Unless
you are living under a rock you know that Snapchat's stock closed up 44% on
March 2, the day they went public. Pretty
good for a company that lost $515 million last year. (Balakrishnan, 2017)
But
given Snapchat's popularity with Millennials and Gen Z, the belief is that the
company will eventually make money. Do
you think that's true? Do you use
Snapchat? Have you ever bought anything
based on a Snapchat post?
Research
says that Mills follow brands on social media almost as much for entertainment
value (38%) as they do for information (42%).
So adding sunglasses to your pics, sending yourself to exotic places,
and then sharing with friends seems like it would be right up their ally. (Loechner, 2017)
But,
while Snapchat considers this Michael Kors effort to be a success, I can't help
but notice that purchase intent only increased by 6%, and there is no mention
of a sales increase at all. (Snapchat, 2017).
Hmm. I was taught that unless
your effort generates a 10% increase in sales it is considered a failure.
I'm
not the only one who is skeptical.
According to a study published by RBC Capital Markets and Ad Age -
Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and even Yahoo all had
a better ROI than Snapchat. And now that
Instagram and Facebook have added similar features is it any wonder that Snapchat's
recent user growth has been relatively flat?
(Slefo, 2017)
Which
brings me back to my original question.
Have you ever bought anything based on a Snapchat post? What about other social media? Which works best for you? Why?
Balakrishnan,
A. (2017, March 2) Snap closes up 44%
after rollicking IPO. cnbc.com.
Retrieved March 17, 2017, from http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/02/snapchat-snap-open-trading-price-stock-ipo-first-day.html
Loechner,
J. (2017, March 16) Millennials Follow
Brands; GenX, Contests; and Boomers, Promotions. mediapost.com.
Retrieved March 17, 2017, from http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/296926/millennials-follow-brands-genx-contests-and-bo.html
Pomerantz,
L. Michael Kors Sponsored National Lens.
Snapchat website. Retrieved
March 17, 2017, from https://storage.googleapis.com/snapchat-web/success-stories/pdf/pdf_michael_kors_en.pdf
Slefo,
G. (2017, March 14) Snapchat Receives
Poor Grades From Marketers. adage.com.
Retrieved March 17, 2017, from http://adage.com/article/digital/snapchat-receives-poor-grades-marketers/308270/
5 comments:
I have never used Snapchat due to both lack of time and lack of interest / purpose. My current use of three social media platforms (listed in ascending order in terms of usage: YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook) do not seem to allow any time for Snapchat. Additionally, I have never really understood Snapchat's function.
Since late 2016, YouTube has become my main social media platform. Videos are my favorite format of learning and discovering, replacing reading written posts and seeing static photos. YouTube became my go-to place for discovering trends in countries around the world, being inspired to try new products or just seeing beautifully created content (replacing TV). YouTube's biggest drawback so far has been its mobile capability. Both its Website and Phone App are not ideal for a mobile usage, and therefore, limit accessibility.
Due to my passion in photography, my second favorite platform is Instagram. I turn to Instagram for inspirations on new trends / products.
Generally, every Influencer I am drawn to, I follow on YouTube and Instagram, but not on Facebook
It seems Facebook has become a news provider, with most of its content shown through a short video on its main page. Facebook has also become more useful for social events. Most of my friends create and organize their social occasions by creating private pages, and sharing information before an event, and photos after the event (replacing endless scheduling and photo swapping emails).
Coming back to Snapchat; I am not emotionally drawn to it, and therefore have never used it. There also never seemed a convincing reason for me to spend more time on a new social platform. What I mostly like about my three favorite platforms, is to track the progress in everybody’s content and recognize their development. Snapchat’s main feature of disappearing messages and videos, seems to be misaligned with this interest.
To its credit, Snapchat with its 150 million daily users, is projected to become an impressive advertising platform, with a projected 2017 ad revenue of over $935 million. (eMarketer, 2017).
In September 2016, Snap unveiled Spectacles (currently sold at $130), a pair of playful smart eyeglasses that allow wearers to capture short videos that can be shared via the Snapchat app. Even though a number of companies including Alphabet have tried to sustain buzz around smart glasses, Spectacles so far has had one of the most impressive product debuts in the category- thanks to a surprise launch and an innovative strategy of selling the glasses through pop-up vending machines, randomly placed throughout the U.S.
In 2014, the company started aligning itself with music events: a natural fit for some of Snapchat's most popular features. Live Stories, which allow users at the same event or location to share Snaps of the same feed (called Our Story), is the perfect conduit for live music events sharing. More people watched Snapchat stories from the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards than watched the event itself on cable.
Snapchat Discover, launched in early 2015, created a new type of “front page” for news and entertainment outlets. Users turn to it to view short-form, video-driven content from brands like ESPN, BuzzFeed, and Cosmopolitan. Discover has become a way for legacy media brands to reach a younger audience in a totally new way.
Going forward I am not sure in what direction Snapchat will be guided; Evan Spiegel's mission at Snap is to "reinvent the camera." He's positioned the company as the anti-Facebook for communicating with only your closest friends; he recently told the LA Times that he wants to "inspire creation”.
The truth is that I dont understand Snapchat very well, are people supposed to be interested in looking what other people do daily? I think Snapchat is a fashion that will last a short time, since Instagram, Whatsapp and other social networks are introducing the same Snapchat system in their apps.
I had Snapchat but I didnt like it and I erased it, I was not interested in looking what other people do every day and also I didnt remember to upload my own stuff. I've never bought anything on social networks, neither by Snapchat. For me social networks are apps for entertainment and not of purchase. If I found something that I like on Facebook, for example, I will go directly to the official page to buy it.
Josefina E.
I personally use Snapchat often to upload videos of my trips or weekends and to see what my friends (that live back in my hometown) are doing. I have never (ever) thought about buying something because I saw it on Snapchat, I'm more about word of mouth buyer for new products although I do try new things or products on my own and try to recommend them. If I had to choose a social media as an influencer Instagram would take it, I like concise info in a picture or video with 2 or 3 lines of what the product is.
Snapchat to me is all fun and games, no content worth looking for here.
I have the app however I do not use it, I have hearded of people who use it here in US when they eat at Shake Shack but I do not understand why it is so popular with the food theme. I think that Snapchat alone cannot be the main app of the digital marketing strategy, it can serve to promote discounts or special promotions when you already have a network of followers. In the same way good or bad, we are talking about the filter of the glasses of Michael Kors, Habia visto el filtro pero no sabia que era promovido por MK. SO this type of campaigns help the diffusion of the brand, however I remain skeptical if sales increase is treated, unless discounts are included or promotions broadcast only through to the followers on this app.
have not used snapshot for following reasons. First, I still do not understand the pros of Snapshot. Why should we erase our post in short time? Second, as far as I concerned, friends among me have not used snapshot yet. I’m surprised that snapshot earn so many users. Since social network systems are tools for communication, it reflects trends sensitively like chain reaction. I think sometimes it expands quickly, and other times it disappears quickly. It is possible that the user disappear as its function.
Though I’m pretty unsure about the future of Snapshot, I would like to propose an advertising idea using Snapshot. Can Snapshot be applicable for advertisement or promotion with discount coupon? Discount coupons which disappear in 10 second or 1 minute could be effective. It can psychologically stimulate customer to make their decision. Even though they don’t usually see an advertisement more than 1 minute, the limited time could help advertiser control customers’ attention. It also could be compatible with online game.
Wataru
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