Why Businesses Need to Consider Snapchat as an Alternate Online Advertising Platform

When it comes to online advertising, the first thing that pops in our mind is Google Adwords, and behind it is the social media advertising platforms such as Facebook Ads, Twitter Ads and LinkedIn’s Targeted Self-Service Ads. There are businesses that target younger audiences and want an alternate and effective solution for advertising their brand. For them, the popular mobile app Snapchat is the ideal candidate for leveraging efficient online marketing.

What is Snapchat

For those who are new to this app, its photo messaging application in which users can take photos, record videos, insert text and drawings, and send to a controlled list of recipients. These messages are “Snaps” and users can set a time limit for how long recipients can view their Snaps (1 to 10 seconds time frame), after which they will be hidden from the recipient’s mobile and deleted from Snapchat servers. This app can be installed in an iOS or Android powered mobile device and as of May 2014, Snapchat users were sending 700 million photos and videos per day. When Snapchat was first launched it received great fanfare due to what was initially perceived as a truly anonymous social channel whereby plausible deniability could be accomplished, but this is not quite a case. For the most part, the mobile messaging app does permit users to interact within the network without having to reveal too much about themselves, but identities and personal data can travel through the app’s efficient messaging system, but the information does not last too long.

How it Differs from Other Social Media Channels

According to recent surveys, Snapchat has got a number of active teenage female users, and in the last six months it witnessed a high growth rate compared to its counterparts. Since its initial rollout in September 2011, Snapchat has incorporated additional features that have been very well received by its user base. What sets this exciting instant messaging platform apart from major social channels like Facebook and Twitter is its approach to marketing and advertising. Snapchat does not capture as much personally identifying details from users and it lacks the precise marketing segmentation features of Facebook. This does not mean that Snapchat is not beneficial to marketing and according to some industry analysts, this app helps brands to come up with out-of-the-box marketing campaigns.

Snapchat’s Unique Marketing Features

Like its social media counterparts, Snapchat allowed marketers to use its app as a marketing platform, and it started with the roll out of a straightforward feature called “Stories”. This marketing feature allows business to share interesting snaps that last for a day instead of the standard ten seconds. Also, businesses can broadcast multiple Stories, and they work in a similar fashion to Twitter updates. Just like on Facebook, Twitter and Google+, the Stories shared on Snapchat will not work if they are just promotional or sales content. Here the idea of Snapchat’s Stories is to post content that is friendly, social, and creative.

Another interesting feature introduced by Snapchat is ‘Discover’ and it allows businesses to firmly establish their brand in the mobile messaging network. This feature follows a developing trend in social media, which involves a mobile app user directly visiting twitter profiles, Facebook Timelines, and LinkedIn Company Pages. People in the social media world are not as enthusiastic as they used to be in terms of checking their newsfeeds. And many are going straight to the source as they feel more comfortable seeing content from their beloved brands.

Delivering Real Time Content

When you are doing an online marketing campaign for your brand, you cannot ignore the importance content and here also in Snapchat you need quality content to attract quality traffic to your site. For instance, brands such as Mountain Dew are grabbing the opportunity when creating their Stories and Snaps, which will be archived in their Discover profiles for the benefits of their followers. Much like the Facebook “Like” button works, Mountain Dew encouraged Snapchat users to take screenshots of their Stories during the Super Bowl, so they could measure engagement.

In conclusion, the Snapchat is somewhat a new social networking platform and it is not yet familiar with many marketers. So, for businesses that are targeting their brand on a younger audience, Snapchat is your alternate and cost-effective solution for online marketing.