Snapchat’s Robust Growth Draws Attention of Marketers

 

Could Snapchat be the next big social media network?  More than a few pundits think so.

After it rejected a $3 billion buyout from Facebook about a year ago, the photo-based, mobile-only social media platform attracted 100 million active monthly users and receives 400 million “snaps,” or uploaded images, a day.

Snapchat’s user base continues to explode. TechCruch recently reported that it is approaching 200 million users. Facebook, by comparison, had about 350 million monthly active users in early 2014. Snapchat has raised almost $500 million from 23 investors, according to TechCrunch which cited SEC filings. Its most recent private equity placement indicates a current company value somewhere between $10 billion and $20 billion.

But will Snapchat attract marketers and advertisers?

Snapchat’s uniqueness is its ephemeral nature. Users have 10 seconds to view a photo or video. Posts vanish after they are viewed and there’s no archive. That might protect users’ privacy, but it also means key performance indicators are less meaningful, warns Joshua Ebrahimi, a Binghamton University student working at a small advertising agency, in an article for the Huffington Post.

A lack of performance indicators

The lack of key performance indicators – numbers that help analyze how well a marketing campaign is performing – is Snapchat’s main disadvantage.

Snapchat users can measure their performance on the platform by viewing counts from Snapchat Stories. When users post a picture or video they can click on the post and see how many followers have viewed their Snapchat Stories over the last 24 hours. That’s something, but you can’t be sure if viewers are actually watching it. You also don’t know if they liked it, as there is no action analogous to Facebook’s like button.

Quantifiable information is a main reason marketers and advertisers are investing in social media: They can count Twitter retweets and Facebook likes. Snapchat would be well-advised to add a like button – or something like it.

The ephemeral nature of the posts does present a marketing challenge, agrees Jason DeMers, writing for Forbes. Since videos and photos are seen on the app for a limited time, marketers must make the most of every second. To take advantage of that feature, some Snapchat advertising campaigns offer teasers such as a preview of an upcoming product or service.

Advice for marketing through Snapchat

Other tips for Snapchat marketing include:

Browse through other accounts and follow other people to get a better idea of how they use the app.

Show your personality and human side. Being accepted on a Snapchat community calls for being casual – even more than other social media platforms.

Consider the users’ demographics and why they are using Snapchat. The app is designed to promote casual communication with videos and photos. People usually don’t intend to display business-like behavior.

Gary Vaynerchuk, co-founder and chief executive of VaynerMedia, thinks Snapchat is a good match for you “if you’re a very cool brand like a skateboard shop or a cold-press juice shop.”

Bottom Line: Snapchat’s recent growth is attracting attention, although its ephemeral nature and lack of quantifiable data could pose a challenge to some marketers.