snapchat Archives

Can Snapchat’s Recent Changes Save the Platform?

April 11, 2019/by Corey Padveen

Since its IPO launch in March 2017, Snapchat has been struggling with user growth and revenue which has been reflected in their stock price.

Over the past month, Snapchat introduced a few new features to the app as an attempt to grow their increase revenue and grow their audience.

In mid-March, Snapchat announced it would be creating a dedicated gaming platform for Snap users. Using artificial reality, users will be able to play games in which non-existent objects could be seen in the real world through the camera of their phone. Given the younger demographic that uses Snapchat, focusing on a new gaming platform makes sense for Snap and could create a new revenue stream for Snapchat from both ads and in-game purchases. This feature should be available as of mid-April 2019 and will be interesting to see how Snapchat integrates this new idea into the app. So, despite the inability to grow their user base, Snapchat is still finding new ways to grow revenue.

Snapchat has also been testing new features with their “Snap Map” to give users an easier way to meet up with friends. According to Social Media Today, this feature would allow users to check-into locations on their map and invite their friends to meet them through an open-invite system. Snapchat wants to focus on creating meaningful relationships through the app. This may give users another incentive to use the app and may increase overall engagement – a problem Snapchat has been facing frequently. Privacy, however, may come as a concern given the potential for anyone on a user’s friends list to access the user’s precise location through Snapchat. Given the younger demographic on the platform, this seems like an odd move for the company considering their settings automatically share a user’s location with their entire friends’ list by default.

To increase its visibility into other apps, Snapchat has also launched a new way for users to share their story and their Bitmoji in other social platforms. In terms of stories, the company has partnered with platforms such as Tinder and Houseparty which will now let users share their stories on these apps. This is an interesting move from Snapchat given that their stories concept was stolen by both Instagram and Facebook. By allowing other platforms to take advantage of Snapchat stories, it may prevent other companies from creating their own version of stories and instead, partnering with Snapchat. With Tinder’s older demographic, and Houseparty’s younger demographic, these two companies seem like a great mix for their initial “App Stories” partnership. As for Bitmoji, Snap has announced partnerships with both Venmo and FitBit which would integrate users Bitmoji character into these external apps. This is a great way that Snapchat can increase its brand awareness.

Despite these recent changes made to Snapchat, the company still faces one problem: its user base isn’t growing. These changes may be enough to keep users interested in the app however they don’t seem like enough of an incentive to attract new users to the app. Given the nature of the app, Snapchat lacks the ability to discover other profiles easily. The app needs a permanent place for users to display their images and videos which can then be discovered by other users.

Until Snapchat can learn to create a community within their app, they will continue to face growth issues and fall short of expectations. Increasing revenue streams is a temporary solution and will only work for so long. Snapchat will eventually be forced to find a solution to their underlying issue of growth and should place a greater emphasis on this problem rather than their next quarterly report.

More Bad News for Snapchat [Infographic]

October 17, 2017/by Corey Padveen

Things have been tough for Snapchat lately, and recent data shows that things are going to get tougher.

Instagram Stories arrived on the scene with a bang and has shown no signs of slowing since its launch. That has consistently spelled bad news for Snapchat, which seems to struggle more and more against the Facebook product every week. Now, new data from Mediakix shows that influencers are abandoning Snapchat for Instagram, and not in small numbers. Top influencers registered a roughly one-third drop in the frequency with which they post Stories. They’re moving over to Instagram for that. Take a look at the infographic below to see more data and get a better sense of how these two platforms are competing.

How Snapchat Can Expand Your Brand [Infographic]

August 2, 2016/by Corey Padveen

Snapchat appears (or disappears, if you’re into puns) to be unstoppable. The stats in this infographic show just how powerful the network is, and how Snapchat can expand your brand.

When a brand is apt to adopt a new form of media, the possibilities are virtually endless. When a Millennial audience is as active on that media as they are on Snapchat, it is hard to deny the value if the medium can be used properly (and a clear strategy comes along with it).

In the infographic below, M2 On Hold outlines some of the great ways in which Snapchat can expand your brand when used effectively. You can also learn more about the benefits of Snapchat for brand marketing by downloading our latest eBook on the subject.

How to Use Snapchat for Brand Marketing

July 5, 2016/by Corey Padveen

In our latest “how-to” eBook, we breakdown how to use Snapchat for brand marketing.

The unstoppable juggernaut that is Snapchat has a lot of marketers scrambling to answer a simple question: how can we use Snapchat for brand marketing? Considering its popularity and the way in which it engages Millennials, it is an asset that virtually every marketer is trying to learn as much about as possible in order to incorporate it into a marketing strategy.

Snapchat has very deliberately made its user interface somewhat challenging to navigate. That is particularly true when it comes to marketing and advertising on the platform. What’s more, the nature of the platform is such that brands need to follow a very specific set of guidelines in order to effectively engage their audiences.

In this latest “How 2 with t2” eBook, we run through the basics of the platform, the different ways in which brands can leverage the app and its audience in order to captivate Millennials, and some of the best practices that exist when it comes to Snapchat. Click on the image below to download the eBook, or you can get it here!

4 Tips for Using Snapchat as a Business

April 27, 2015/by Corey Padveen

These are a few tips for using Snapchat as a business that you’ll want to follow if you plan on finding success on the app.

Just two years ago, two thirds of teens and young adults considered Facebook to be the most important social network in the world. Now, according to a recent report by Piper Jaffray, Facebook is considered the most important social network by only 14% of this group of tastemakers, only 1% of the explosive Snapchat, which sits at 13%.

With that kind of growth, and momentum that’s poised to take the network to the very top of the list, there is a clear desire (and opportunity) for brands to be a part of the network. But how can a business jump into something like Snapchat?

These are a few easy-to-implement tips for using Snapchat as a business that will help make the foray into the network much smoother.

Know Your Audience

As with email, anyone on your list of recipients in Snapchat has opted to receive your snaps. One of the greatest benefits of an email list is the ability to tailor messages and offers to users based on previous interactions. So when you’ve had a history of sharing a certain type of content with a user, don’t dramatically change the formula in order to pitch a new product or service. Stick to what works and get to know the individual members of your audience on a personal level.

However, that is not to say that you shouldn’t send out mass snaps using your story…

Familiarize Yourself with the App

There are snaps, and there are stories. (Yes, there is more, but we’ll look at these two for now.) If you’re planning on communicating with an individual user one-on-one (as noted above) you’ll want to share personalized snaps. This not only shows that you care about your audience, but it creates a personal connection for the user to your brand, and that can make all the difference.

Your stories are where you will want to put the content that is important to share, but not vital to personalize. For example, a new announcement, showcasing your corporate culture a product release, or something along those lines. Because it is a less personal space, users will not feel as though you are imposing on them when commercial content is shared to a story.

Provide Value to Your Audience

As with any social medium, find a way to provide value to the audience with which you are sharing content. Personalizing your messages is a great practice, but more of your story content should be showcasing your value rather than the commercial content mentioned above. (That is really something that should be shared sporadically, not religiously.)

Use the ten seconds you have available to show or teach something. This is video at its most engaging. Showcase a value added to your audience that improves their experience and sells your expertise or offering in a very subtle way.

Cross-Promote

Another great use for Snapchat is to leverage the platform to cross-promote your other offers and social media. If you’re running a contest on Instagram, for example, Snapchat is a great space in which to promote it to matched demographics. That said, stick to the first pointer: know your audience. Those using Snapchat may not be the same users in your LinkedIn network. So cater your cross-promotion to the demographics that are most likely to be there.

These are just a few of the ways to start using Snapchat as a business. The network is currently a blank slate when it comes to brands, so feel free to experiment and get creative! How else have you used the network? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!

What You Need to Know About Instagram Direct and Snapchat

December 16, 2013/by Corey Padveen

Late last week, Instagram launched Instagram Direct and now the world wants to know how it compares to Snapchat.

Instagram Direct comes just a short while after Snapchat turned down Facebook’s almost surreal offer of $3 billion. Well, if Snapchat thought they were holding all the cards, it seems as though they never considered Facebook’s contingency plans.

Instagram, as we all know, is a mobile photo-sharing app. Originally, users could tag friends in captions and make their profiles private. This was the only way to privatize the public network. Now, with Instagram Direct, users have the ability to send pictures to a select group of friends that only they can see. Sound familiar?

Well, if it does, that’s because the premise is very similar to Snapchat’s model. The difference rests in the fact that Snapchat’s appeal is the disappearing nature of images sent. They will only stick around for at most ten seconds (or thirty, if you are using the Story function). However, Instagram offers a few things that Snapchat does not and vice versa.

The Similarities

When one looks at Instagram Direct, it is clear that the feature was designed to compete directly with Snapchat. Users can take pictures, select a group of friends with whom to share the images, reply to images shared and filter their friends lists with both services.

The popularity of visual content is no secret. (There is a reason why Facebook bought Instagram for $1 billion and offered Snapchat $3 billion.) Offering users a way to communicate with pictures? Priceless. It makes sense that apps like Instagram and Snapchat are so popular. But it is the differences that will determine a winner in this battle for photo-conversing supremacy.

The Differences

Snapchat images disappear. That is perhaps the biggest appeal of the app. You can feel safe knowing that any picture you take will disappear from viewers’ sight in at most ten seconds. With Instagram Direct, images will remain archived in a conversation. The benefit here is that Instagram Direct is designed for an actual, ongoing conversation to take place between a select group of friends either through comments of shared images. On Snapchat, images might be fun to share, but there is no way to like them, comment on them or maintain an ongoing conversation without simply sending a disappearing image back to the original sender.

As for editing, Snapchat allows users to post comments directly on an image and draw with their fingers. Instagram Direct allows for filters to be applied (as with traditional Instagram photos) and captions to be written. Once again, in terms of a conversation, Instagram opens up the possibility of conversing either through images or written responses. Snapchat, on the other hand, relies on a user responding with an image.

Snapchat is still ad-free and that makes people happy. Instagram has started sharing ads, and that makes people sad. (Or mad, if you have had a chance to read some of the comments.) But the reality of the situation is that these apps are businesses. Billion-dollar businesses need revenues. Ads generate revenues. Apps need ads. Snapchat had the option of remaining ad-free (for now) and integrating with Facebook as a free feature of the network. They chose to decline the acquisition request and are now left to figure out how revenues will be generated. Instagram will presumably make its money from ads on the public feeds, and Instagram Direct will remain ad-free so that friends can have uninterrupted conversations while staying on the network.

The Winner?

Time will tell.

Snapchat might see this move as an attempt by Facebook to quash the photo-sharing app after they rejected their offer. At least, that is how they will see it for now. Hundreds of millions of snaps might be sent every day on Snapchat, but you have to wonder if the investors that just fed Snapchat with another $50 million are a little nervous now that they see this new feature on Instagram. There is no revenue being generated by Snapchat and now there is what appears to be a very serious competitor emerging.

Do you use Snapchat? Do you plan on using Instagram Direct? Why or why not? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!