For some time now, Snapchat has become the talk of all marketers, who sing its praises and its possibilities for business. The social network, born to create Flash content that can self-destruct in a matter of seconds, has grown a lot in recent times, so much that it has attracted the attention of many companies. In 2013, many called Even Spiegel, CEO of Snapchat, a madman for having refused three billion dollars from Facebook. Now things have changed!
First, because it has interesting figures, very interesting ones. Let’s look to Italy; according to research conducted by the IED, it is mainly the very young who use Snapchat: about 42% of its users are under 18 and 31% are between 18 and 24 years old. Forty eight percent of those that are aged up to 24 years old use this social network every day; and if about 50% choose the private chat to exchange messages with their contacts, 42% prefer the “Stories” feature, thanks to which you can create a story by saving the most important snaps in the camera roll.
Contrary to what was thought until not long ago, Snapchat is a social network that has excellent potential for business, especially if the target of your company is the same as Snapchat: Millennials and Generation X-ers.
First, the fact that the contents self-destruct after a few seconds can engage users in the psychological mechanism called Fear of Missing Out, that is, the fear of losing something precious. Companies can exploit this mechanism to suggest promotions, coupons and limited-time offers: this causes the user, to avoid missing out on an alluring offer, tends to visit the company’s profile often.
The “Stories” feature then allows you to use the storytelling method to emotionally engage people and create engagement: take for example the story of an event, of the birth of a product or service.
On Snapchat, additionally, companies can give their fans previews of new products, events and special initiatives, perhaps combining a gift or a discount voucher.
If we add to all this the fact that Snapchat is the first social network to have introduced the 3V video format, ideal for smartphones, we can easily understand this social network’s growth.
In brief, Snapchat can comfortably become part of a company’s marketing mix, provided the strategy, objectives, and targets are clearly defined.
Recently, Snapchat added the “Memories” function, a kind of archive in which to keep the snaps that you do not want to lose, which even includes an internal search engine. Unlike the “Stories” function, archiving does not only last 24 hours, but is permanent. This new function is likely to change the nature of social network and, consequently, is likely to make it in some way similar to those of its competitors. We will see the consequences of this choice on the social network and its possible use for business. The fact that this social network is attracting attention, anyhow, is also evidenced by the introduction in Instagram (which is owned by Facebook) of a “Stories” functionality very similar to that of Snapchat.
