The Rise of Snapchat Marketing
The little dancing ghost is making a rise of his own. Snapchat initially known for “snapping” your friends the ugliest pictures possible (the more chins the better… am I right?!) is becoming a marketing platform. How did the app make the rise from social to business? Here are the three features which changed the face of the platform.
Snap Stories
This beautiful, yet daunting features allows everyone you are friends with to be subjected to your snaps. Conveniently placed at the top of the “send to…” list, My Story is a great way to easily share what you’re up to with your entire friends list. This makes it an easy transition for companies to join the app. Taco Bell has taken full advantage of Snap Stories and releases one weekly. These stories range from learning how to use their app to creating hype for a new product.
Photo Credit: http://blog.telegraphbranding.com/tag/snapchat/
Live
Capitalize on current events and voila! The “Live” featured was created. It captures a multitude of events with different perspectives and IT SUCKS YOU IN. I’m completely incapable of skipping whatever the Live update of the day is. From Groundhog Day to Winter Polo, I’m there and watching every second of the story. Plus, who doesn’t want to pretend they were up close and personal with Punxsutawney Phil? Other than the fact he is so pretentious I needed to use Google to spell his name correctly….
Discover
New Snapchat update, new fun tools (and complete frustration as I continuously click the wrong buttons- new update, new location of every button EVER). But let the Snap Craze begin! Food Network is posting recipes, while People is sharing the lives of our BFFs the Kardashians with us on yet another platform. This feature is like a quick newspaper you can swipe through complete with big headlines, pictures and articles. But if you can’t figure out how to escape the feed, don’t fear you’re not alone.
Photo Credit: http://www.psfk.com/2015/01/news-sites-snapchat-discover-video-media.html
Review
Now that the big players have joined the rise of Snapchat, it’s hard not to notice. Even Pitch Perfect 2 gave Snapchat a shout out during the big game, in case you were wondering their username is PitchPerfect2. I think the app has appeal for larger product based businesses who can bring personality to their snaps. For example, Nordstrom Rack makes Seattle look like a ball of fun that you just want to join the party (and wear all their clothes). It’s an awkward market to break into, but it has potential. Perhaps not on a small scale, but for nation wide companies who are trying to reach us pesky millennials it’s worth a try!
Photo Credit: http://marketingland.com/super-bowl-commercials-hashtags-slips-50-2015-116658
Our little dancing ghost may have lost his devious antics when they took away his trouble-making eyes and stuck out tongue. But our ghost friend has matured and made some big named connections with his transformation. It will be fun to watch the rise of Snapchat, while continuing our addiction to watching every Snap Story in our feeds.
