The case for including Snapchat in your digital strategy

Kait Richmond is a writer, producer and contributor to the M.T. Deco Blog

It’s been years since Snapchat has felt like a relevant social media platform.

Once a trendy app thanks to the ephemeral nature of the content and fun filters to go with it, Snapchat has fallen out of favor since Instagram Stories and TikTok have become the preferred place to post for many in the Millennial and Gen Z audiences.

For a lot of people, though, it’s still in rotation, but in a different capacity than most of our other social accounts. [Personally, I use it to send video messages to a handful of friends and look at what I was posting in 2015.]

So it’s been interesting to see a slew of industry headlines this month as Snap fights for relevance. Frankly, all of that was a reminder that a lot of people are still Snapchatters, even if the app doesn’t dominate our everyday digital strategy conversations.

The recent coverage bump is thanks to CEO Evan Spiegel’s recent letter to employees and the Partner Summit that followed. Snap is making a lot of changes to its platform and [Carrie Bradshaw voice] we couldn’t help but wonder…is Snapchat back?

Maybe not in a trendy way, but as the future of TikTok hangs in the balance, it’s worth getting up to speed on what’s happening on Snapchat in case you want [or need] to pivot. And the numbers make a strong supporting case:

Here are a few of the company’s recent announcements that have people talking:

Snapchat is getting its biggest redesign in years, The Verge - The app will be redesigned to have just three tabs: its popular messaging option, the camera, and a new tab that is similar to what you would see on TikTok. [Snap is betting that the new tab will be a more attractive option for creators.]

Snap debuts operating system for AR glasses, Axios - This is the fifth generation of the AR glasses, and CEO Evan Spiegel told Axios that he thinks this device will eventually be as common as cell phones. Investing now puts Snap in a position to be a market leader, theoretically.

Snapchat launches video comments and tools for creators seeking brand deals, Tech Crunch - This is a catchup to its competitors, but if Snapchat can give creators stronger tools and money, we suspect we’ll see a lot more creators using the app.

So, like just about everyone else who operates in the digital world, Snapchat is really leaning in on working with and supporting creators. In fact, the company has been at it for some time. The Tech Crunch story reports: “Snapchat says that over the last year, the number of creators posting publicly has more than tripled, as creators posted nearly 10 billion Snaps to their Stories. The company also says there are nearly 15 billion interactions between creators and their viewers on the app every day.

All of this news comes at a great time for Snap, no doubt from a skilled PR team seeking to combat a slew of negative headlines [layoffs, stock price drop, privacy concerns, and local news stories about teens making threats on the app]. Plus, its reputation has always been questionable at best. Like other social media platforms, Snapchat has been the site of a lot of bullying, but it often felt worse there because bullies were emboldened by the short lifespan of the content. More recently, the company turned off a feature that let users see “friendship rankings” because of [obvious] parent concerns.

We recently said Facebook is worth considering for your digital strategy, but noted that there are caveats. All of the platforms out there can be devious, some more than others. That’s why it’s important to be familiar with what they’re up to so you can plan your presence accordingly.

The bottom line? If Facebook is worth considering, it’s for the size of the audience. If Snapchat is worth considering, it’s for the audience’s age.

As mentioned above, creators and celebrities are very much active right now on the platform. Snapchat is actually teaming up with Issa Rae on her project to expand support for diverse creators.

If you’re ready to dip a toe in Snapchat, here are a few ideas to get you started:

  • Focus on BTS content: Ephemeral content is still the name of the game, and on Snapchat, content feels even more unfiltered and unedited than anywhere else [unless you use a lens, but that’s kind of the point]. You’ll notice that creators who use the platform post a lot, the way someone would to Instagram Stories, with easy pictures and video that feel like they are straight from a camera roll, unedited.

  • Try out a takeover: Brand takeovers were more of a thing the last time Snapchat was big, but they’re still a fun option for brands and creators to play with. In the Get Ready With Me [GRWM] era, there are fun, new ways to do a takeover that won’t make it feel like the deal was signed in 2016.

  • Launch a lens: Snapchat still works with brands to launch lenses. A quick look at my own account right now gives me options from Disney and Pepsi, among others. Plus, there are still plenty of weird, random ones that have always been a hallmark of the app. Here’s a great post from a developer on the success of his lens and why he thinks this can be a great marketing tool, if used strategically.

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