, each platform offers unique features for different audiences. Social media also makes it possible for your marketing campaign to live on in the digital world and spread your message.

You may understand it’s important to include a social element in your marketing campaign, but do you know which platform is right for you? Or where to get started? In this series, we’ll take a look at different social media networks and walk through the pros, the cons and the different use cases for each. First up: Snapchat.

Oh, Snap!

What it is: A mobile messaging application that lets users snap a photo or video, add a caption, drawing or filter and send it to a friend.

Users can set a time limit for how long friends can view their snaps (1-10 seconds) and after that it disappears; deleted from any recipient’s phone and Snapchat’s servers. There’s also an option to add a snap to a user’s “Story,” in which a snap is available for everyone on his or her friend’s list and will disappear 24 hours after posting.

Why you should care: There are an estimated 100 million average monthly users on Snapchat, most between 18-30 years old. These users are sending more than 700 million photos and videos a day and Snapchat Stories content is viewed more than 500 million times per day. The other key point is engagement: users have to hold down on their screen in order to view a snap, which means the distractions other platforms experience are out of the picture. It’s just you and them, for 1-10 seconds.

What to watch out for: It rhymes with shmadvertising and shmoney. Snapchat is asking brands for $750,000 a day for its new ads; a price that has many recoiling but seems fine for brands with big budgets like McDonalds, Macy’s and Samsung. The good news is, if a $750,000 ad spend isn’t on your budget, there are other ways to get creative and take advantage of this app.

How to use it: If there’s one thing we’ve learned about Snapchat over the last few months it’s that the app is far from being limited to a photo and video sharing service for teenagers. It has kept busy working with brands and marketers, proving to be an innovative tool to reach target audiences in unique and engaging ways. In addition to rolling out Snapchat ads, “Our Story,” geofilters and chat functionality, the app also has its eye on becoming a publisher with its “Discover” feature, expected to launch soon. Brands, publishers, media and celebrities have all taken to Snapchat to get closer with their audiences. Here are some different ways to utilize the app and get creative to integrate it into your marketing campaign.

• Behind the scenes content: This is great for major events, like a red carpet award show, or your favorite sports team or band. The New York Rangers, for example, are just one of the NHL teams showing access to players, practices, locker room scenes and travel in the life of a NY Ranger hockey player.

• Special access promotions/coupons: The best example of this is to give credit to the first brand to really tap into Snapchat’s potential for marketing: 16 Handles. In its “Snappy New Year” campaign, 16 Handles instructed users to snap a photo of them or their friends tasting any 16 Handles flavor, send it to username Love16Handles and in return, they would receive a coupon.

• Celebrity takeovers: It’s important to note here that social media has also affected the definition of “celebrity.” Or rather, there’s a new category of fame: The social media celebrity. Logan Paul, for example, is cutting deals with brands like Hanes and Mondelez’s South Patch Kids all because of an app called Vine. (More on that later in the series!) Sour Patch Kids enlisted Paul to take over its Snapchat account documenting pranks he pulled in New York as part of its “Real-life Sour Patch Kid” campaign.

• Tease a product launch or event: McDonald’s tapped into LeBron James as a teaser for its new commercial and sandwich earlier in 2014. It’s important to note how Snapchat integrates with other social media platforms as well to complement each other and in turn, your campaign. McDonald’s used Twitter to tease its presence on Snapchat to tease the sandwich. It’s the new circle of life.

There are so many other brands doing great, entertaining and creative things on Snapchat, and the platform will no doubt continue to evolve. As you can see, a lot of these different tactics overlap and mesh well with each other depending on what you are trying to achieve. If you’re looking for a low-cost (mostly, unless you are showing an ad), creative way to engage with your audience, Snapchat is a great way to go. Happy snapping!