By Mohammad Kanchwala
Source: Social Samosa
Quickly turning the social media platform trident formed by Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, into a four horse race, Snapchat has grown steadily with more than 166 million daily active users all over the world, registering a net worth of $16 Billion, turning Snapchat marketing into an attractive prospect.
Withstanding an enormous amount of pressure and competition from Facebook and their family of apps, Snapchat has reinforced its position as the undisputed champion of social media platforms for millennials. Snapchat’s USP are their iconic and creative filters, and its well guarded privacy factor which keeps user interaction playful and interesting. Brands today, are no longer oblivious to Snapchat marketing.
Businesses that at first dismissed Snapchat as a passing trend, have stopped and taken notice of Snapchat’s appeal among the youth with almost a third of their users belonging to the age group of 18-24 years. Snapchat too worked with a select number of brands but that has changed.
Both Snapchat and businesses have realized the need to work together, and the platform has opened the floodgates for more advertisers and smaller businesses with the Snapchat Ad Manager and a Mobile Dashboard.
Brands surely have begun to take notice and carve Snapchat into their social media marketing strategy, although most brands fail to tailor their approach, keeping in mind, Snapchat’s ephemeral qualities and versatility as compared to the other big three of social media platforms.
1. Add a human touch
The first and foremost error that big brands are prone to, is creating ads that are too mechanical, or ‘made up’. Whereas the Snapchat audience loves raw content, with a personal and human touch, something that makes them feel connected to an image or a short video captured from a person’s point of view.
Sneak peeks into the workplace, or behind the scenes action from a photoshoot, or during the creation of an otherwise larger campaign makes your Snapchat audience connect with your brand, and makes it more likely for that connection to spill over into buying behavior when faced with the prospect of choosing your business over a competitor.
Creating a fond impression of your brand name in the mind of your audience through Snapchat is perhaps one of the major advantages that the platform offers.
2. Influencers are key
Millennials are more inclined to follow the behavior of their favourite celebrities, artists or sportspersons, and they are Snapchat’s most loyal user base. Roping in an influencer such as a Cristiano Ronaldo, or a Justin Bieber (if revenue is not a stumbling block), or niche influencers and rising stars such as the ‘Cash me ousside’ girl, who became an overnight social media sensation due to one phrase.
In India, standup comedians and web series stars have gained tremendous popularity in the last couple of years. Tanmay Bhat, Biswa Kalyan Rath, Sumeet Vyas, Mithila Palkar, Manvi Gagroo, Nidhi Singh all remain highly popular among the youth, and are very accessible to work with.