snapchat for corporate pr

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[SnapchatforCorporateBusiness]

WhitePaper

DiscoverthePowerofSnapchatfor

CorporateBusinessHowPublicRelationscanuseSnapchatMarketingto

improvetheirbrand

LaurenCuddy|MeganGarnacheOctober11,2016

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EXECUTIVESUMMARY

Socialmediahaschangedthewayusersobtainanddistributeinformation.Inthe

corporateworld,publicrelationsoutletsarepartneringtheirbrandwithagrowing

mediaoutlettoexpandtheirPRreach.Theyareembracingnewersocialmedia

platforms,suchasSnapchat,(asacontentprovider)andutilizingtheDiscoverfeature

whichprovidestheopportunitytoengagewiththetargetaudiencethecompanyis

tryingtoreach.

SinceJanuary2015,Snapchathasbeenbringingitsnewstopeoplewith

SnapchatDiscover,whichhas60millionactiveusersasof2016.1Theseusersaremainly

millennials,oradultsages35-54whoownasmartphoneandwanttostayuptodateon

theirfavoritebrandsandbusinesses.

SnapchatDiscovercombinespopularmagazines,networksandtelevisionina

"redesignofitsomni-entertainmentapp".Youcanselectfromamenuofoutlets,

includingNationalGeographic,DailyMail,NFLandvariousotherbusinesseswho

showcasetheirbrandusingshortvideos.

Snapchathasmadeitpossibleforpeopletoinstantaneouslyfindoutabout

thingsthemomenttheyhappen,anditprovidesaninteractiveplatformforcompanies

toengagewithaudiencestobuildyourbrandimage.Itisanauthenticwayfor

businessestorepresenttheirbrandandithumanizesabrandandoffersagreat

opportunitytoshowyourcompany’sculture.2

1CanDiscovertransformSnapchatintoanewssource?2PR:ShouldYouUseSnapchatinYourCampaigns?

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Neverbeforehavebusinesses

neededtouseSnapchatliketheydoin

thedigitaldrivenerain2016.

Nevertheless,thereisanimportant

questiontoanswer:howdoyouuse

Snapchattoeffectivelygainconsumer

interesttoenhanceabrand'simageand

increaseengagement?

Figure12016Discoverpage

Figure2propertyoftubefilter.com

Wewillexplainwhouses

SnapchatDiscover,howPRcanusethe

SnapchatDiscoverfeature,whata

businessshouldaimtoaccomplishwith

SnapchatDiscoverandhowitcan

accomplishacompany'sbusinessgoals.

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INTRODUCTION

3WhatisSnapchat?

Snapchatisapicture-andvideo-

sharingsocialmediaplatform.Because

ofitstimelynature(Snapsdisappear

afteramaximumof10seconds,while

Storieslastonly24hours),content

sharedthroughSnapchatisexclusive.

Sharingbehind-the-scenesfootageand

sneakpeekswithaudiencesthrough

SnapsandStoriescanincrease

engagementandgetconsumersexcited

aboutabrand."Snapchatboasts150

milliondailyusersbysomeaccounts,

surpassingTwitter’sdailyusercount,

andwasrecentlyvaluedat$18billion

3WhatisSnapchat

afterraising$1.8billionincashearlierin

2016."

WhileSnapchatprovidesentertainment,

ithasbecomeavitalpublicrelations

toolthatisusedtodevelopaclear

brandimagebyengagingwith

consumersthroughanimageandvideo-

basedplatform.TheDiscoverfeatureis

especiallyvitalforthis–itallowsbrands

tolinktooff-appcontentsuchas

articleshostedontheirownwebsite.

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WhyyourbusinessshoulduseSnapchat

Socialmediamanagerscurrently

usingSnapchatstresstheimportanceof

thechannel’sreal-timeculture.Because

fansthinkofitasamessagingapp,

managersemphasizedtheneedto

operate“inthenow.”Snapchatfans

respondtoSnapsinthesamereal-time

fashiontheywouldatextmessage.

ThepopularityofSnapchatisa

resultoftheapp’sinnovationtosend

imagesthatlastforafewsecondsand

thendisappearsforever.Anadded

featureofSnapchat,Snapchatstories,

lastsonly24hoursandisastringof

snapsusedto“createavideo

narrative”.Thesestoriesarealsopartof

theDiscoverfeature—wherebusinesses

cancreatecontentthatwillreachnearly

everyuseronSnapchat.Thereareover

1billionviewsofSnapchatstorieseach

day,andbrandsareutilizingtheappto

“surpriseanddelighttheiraudienceand

growawarenessfortheirbrand”.4Every

businessshouldtakeadvantageofwhat

thisfreeapplicationcanprovide.

45WaystoUseSnapchatforBusiness

WhoisusingSnapchatin2016?

Morethan100millionpeople

useSnapchatperday,with200million

activeusersworldwide.Ofthoseusers,

60percentareunder25yearsold,with

nearlyaquarterofthoseusersstillin

highschool–unsurprisingly,37percent

ofSnapchatusersarebetweentheages

of18to24.

Figure3SnapchatStatisticsbyGlobalWebIndexViewhere:

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ThegrowthoftheSnapchat

platformhasattractedcorporate

businessesincludingtheNational

BasketballAssociation,Acura,Heineken

andGrubHub.

ButnewusersjoiningSnapchat

arestartingtoskewalittleolder–more

thanhalfofnewusersareolderthan

25.Becausetheseusersaremorelikely

tobefinanciallyindependent,using

Snapchatforbrandawarenesswillhelp

encouragethemtoshopcertainways.

Genderalsoplaysarole.Though

Snapchatitselfdoesnotpublishofficial

genderdemographics,a2015surveyby

HarvardUniversitysuggestedthat42

percentofstudiedwomen18to29

yearsoldhadSnapchataccountswhile

58percentofthemeninthatagegroup

saidtheyuseSnapchat.

HowPublicRelationscanuseSnapchat

Publicrelationscanuse

Snapchattodevelopcontent,comeup

withcreativeconcepts,inviteusersto

engage,givefollowersareasonto

followwithacalltoactionandmaintain

theirfollowerbase.Byupdatingthe

Discoverfeatureregularlyandgiving

exclusivecontenttopeoplewhoengage

withit,theconsumerswillremain

engagedandevenincreaseinnumber.

Forexample,occasionally

offeringexclusivecoupon codes

throughDiscoverencouragesusersto

continueengagingwiththeDiscover

feature.Thisallowsyoutopassonthe

brandmessagewhilepleasingyour

consumers with incentives to continue

following your Snapchat activities.

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WhyShouldPublicRelationsuseSnapchat?

Publicrelationsmanagerscan

useSnapchatinavarietyofways.

Snapchatcanhelpcreate

awarenessofabrand–byincorporating

Snapchatintoexistingmarketing,

consumerswhoalreadyuseSnapchat

willbeabletointeractwiththatfeature

andlearnmoreaboutthebrand.

Thiswillalsohelptobuild

consumerrecognition.Byshowingoffa

brandthroughSnapchatanddoingso

consistently,peoplewhointeractwith

thebrandthroughtheDiscoverfeature

willrecognizethebrandbothonandoff

ofSnapchat.

Additionally,curiousconsumers

whomaynothaveboughtfromabrand

inthepastbutdoengagewithSnapchat

mayseeSnapchat-basedmarketingand

bemoreinclinedtocheckitout.This

canhelpgrowalargercustomerbase.

Oncethecustomersaresecured,

Snapchatcanbeusedtokeepthem

there–forexample,byusingDiscover

toteaseandeventuallylaunchanew

product.Snapchatcanalsohelpto

promotenewbusinesseswithinand

withoutofyourownbusiness.

Finally,Snapchatcanhelpto

revitalizeanoldbrand–becauseof

Snapchat'syoungeruserbase,brands

thathaven'tchangedorupdatedtheir

imagescanreachouttopotential

customerstheymightnothavebeen

abletoreachotherwisethrough

Snapchat.Thisallowsthebrandtoseem

"younger"andmorewith-the-times

insteadofremainingstrictlyanalog.

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HowSnapchatwillhelpyouaccomplishyourbusinessgoals?

Abusiness,ifutilizingSnapchat

correctly,willbeabletogrowitsbrand,

reachouttousersincreativeways

whileinfluencingthemtopurchase

whateveritisoffering,provide

transparencythroughbehind-the-

sceneslooksatitsprocessandoffer

exclusivecontentfoundnowherebut

Snapchat.

Ifabrandisconsistentlyoffering

rewardsforpeoplewhoengage(such

as,asmentionedbefore,coupon

codes),thosepeoplewilltellother

peopleaboutit.Asthemessage

spreads,thebrandwillgrow.Tokeep

thathappening,brandsneedtobe

creativeinhowtheyreachout–using

thesameapproachwillgrowstale

quickly.Inventivewaysofkeeping

consumersengaged,suchascontests,

willbeimportanthere.

It'salsoimportanttomakesure

yourbrandappearstrustworthy.Todo

this,givingbehind-the-sceneslooksat

thecompanyitselfandwhatitsprocess

iswillbeimportant.

Result

Byengagingwithconsumersvia

Snapchat,especiallyDiscover,abrand

canexpectincreasedconsumerloyalty

andtrustaswellasamoresolidbrand

image.Snapchatisawaytoshow

consumersatailoredviewofabrand's

image,meaningitcancontrolhowit

appearstothepublicattheground

level.

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Conclusion

Snapchatshouldnotonlybeconsideredasasocialmediaplatform:itcanalsobeapowerfulwayforPublicRelationsto:

1. Improvethestrengthoftheircompanyimage2. Reachouttonewpotentialcustomersandgainapercentageofnew

followers3. Shareuniquecontenttoprovideviewerwithavividexperience.4. Drivevisitsandultimatelyincreasesales.

TogetyourcompanystartedonSnapchat,youcangohereforaguidethatwilltakeyouthrougheachstep.Getsnapping!

Figure4propertyofpandasecurityatpandasecurity.com/mediacenter

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SourcesCited

Abbruzzese, Jason (27 August 2014). “Report: Snapchat Valued at $10 Billion in Latest Investment”. Mashable. Mashable. Retrieved 29 October 2014, from http://mashable.com/2014/08/26/snapchat-10-billion-valuation/#owDJcxI1GkqN Buyer, L. (2016, January). Digital Marketers are Waking up to Snapchat for SocialPR . Retrieved October 8, 2016, from http://socialprchat.com/5-snapchat-pr-secrets-digital-marketers-are-flocking-to-snapchat-are-you/ Colao, J.J. (November 27, 2012). “Snapchat: The Biggest No-Revenue Mobile App Since Instagram”. Forbes. Retrieved December 25, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/jjcolao/2012/11/27/snapchat-the-biggest-no-revenue-mobile-app-since-instagram/#39badd483ac1 Colao, J.J ( Dec 14, 2012.) “Snapchat Adds Video, Now Seeing 50 Million Photos A Day”, Forbes. Retrieved May 16, 2016, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/jjcolao/2012/12/14/snapchat-adds-video-now-seeing-50-million-photos-a-day/#3b7b367a213a

Conlin, B. (n.d.). Cheat Sheet: Snapchat for Marketing and PR | Cision. Retrieved October 8, 2016, from http://www.cision.com/us/2014/05/cheat-sheet-snapchat-for-marketing-and-pr/ Frier, S. (n.d.). Snapchat User `Stories' Fuel 10 Billion Daily Video Views ... Retrieved October 10, 2016, from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-28/snapchat-user-content-fuels-jump-to-10-billion-daily-video-views

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Gettoknowthewriters

MeganGarnacheisaseniorjournalismmajorwithaminorincreativewriting.

LaurenCuddyisasenioratElonUniversitymajoringinStrategicCommunications.SheworkedatWCVBChannel5inBostonthepasttwosummersasaSalesandMarketingIntern,whereshedevelopedmultimediaskillsandproducedcontentusingavarietyof

platforms.

ConnectwithLaurenonTwitter@cuddysays

CopyrightInformation©2016

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