Snapchat has matured from a novelty app used by teens to share photos into a influential marketing platform. Major brands are using Snapchat to engage audiences through sponsored lenses, filters, and stories. While Snapchat provides engagement through features like geofilters and lenses, it lacks built-in analytics tools and does not integrate well with other social media channels. Smart brands have found ways to leverage Snapchat's strengths while mitigating weaknesses like its 10 second video limit and inability to share content.

1. Social Media Channel: Snapchat
“Is that a blue or greenshirtshe’swearing?Ohnothe picture disappeared!”
The social applicationthatoriginallyseemedtobe nothingmore thana noveltyusedbyteenstoshare
funor suggestive photos,hasmatured intoaplatformthatmay become muchmore influential inthe
marketingworld.
Definingthe social mediachannel
Snapchatis a platformthatallowsuserstocommunicate witheachotherusingdisappearingphotos,
videos, andmessages.While the photos,videosandmessagesdisappearafterbeingviewed,theywill
remaininthe user'sinbox until theyare viewedforamaximumof 30 days. Once opened,photosappear
anywhere from1 to 10 secondsdependingonthe user'ssettings,withvideosranging1to 10 seconds
dependingonthe lengthof the videorecorded.If youare usingthe messagingfeature,messageswill
remainduringthe lengthof the conversationhoweveruponexitingthe conversation,the textmessage
style messagingwill disappear.There isafeature thatallowsyouto tap on any part of the conversation
to save it.
Snapchathas addedfeaturesthatallowuserstoenhance theirphotoswithfiltersorlenses.Filtersare
accessedaftertakingthe photoby swipingleftorrightto add the filtertoyour photo.To addmultiple
filters,bypressingandholdingonthe screenof the firstfilter,youcancontinue toswipe andadd
multiple filters.There are alsospecificfilterscalledgeofilters.Theseonlyshow upwhenthe userisin
the vicinityof specificcitiesorbusinesses.Lensesare funanimationsoroverlaysaddedtofacesby
pressingandholdingonthe user'sface duringa selfie.The lensesavailable change frequently,whichisa
great wayto getusersto check back oftentosee whatnew funphotostheycan create.
Snapchatuserscan alsocreate “stories”.Thiscan be a stringof variouspicturesandvideosthatremain
on the userssnapchatstory for24 hours.Snapchatstoriescanbe replayedasmanytimesasdesired,but
each photoor videowithinthe storyisonlyavailable for24 hoursfromthe time thatparticularitemwas
posted.
Thissocial mediacan operate on iPhone, iPad’s,androids,andvariousothermobile devicesthathave
camerasin whichyou can share stories,videosclips,picturesof yourlife andengage withothersusing
the app.
History of the channel
Snapchat(originallylaunchedasPicaboo) wasfoundedinJulyof 2011 (withanofficial launchinthe
AppStore inSeptember2011) by Evan Spiegel andBobbyMurphy. Reggie Brown claimedhe wasthe
company’sthirdfounderafterthe launch, andthisclaimwentonto become a lawsuitbetweenBrown,
Spiegel, andMurphy 1
.Brownwas not foundtohave contributedsubstantiallytothe creationof the
platform.

2. Back in 2012 onthe firsteversnapchatblogpost,founderEvanSpiegel wrote “Snapchatisn’tabout
capturingthe traditional kodakmoment”goingontosay that he createdan “app that doesn’tconform
to unrealisticnotionsof beautyorperfectionbutrathercreatesaspace to be funny,honestorwhatever
else youmightfeel likeatthe momentyoutake andshare a Snap.”2
In the beginning,Snapchatdidnot
have much functionality,andwasonlybasedonsharingphotos.Itwasn’tuntil October2013 that
Snapchatlaunchedtheirstoryfeature.Fromthere,afterafailedattemptbyFacebook’sCEOtobuy
Snapchat,geofilterswere addedinJuly2014, AdsinJanuary 2015 andin 2016, eventhe White House
joinedsnapchat3
.The companyrebrandeditself in2016, officiallybecoming“Snap!”andmade several
otherchangesincludingmajorapplicationupdates,anew APIwhichmade iteasierforbrandsto buy
and deployads,andnewhardware called“Spectacles”whichare glassesmade specifically forcapturing
and postingvideoclips.Italsointroducedafeature calledMemorieswhichallowsuserstosave,import
and share photos.All of these changes,aswell asrumorsof an IPO,have made ita platformthatisa
“force to be reckonedwith”4
andmakingthe techworldwonderwhatelse istocome in2017.

3. Whouses the channel?

4. Initially,the audiencewhoreadilyadoptedSnapchatwere mostlyteenagerswhowantedtosend
informationtotheirfriendswithouttheirparentsorteachersseeingit.Sevenmonthsafterthe launchof
Snapchat,co-founderEvanSpiegelsaidthat“We were thrilledtohearthatmost of themwere high
school studentswhowere usingSnapchatasa new wayto pass notesinclass—behind-the-backphotos
of teachersandfunnyfaces”. 2
The applicationonlycontinuedtogrow inpopularityandtoday,outof
150 milliondailyactive users5
,the appismostpopularwithadults25-34 makingup38% of usersand
ages35+ makingup14% 6
. The app isusedby bothmale and female userswithavarietyof incomes,
educationlevels, interests, andhabits.Ingeneral,the peoplethatuse Snapchatare those lookingfor
instantinformation,funandinstantconnection.While there isanolderaudiencethatisattunedto
Snapchat,the channel isaboutappealingtoa generationthatwantsinformationandsocial connections
at theirfingertipswiththe clickof abutton.Snapchatistruly a universal platformwithanyone being
able to use the app regardlessof personalitytypesorcommoninterests.
Major brands are also startingto use the channel forquick-attentionads,specialpromotions,andbrand
awareness.Several majorbrandshave purchasedadsonSnapchatand are increasingtheirengagement
withthe audience.
How Brands use the channel-
One of the waysbrandsare usingSnapchatis througha feature calledasponsoredlens.Forexample,
Gatorade useda sponsoredlen’swithSerenaWilliamsduringthe 2016 Super Bowl.Gatorade releaseda
lensthatletthe user dumpa bucketof Gatorade on theirhead;similartowhatsportsteamsdo aftera
win.Afterpurchasingtheirlens(whichcosts around$450,000 per sponsoredlens onnormal days,and
up to $750,000 on "peakdays"like holidaysandthe SuperBowl) 7
the companyhad Serenacreate a
picture of herself gettingthe Gatorade bath.Gatorade thentweetedaGIF (graphicsinterchange format;
or a quickvideoclip) of the athlete’sSnapchatontheirTwitterfeed.Bythe endof the day, usersflocked
to Snapchatto viewthe lenswhichreceivedover100 millionviews 7
. Thisisagreat example of how
Gatorade integratedtheirTwitterandSnapchatchannelstogether.

5. Brands or teamscan alsoset uptheirownSnapchat channelsandpostpicturesandvideosthroughtheir
channel.Users mustadd the brand to theirchannel asa friendhoweverif the brand’sSnapchataccount
sharingsettingissetso everyone canview theiraccount,theydonot needtoadd the userinreturn.The
downside tothisfeature isthatif usersdonot choose to view the brand’sphotosorvideos,the
marketingmaynotbe as effective.Brandsdothistopromote awareness,gainfollowers,andhope to
increase purchasesof theirbrand.
An example of brandsusingSnapchatforsocial sharingare sportsteams.For example,the Colorado
Avalanche use theirSnapchataccountnotjust forgame daysbut foran insiderglimpsetopractice and
playerinterviews.Inadditiontosharingvideosof the playersarrivingforgame day,the organization
usestheirownfilterongame dayson top of videosof warmups andlive game action.Theyalsouse
theirSnapchataccount for contestsandcontestinformation.Forexample,the organizationconstantly
givesoutrandompairs of ticketsina partnershipwithKeyBank.The brandwill take apicture of a red
keylocatedsomewherearoundthe downtownDenverarea.The userwill thenhave touse the picture(s)
to locate where the hiddenkeyisinordertoreceive the free tickets.Thisgeneratesfanexcitementand
supportfor the team.

6. 7
Built in analytic tools-
At thistime,Snapchatdoesnothave builtintoolsthatassistwithanalyticsforthe channel.There are
several companies,suchasSnaplyticsorDelmondo,thatcanprovide aninside lookintoabrand's
Snapchatanalytics.Eventhese provide fairlybasic information,anditdoesn’tseemasif there isyeta
goodway to measure whetherrevenueandprofitabilitywere affectedthroughthe channel.However,
youcan geta viewintoengagementusingeitherof these tools.Some of the measuresrecommended
are: 8
 Total Unique Views:numberof people whohave openedthe firstframe of yourSnapchatStory
 Total StoryCompletions:numberof people whohave viewedthe lastsnapinyourstory -
meaningthattheyhave viewedthe storyall the waythroughbecause the snapsare viewed
sequentially.

7.  Screenshots:howmanypeople have takenscreenshotsof yourphotos,indicatingthattheyliked
it or were engagedenoughtotake anaction.
A brandcouldalso dosome manual calculationstocome up withsome basicmetrics.For example,if
youwant to knowhowmanypeople viewedyourentire story,youcanopenupthe screenthat shows
each segmentinthe storyandhow manypeople viewedthatparticularsegment.Thisisverytime
consumingif youhave a lotof segmentsanda lotof viewers/followers.
Businessmodelsfor the channel-
The bestway to increase snapchatengagementandturna profithas beenfoundtobe the paidlenses.
One of the more successful lenseshasbeenStarbucks. EveryyearinMay,Starbucksruns a promotion
calledFrappuccinoHappyHourwhere youcan get anyFrappuccinofor half price.Theypromote the
campaignviaa Snapchatgeofilter.The catchis that the geofilterwouldonlyappearduringthe Happy
Hour time frame andonlyif you were inthe area of a Starbucks.Bysettingupthe filtertoappearonly
duringhappyhour,Snapchat andStarbucksencouragedpeople tobuyduringthistime frame.While
Starbucksdidnot postspecificprofitresults,the articleauthorindicatedit“workedpersonally”asthey
wentto theirlocal Starbucksto geta frappuccinoduringthe campaigntime frame 9
Anothergoodexample of aprofitable Snapchatcampaignisthe WorldWildlifeFund(WWF).The WWF
startedthe “Last Selfie”campaign.Inthiscampaignthe WWFsnapchatted6 picturesof endangered
speciesusingthe hashtag“#LastSelfie”.Theyencouragedyou tosave or screenshotthe picture andto
donate to the WWF. In only3 days,the campaignraisedthe amounttargetedfor the entire month. 10
Otherbrandshave usedSnapchat to increase profitbywayof increasingengagementandbrand
awareness. While many of the brandswere able topointtoincreasedSnapchatfollowers,Twitter
impressionorFacebookfans,none of thempublishedprofitabilityresults. 11
Thismay be because of the
lack of integrationof analyticmeasuringtoolswiththe Snapchatapplication.
List of strengthsand weaknessesandexample-
Strengths Weaknesses
Private usersharing.Youcan setyour profile to
“Everyone”or“My Friends”todefine whocan
see yourpicturesandvideos.
Videosmustbe timedperfectly.Videosare only
10 secondsandyou can’t recorda whole songata
concert forexample.
Picturesaren’tpermanent.Goofy,embarrassing
or evenpromiscuouspicturesdonotstick
around,unlessthe viewertakesascreenshot
(whichsendsanotificationtothe sender).
Picturesaren’tpermanent.Userscansave posted
picturestotheircamera or memorieshowever
recipientscannotsave snapswithoutnotifyingthe
senderthattheyhave done so.

8. Funand easyto use.Easy to postpictures. No wayto automate.Postscannotbe set to
automaticallypostfromaplatformsuch as
Hootsuite.*
Interactive waytoengage withuserswith
coupons,contestsorreactionpictures *
Bad press.Companiesmaystill be hesitanttouse
the channel as itwas originallythoughtof tobe a
“sexting”app.*
Continuallyevolving.Snapchatlistensto itsusers
and continuestoaddnewfeatures.Theyhave
alsobackedfeaturesoutwhentheywere not
popularwithusers.
Difficulttogeta brand message acrossinonly10
seconds
Audience engagementthroughuse of geofilters,
lenses,andstories.
No abilityforuserstoforward/share photosor
videostheyreceive,andnoabilityforthemto
“like”yourphotos
Doesn’tintegrate seamlesslywithmostother
social mediachannels
No built-inanalyticsreportingtools.Companies
mustoutsource to getanalyticsor provide
independentanalysistodeterminesuccessrate
*= 12
Smart brandshave figuredoutwaysto leverage the engagementstrengthsof Snapchat.Forexample,
whenTaco Bell wasplanningto introduce anew Burrito,theyfirstusedTwittertotell people theywere
on Snapchatand tell themthere wouldbe asecretSnapchatonlyannouncementtotheirfollowersthe
nextday.The followerswere thensenta“snap” of the new BeefyCrunchburritoalongwitha release
date,thusgeneratingexcitementforthe new product.Taco Bell hasalsocreatedlenses,withone of the
mostpopularbeingone where youcangive yourself a“taco head”.
The retailerWetSeal successfullyusedthe Storyfeature of Snapchatbyidentifyinga16-year-old
bloggerwithaninternetfollowing,thenturningovertheirSnapchataccountto herfor twodays to
highlighttheirproducts.Inthose twodays,theygained“9000 new followersand6000 viewsof the ‘My
Story’“ 13
An example of abrandthat understoodthe weaknessesof the Snapchatplatformisthe World Wildlife
Fund.WWF knewthatthere is noway forusersto “like”theirphotosorshare withothers,sothey
encourageduserstotake screenshotsof the photostheyliked,andshare themwiththeirfriendsvia
othersocial mediachannels.Bydoingthis,theycouldsee how many“likes”theyreceivedforeach
photobasedon numberof people whotookscreenshots.
Channel integration-

9. Snapchatcurrentlydoesn’tintegrate aswell asotherchannels.The onlywaytointegrate othermedia
channelswithsnapchatisthe memoriesfeature.Once aphotoissavedto yourmemoriesinsnapchat,
youcan exportitto 22+ mediaplatformswithFacebook,InstagramandTwitterbeingseveral of the
social mediachannelsonthe list.The downsidetothisfeature isyoufirstmustsave the phototo the
memoriesareaandgo back to exportasopposedtobeingable toexportdirectlyfromthe picture or
videoaftertakingit.Twitterforexample,givesyouthe abilitytoexportaphotodirectlyintoatweet.
You can include boththe captionandlocationandit will postontoyourtwitteraccountwiththe picture
and information.
Anothergoodintegrationwithsnapchatisthe appBitmoji.Bitmojiisapersonal avataremoji of yourself
where youcan edithundredsof featurestopersonalizeanemoji of yourself.Snapchatpurchased
Bitmoji therefore givingthe usersof the appsa special feature inthatusing Bitmoji insnapchatunlocks
a special “friendmoji”feature with two-personemojiof youandthe useryou are snapchattingwith.
Brands mightuse thisfeature tocreate theirown Bitmoji andinvite userstoconnectwiththemusing
the friendmoji feature.Thisfunfeature mightbe agoodway to getpeople toaddthe brand to their
friendslist.

10. Overall,Snapchathasmade manyimprovementsoverthe lastfew years,andcouldpotentiallybecome
a much biggerplayerinthe social mediamarketastheyadd featuresandenhance theircapabilities.
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