Facebook and Instagram might have more users, but savvy brands shouldn’t ignore Snapchat. The social messaging app has around 187 million active monthly users, according to CNN. And the app itself claims to have 178 million daily users. The average daily Snapchat user opens the app 25 times, and spends about half an hour using it. If you’re not dedicating time and resources to Snapchat content marketing, you missing out on millions of daily engagement opportunities.
Snapchat originally had a reputation as a platform strictly for generation Z or very young millennials. But, it’s begun to shed that reputation. Brands are embracing Snapchat content marketing and promotion. Learn more about Snapchat content marketing, including how it works, who’s using it, and how it can work for your brand.
How Is Snapchat Content Marketing Different?
The big thing that sets Snapchat apart from other social media platforms (with the exception of Instagram stories) is that the content you create and share on Snapchat is ephemeral. It is literally here today, gone tomorrow.
The temporary nature of Snapchat content creates a sense of urgency. People who use the app can have a real sense of FOMO (fear of missing out). If they aren’t checking regularly, they’re going to miss something cool and important. That might explain why so many users check the app more than 20 times a day.
Another thing sets Snapchat content marketing apart. It’s more rough and tumble in nature. Snapchat appeals to a young audience, with many of its users coming in under age 25. The content that does best on Snapchat tends to be unpolished and quickly produced. That lack of sheen gives the content a more authentic feel.
Who’s Using Snapchat Content Marketing?
It might not be much of a surprise that many of the brands using Snapchat content marketing are brands with a younger audience. Take a look at how a few millennial- and Gen Z-focused brands use the app for content marketing:
Taco Bell
For Cinco de Mayo, Taco Bell created a special Snapchat filter. When a user chose the filter, their head was transformed into a taco. According to AdWeek, the lens got more than 224 million views over the course of the day, making it the most viewed lens to date.
Sour Patch Kids
Sour gummy candy brand Sour Patch Kids definitely appeals to a younger crowd, so it’s little surprise that it’s had success with content marketing on Snapchat. Back in 2014, the brand launched a five-day campaign on Snapchat, featuring influencer Logan Paul and a life-size Sour Patch Kid. As a result of the campaign, the brand landed more than 120,000 new Snapchat followers.
Gatorade
Like Taco Bell, Gatorade purchased a sponsored Snapchat filter. In the filter, a bucket of orange Gatorade poured over tennis star Serena Williams’ head. According to AdWeek, the filter was available for the championship football game in 2016, and disappeared the day after the big game. It’s also worth noting that the Gatorade dunk was purely an illusion.
Benefits of Snapchat Content Marketing
The biggest thing Snapchat content marketing has is that it’s more authentic and genuine than content your brand might push to Facebook or Instagram. That authenticity is going to allow the content you create on Snapchat to better resonate with your followers.
Another big benefit of Snapchat content marketing is the fact that it’s temporary. Since everything you create on Snapchat goes “poof” after a while, there’s a real sense of urgency. Not only are people checking their apps more often, they’re craving the novelty of seeing something new each time they look.
Finally, creating content on Snapchat is a bit more low stakes than creating content for your blog or other social platforms. If something on Snapchat doesn’t work, it disappears soon enough. Then just try again. On any other platform (save for Instagram stories), you’d have to delete the lackluster content manually.
How to Start With Snapchat
While Snapchat is distinct from other social media networks, the same general rules apply for brands that want to give it a try. Download the app and make an account to start using Snapchat. There’s no way to Snap on a desktop, so you will have to have the app installed on a mobile device.
Once you’ve set up an account, start brainstorming ideas for content. Remember Snapchat is all about images. You want to think of photos and short (less than 10 seconds) videos to create and share. You’ll also want to decide whether to create stories (which go out to anyone) or Snaps (which you can share with a select group of users). You might want a mix of both, but don’t repeat yourself by using the same image or video as a Snap, and later as a story.
Although content has a short shelf life on Snapchat, you can still measure its performance. Originally, you could only see the number of views a story had while it was still live. According to CNN, the app recently rolled out a feature that lets you see how long people are watching. The new feature also provides some demographic data about who’s watching.
Getting a sense of who’s viewing your stories or Snaps, and whether people are sticking around to the end can help you see what content works and what doesn’t on Snapchat. You can use that information to help improve your success with Snapchat content marketing going forward.
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