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Are you on Snapchat?
Today, more than 100 million people logged into Snapchat to send 400 million snaps – or 9,000 snaps PER SECOND. That’s more than the number of posts published on Facebook and Instagram… COMBINED!
But what makes Snapchat special? How was it able to grow so big and so fast? And why should you care?
At NeoReach, we believe in Snapchat’s potential for both your owned content strategy and influencer marketing. Our goal is not to convince you that Snapchat is a one-size fit all, but that you should consider the “ephemeral social media” very seriously.
Here are the 3 reasons why we think Snapchat stands amongst the most powerful social media channels.
I. Your Audience, Engaged
Contrary to popular belief, all impressions are not created equal.
Nielsen may report that your last TV commercial garnered XX impressions, but do you really know how many people actually paid attention to your ad? Chances are, a sizable chunk of the impressions you paid for took a bathroom break, skipped the ad with TiVo, or pulled out their smartphones to check their social media.
What about your display ads? According to some estimates, as little as 8% of impressions charged to you actually reach a human pair of eyes. Broken ads, bot traffic, and fraud are all to blame. And this is without taking into account the rise of banner blindness and adblocker usage.
Things are different on Snapchat.
Snapchat is mobile-only, and people tend to be more focused on the smaller screens because they don’t get distracted by pop-ups and other tabs. When a user opens a snap, the snap takes up the whole screen, increasing consumer engagement. In our world of short attention spans and media overload, Snapchat ensures that every impression is meaningful.
II. Get Intimate With Your Fans
Snapchat differentiates itself from other social media because:
- It’s ephemeral: the content you publish on Snapchat self-destructs after 24 hours.
- The content is created in-app: Unless you use a third party app (which are banned by Snapchat), the only way to publish content on Snapchat is by taking the picture or video from within the app.
- Followers only see you: Snapchat has no share, like, or comment features, so your followers only see you when they look at your content.
These 3 features encourage the creation of raw and intimate content. The ephemerality means publishers are more relaxed about what they post. The fact that users can only create content within the app means that people are used to seeing raw smartphone footage instead of meticulously curated HD video. Finally, the fact that your followers only see YOU makes your followers feel like you are talking to them personally, rather than making a public announcement.
As the Snapchat founders wrote in one of their early blog posts:
“Snapchat isn’t about capturing the traditional Kodak moment. It’s about communicating with the full range of human emotion — not just what appears to be pretty or perfect”.
III. Say Hello To Your Most Loyal Followers
Snapchat doesn’t use features like the popular page, like buttons, share, or hashtag feature. This means that users need to specifically seek you out in order to follow you. The people who go through this effort tend to be more loyal and engaged. They maintain a higher likelihood of becoming advocates for your brand. So although it is harder to build a following on Snapchat, the followers you do attract are usually among your most loyal fans.
Snapchat can be an extremely powerful tool to engage your followers, build brand equity, and ultimately improve your bottom-line. Although it can be intimidating at first, we recommend that you start running campaigns through your own Snapchat account but also by partnering with Snapchat influencers to reach new audiences through respected and relatable voices.
