Laura DiVergilio | Digital Strategy

The Millennial Guide to Mastering Snapchat

Snapchat is the best social platform to reach 13 to 34 year-olds.

86% of Snapchat users are 13 - 34.

Each day on Snapchat:

100m

unique users

400m 7+ billion

snaps sent video views

Snapchat growth is EXPLOSIVE.

Snapchat is an established social network, but an emergent distributional platform.

There is an untold amount of untapped potential for brands on Snapchat. As the app is primarily designed for a seamless user experience, it can appear daunting or confusing to advertisers.

Let’s breakdown Snapchat.

In This Snapchat Strategy Guide Learn:

1.

2.

3.

what to measure.

how brands master Snapchat.

essential qualities for a successful Snapchat campaign.

how to broadcast.

4.

Modes of Communication

Private Snaps

Discover

Snap Story

Geofiltersallow users to place location-based stickers on their snaps

temporary photos or videos (max: 10 sec per snap; 1 - 50 recipients) — not where brands should experiment

collection of snaps viewable by a users’ friends to view for 24 hours.

reminiscent of cable tv, discover is a small ad-supported ecosystem of channels with scheduled programming

Discover

Discover is a radically underutilized feature by video publishers. Users primarily engage with snapchat for visual content. Why is the bulk of Discover content long-form articles?

20 niche channels for snackable content.

The Strategy

Cosmopolitan generates 3+m avg views per day.

Winning at Discover: Comedy Central

Inside Amy Schumer original promo

Original Visual Content

Designed for Snapchat

Not Programmed to Drive Live-TV Viewing

Geofilters

The Strategy

Location-based or branded stickers.

Geofilters are a non-intrusive tactic to engage consumers. They propogate word-of-mouth between users: 74% of consumers identify word-of-mouth as a key influencer in their purchasing decision.

1+m tagged per day.

Winning at Geofilters: Straight Outta Compton

Timely and relevant.

Launched with a specific goal: increase awareness for

a movie premiere.

Virality. With a simple enough design for users to riff off of, tagged snaps spread across

all social platforms — causing the filter to become a full-

blown internet meme.

"For us the focus on this audience is because they represent the next

generation of customers, investors, and employees. Eventually these are

the people who will become the future of the company."

Why GE “Leaned-In” to Geofilters

- Sydney Williams - GE Head of Social Media

Snap StoriesTies individual snaps together for a 24-hour period.

Most used feature.

7+b views per day.

The Strategy

A set of best practices for Stories has quickly emerged: offer exclusive content, incentivize consumers, promote contests, and encourage screenshots. Later, we’ll delve deeper into each one of these practices.

Snowpocalypse Snap Story

25Mil

Snap Story Viewership In Context

AMC’s The Walking Dead

2015 Finale

15.8Mil

2.75Mil

CBS Avg Rating

Snapchat lacks a third-party analytics infrastructure to help brands target & measure the effectiveness of their Story campaigns.

DATA INISIGHT

3 Key Performance Indicators

Screenshot Rate

Total Unique Views

Completion RatePercentage of viewers that watched the Story from start to finish

Percentage of viewers that screenshot any given Snap

Number of viewers of each snap within the Story

Total Unique ViewsLook next to the eyeball to find the amount of views per snap.

Completion Rate

Views in Last Snap

To find how many viewers watched the full story, divide total views of the most recent snap by the total views in the first snap.

last snap

first snap

Views in First Snap= Completion Rate

= 0.93 = 93%147

157

Screenshot RateA critical metric for engagement, calculate the screenshot rate by dividing the total number of screenshots by the total views in a snap.

= 0.019 = 1.9%3

152

Views

Screenshots= Screenshot Rate

Track.Control.

Use Snapchat metrics to evaluate how content best engages your audience.

Control for as many variables as possible to evaluate what influences Snap performance: time of day posted, # of snaps per story, what kinds of snaps stimulate screenshots, etc.

Adapt.

React to data. Allow user response to shape your strategy.

Snap Stories Best PracticesStories are the most popular mode of communication on Snapchat. Here’s a round up of successful story strategies.

Increase Interaction. Users screenshot a snap when:

I. the snap makes an emotional impact. shareability.

the screenshot serves a purpose. utility.

II.

Encourage Screenshots.

The Strategy

Winning at Interaction: Taco Bell

Hosts original content that users have to screenshot to interact with.

Stimulate Interaction

Extend Consumer-Brand Relationship

80% of Taco Bell’s followers open their snaps, 90% of those followers

complete the story on average.

“It’s a real-time platform for us, where we’re able to do a lot of storytelling. On Instagram or Twitter, you only have so much space to say something. You have 140 characters or one photo, but on Snapchat, we’re able

to collaborate with our fans and tell a deeper story. They connect with our fans on a one-on-one level,

which other platforms don’t allow.”

Snapchat = Storytelling

Jozlynn Rush Taco Bell Social Media Specialist

Transitory: Snapchat’s most distinctive feature is that nothing is saved to its servers for longer than 24 hours. Motivates users to

continually tune-in.Think pre-tivo era television — fans of a tv series had to tune-in live because it was the only way to watch.

The StrategyExclusive Content.

Winning at Exclusivity: HBO’s Girls

Behind-the-scenes content.

Authentic: cast members often snap directly to fans, not just the unpaid

millennial intern.

Early Adopters: Girls launched its account in early 2014, becoming the

first tv brand to adopt Snapchat

“The Totem of Chat. The lowest would be Facebook, followed by Gchat, then texting, then email, then phone. Face to face is, of course, ideal, but it’s not of this time.”

Now, Snapchat Rules The Millennial Totem of Chat

- GIRLS (2012)

Reward followers with deals, giveaways, or contests.

Foster connections with followers.

Simple tactic to grow follower base.

Incentives. The Strategy

Winning at Incentives: Wet Seal

Leveraged disappearing coupon codes to drive organic growth.

Influencer Marketing: Wet Seal’s Snap account launched with a 2-

week takeover by 16-year old blogger @MsMeghanMakeup.

Combined tactics grew follower basefrom 0 to 9,000 in 2 weeks.

Mastering any social platform is a matter of collecting data and pairing it equal force with cultural intellegence.

Analyze Nuances in Digital Behavior.

Take a Multi-Platform Approach.

Cross-Promotion Across Social Networks.

Consistent Programming.

Shape Content By User Preference.

Incorporate User-Generated Content.

Optimize for Sharing.

Design for Microexperiences.

In a multi-platform world, seemingly minute digital touchpoints shape consumer brand preference. Each is a unique opportunity for brands to architect consumer perception.

BE AUTHENTIC.

Snap Strategy Cheat Sheet.

1. Develop Organizational Goals.

2. Implement a Programming Strategy.

4. Monitor Metrics.

5. Use Snap Story Best Practices: Increase Interaction; Offer Exlusive Content; Give Followers Incentives.

7. Adapt to Audience Response.

6. Interact with Audience.

3. Cross-Promote on Other Social Networks.