Will Snapchat Be the Latest Digital Marketing Craze?
One of the major social media hits of 2014 has been Snapchat. This year its popularity surged following a steady rise up the social media ranks over the last three years. It's a photo messaging application created by students Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown, which centres around “Snaps” (photo or video messages) sent between registered users. The key difference from other social media formats is the availability of each message, as there is a brief time limit before the message deletes itself. After this it is consigned to history: removed from Snapchat’s servers, the only remnant of its existence being in the message receiver's memory.
Now Snapchat has reached international recognition it has become an effective tool for digital marketers and global brands. In October 2014 Universal Studios took the first step with a film advertisement, opening the door for unique marketing opportunities. Here is how the campaign unfolded.
The App
Earlier this year I suggested Jelly (Twitter founder Biz Stone’s latest project) could be the surprise hit of the year. I got it badly wrong. Snapchat has emerged as the new social media hit of 2014; as with most startup digital companies the origins were humble but inspired. Formed by students at Stanford University and launched in late 2011, it has morphed from a small business to a global brand. In May 2014 the company reported their 100 million active monthly users were sending 700 million photos and videos each day, and by August Snapchat was valued at $10 billion.
The service itself is uncomplicated but unique. Users can send Snaps between each other as with other formats such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The key difference is the availability of the messages. Once a user opens their message, they have between 1 and 10 seconds to take it in. After this the message is consigned to history, and is deleted from Snapchat’s servers (as opposed to being furtively stored in a database somewhere).
Pioneering Snapchat Marketing
International success brings with it the potential for further revenue through advertising. The majority of social media formats now run adverts in one form or another, and Snapchat have followed suit. Whilst this dismayed regular users, the company were quick to allay fears of intrusive advertising. On its official blog of 17th October the company stated, “Advertising allows us to support our service while delivering neat content to Snapchatters. We promise that we’ll use the money to continue to surprise the Snapchat community.” It added, “It’s going to feel a little weird at first, but we’re taking the plunge.”
Universal Studios was the company in question. On the day of its launch, Snapchat somewhat tentatively announced, “The product we’re releasing today is a lot simpler [than other adverts]. An advertisement will appear in your Recent Updates from time to time, and you can choose if you want to watch it.” This was followed by the movie giant providing a 19-second trailer for the horror film Ouija. As is the nature of the format, once viewed by inquisitive users the advert disappeared from user accounts.
A marketing campaign which deletes itself after one viewing doesn’t appear like the most cost-effective idea. The psychological impact of Snapchat should not discounted, however, and this was reflected in the response to the advertisement. Universal vice president of digital marketing, Doug Neil, told Marketing Land the reach for the campaign went into the millions. Neil confidently stated, “We believe that the demographic for the film is in the crosshairs for Snapchat. It was the right platform for us to work with.” He went on to explain, “It was a lean-in experience. The people who watched the ad were ones that pressed to play so they were focused on actually viewing the content. As it turns out there were a number of people who screen captured it and it’s actually moved beyond the Snapchat window.”
The potential for Snapchat marketing is clearly there, and will no doubt feature regularly in the near future. It offers the potential for a personalised marketing campaign, and there are no foreseeable restrictions for smaller businesses. Given Snapchat’s efforts to calm user’s fears over any irritating adverts, it could well provide a highly effective marketing technique in the future. If ads are out of the way and only viewed by those interested in them, it offers a unique take on a marketing world which often foists its products, unwanted or otherwise, onto its audience.
Snapchat’s Future
As has been displayed numerous times in this era of social media, businesses can start at the lowest level and suddenly find themselves an international icon. What it takes is an idea which can tap into the established market and inspire and entertain users with addictive qualities. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have managed it, and now Snapchat looks set to join the upper echelons of the social media ranks. Whilst 100 million registered users is comparatively small to Facebook's billions, the media exposure they are currently seeing should see their popularity continue to grow.
Key to this are further business ventures and product development. The advertising deal is one such step for the former, whilst the latter is being catered for with new Snapchat section "Discover." In early November it was revealed the company is in talks with Comedy Central, Spotify, Vice, ESPN, CNN, National Geographic, and popular social content site Buzzfeed. Discover will serve users articles, musics, and videos from media companies based on any deals eventually made, but what is clear is the future is bright for Snapchat.
