Snapchat is a multimedia messaging app that thrives on ephemeral content, augmented reality (AR), and a predominantly young user base. It offers a unique blend of disappearing messages, stories, and AR filters that encourage frequent interaction and creativity among users. Beyond personal communication, Snapchat has evolved into a dynamic platform for creators and brands to connect with audiences in innovative ways.
For Creators:
- Spotlight: This feature allows creators to showcase their short-form video content to a vast audience and potentially earn money from a dedicated reward pool.
- Creator Marketplace: Facilitates collaborations between creators and brands for sponsored content opportunities, streamlining the process of securing partnerships.
- Gifts: Fans can send virtual gifts to their favorite creators using Snap Tokens, providing an additional revenue stream for creators.
- Snap Stars: Top creators can become Snap Stars, gaining access to exclusive monetization features like branded content deals and merchandise integration through Shopify.
- Lens Studio: A powerful tool for creating AR experiences, enabling creators to design unique and engaging filters and lenses.
For Brands:
- AR Lenses & Filters: Brands can leverage AR to create immersive experiences that resonate with Snapchat’s young audience and enhance brand awareness.
- Snap Ads: Various ad formats, including Story Ads, Snap Ads, and Collection Ads, allow brands to reach specific demographics and drive conversions.
- Brand Profiles: These profiles offer features like product catalogs, shoppable AR lenses, and swipe-up capabilities, creating a seamless shopping experience within the app.
- Creator Partnerships: Brands can collaborate with influential creators to promote products or services authentically and tap into their engaged audience.
- Business Manager: This centralized platform simplifies ad management, audience targeting, and performance tracking for brands.
Unique Aspects:
- Ephemeral Content: The disappearing nature of Snaps and Stories encourages frequent interaction and a sense of urgency among users.
- Augmented Reality: Snapchat is a leader in AR technology, providing brands and creators with innovative ways to connect with users.
- Young Audience: The platform’s predominantly Gen Z audience makes it an ideal space for brands targeting younger demographics.
- Creator-Focused Tools: Snapchat continues to invest in tools and features that empower creators to build a following and monetize their content.
- Paid Partnership Tags: These tags provide transparency for sponsored content, ensuring compliance with FTC regulations and maintaining user trust.
Yet the very mention of Snapchat still has many marketers scratching their heads. Meanwhile, tweens, teens, and, you guessed it, millennials are snapping their little hearts out. It seems as if just when brands get the hang of a new digital platform, they are introduced to another – or at least a new function of an existing one.
Snapchat Statistics
- Snapchat receives 10 billion video views per day and grew from 2 billion to more than 12 billion daily video views in a single year
- 60% of all smartphone users utilize the Snapchat app
- 25-30 minutes is the average Snapchat use time per day
- More than 50% of new daily users are 25 and over
- Facebook users are migrating to the new platform in droves
- In just five years, Snapchat has grown to be the third-largest social platform – and is still growing
While most brands acknowledge that they should be on Snapchat, especially given the jaw-dropping stats behind its growth and usage, being ON is different from using the platform. While the idea of Snapchat is sexy to marketers, that’s typically where it ends. The painful truth is that marketers don’t know where to begin regarding Snapchat.
The key to avoiding a Snapchat failure is not lumping it into the general social media category. Snapchat has many nuances that make it much different from Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Snapchat’s key offerings make it dissimilar from all three platforms.
Brands that try to incorporate Snapchat into their social media strategy and repurpose Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram content will fail.
Four Ways To Win At Snapchat
- Post content to Snapchat that users can’t find elsewhere: Snapchat content should also mean exclusive content. Consumers want access to brand information that other users don’t have. Expiring content highlights and works amazingly well with the concept of exclusivity. Users can’t share what no longer exists, meaning the content is exclusive to Snapchat users. For example, Ford exclusively used Snapchat to announce a new subcompact SUV last week. The campaign targeted millennial drivers and featured Snapchat star DJ Khaled and a tricked-out parking lot just off Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
- Use expiring content to create urgency: One of Snapchat’s most unique aspects is expiring content, and allowing content to expire or disappear after a specified amount of time goes against the instincts of most marketing experts. Why create something to have it go away? Allowing content to expire produces a sense of urgency in consumers. It is the ultimate in act now. Providing content that works within an expiration date for a brand encourages consumers to act fast and engage quickly.
- Use limited-time filters to connect with followers: Recently, brands have begun offering limited-time or using Snapchat filters. Not only does this tactic work within Snapchat’s expiring content concept, it also allows brands to connect with users who follow them, and with those user’s other followers. In September 2016, Bloomingdale’s launched Snapchat geofiltered “scavenger hunts” to promote fall clothing lines. Bloomingdale’s shoppers searched for filters hidden throughout local stores nationwide to win prizes. The contest only ran for three days – practically a millisecond in marketing terms. Other brands have used limited-time filters to promote deals or special offerings or increase brand awareness. All of these are clever ways for a brand to use Snapchat.
- Be authentic: Today’s customers can sense being marketed to a mile away. They want to form a relationship with the brands they use. If you’re considering promoting your brand through Snapchat, you should consume as much Snapchat content as possible. This will help you relate to your target audiences and share content that is important to them. While Snapchat’s users tend to skew younger, the platform’s growth should be enough for marketers to keep it on their radar.
When it comes to Snapchat, the question isn’t should we? But how should we?