With Snapchat's continued push into augmented reality, big brands are plugging in, rolling the dice and experimenting with the potential ROI the platform can yield. This article aims to analyze Snapchat's actual value and bust a few myths surrounding the hype along the way.
Snapchat is a mobile social networking app developed by Snap Inc that first came out in 2011, allowing users to share photos for a matter of seconds before disappearing. It's reported to have over 100 million users and is valued at $800 million thanks to funding drives.
At first glance, advertising on Snapchat seems like a dream. The ability to show your message to users when they’re in the frame of mind to view and create user generated content would appear invaluable on paper. However, many marketers neglect to understand the function of Snapchat in comparison to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. It's not just a broadcasting platform, it's more personable. You can't as easily google the profile of a user like you can on Facebook, and stories sometimes reveal a hedonistic side to users that they wouldn't want their parents or the general public seeing. It's easy to tarnish all social media channels with the same brush, but in reality, they each possess completely different purposes for users.
WHY SNAP INC PROMOTES ADVERTISING
Snap Inc as a company will always try to push advertising because they get huge returns from it. Take Facebook advertising as an example, which has currently made $8.03 billion for the company so far in 2017.
However, there are a few big distinctions between Facebook advertising and Snapchat advertising. FB measures engagement and impressions, providing real measurable results that can work in a larger annual strategy whereas Snapchat merely measures reach and impressions. These two results essentially just measure the same thing without looking at whether consumers engage with your message. Similarly to just counting how many people walk past a bus stop that your advert happens to be on. As most YouTube marketers know, views are nothing without the engagement figures that YouTube supplies. Snapchat does not give any of this information apart from a vague metric called 'swipes' and 'cost per swipes.' Surely useful valuable insights are the whole point of social media advertising?
One of the immediate downsides of this is that you don't know how many people are posting about your brand. This works conveniently for Snapchat because if you had access to the data then you'd probably find it blank - using Snapchat as a millennial I have yet to see someone post about a brand unless it's a luxury product being used for bragging rights or featured on an influencer account.
WORK SMARTER, NOT HARDER
Just consider the following new stats in 2017 from customer acquisition firm Fluent:
69 percent of 3,327 American adults surveyed online skip ads on Snapchat “always” or “often,” and that number goes up to 80 percent among 18- to 24-year-olds, a target group that many marketers want to reach.
This is just one of the many statistics that reflect how Snapchat users are not engaging with advertising on the platform. Brands like Corona and Coca-Cola are paying hundreds of thousands of pounds for a trickle of ROI. Presumably, this is just an attempt to appear in touch with their Millennial audience. Unless you have a budget like Coca-Cola, you can't afford not to be smarter about using Snapchat.
Most users of Snapchat don’t want ads. Instead, they want to feel your brand resonates with their personal values. What better way to show them this than through creating a brand account and posting exclusive content? Fashion brands are executing this perfectly. During London fashion week in February 2016, Burberry posted a scripted story of two models that 'broke' into their store and tried on the new outfits the day before the catwalk. As a result, Burberry became a trending topic on Facebook and Twitter overnight. From this perspective, it could be argued that Snapchat also acts as a PR platform for brands. It allows them to show their audience their values through the content they document and post. This can spark action on other channels like Twitter, where communication is more two-way.
HOW TO BUILD A VIRTUAL BRAND COMMUNITY ON SNAPCHAT
The best way to unlock the ROI from this platform is not through skippable ads. It's through building a fun and personable virtual brand community, which takes a weekly investment of time, not money.
Tips for using Snapchat: Post interesting and innovative content that inspires people to act on their own accord. Give people an insight into the ‘behind the scenes’ view of where the magic all happens before the finished product appears. Make sure they're used to seeing great documentation from your brand at least every other day. Still unconvinced? Forbes stated in 2015 that:
43% of millennials that they surveyed valued authenticity as more important than compelling content.
Authenticity was valued as more important than compelling content. Snapchat is the perfect opportunity to display an honest and transparent view of your great company culture. If you're not comfortable with giving your audience this sort of access, you shouldn't be on social media.
Tips for paid Snapchat services: If you still want to pay for Snapchat there are ways to do this more efficiently than through ads. Relate your brand to a unique event happening by adding a geo-filter. It’s fun, cool and is a great way to engage your audience. Create synergy and build buzz across all platforms by posting about this on your other social channels in advance. Your audience must feel like they would be missing out on something exclusive by not having your brand added on their Snapchat. That’s how to engage users. Save most of the paid advertising budget for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google because this is where you'll see the biggest change.
Yes, getting ROI from Snapchat will take more work than simply putting £30 on a Facebook post, but in the long term, the results will be worth it. Possessing a loyal customer following that believes in your brand far outweighs the negatives of a daily Snap update. Snapchat is also doing some very cool stuff at the moment with augmented reality. It's definitely worth joining now to stay up to date, but remember that you don't always have to pay to play. To quote Field of Dreams:
“If you build it, they will come.”
HOW DO YOU USE SNAPCHAT FOR YOUR BRAND?
This article does not state that this is the only way of using Snapchat. It just suggests a way for brands to use the channel in a way that maximizes return on minimal financial investment. If you have any thoughts or examples of how you have used Snapchat to grow your brand, then get in touch with our global digital marketing agency.
