It’s no question that social media is dominating the advertising world on sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, so it was only a matter of time until brands left their mark on the disappearing photo messaging app, Snapchat. Here’s how it works.
In addition to sending individual images, Snapchat has a feature called “My Story” where users can create their own visual narratives, comprised of pictures and seconds-long videos, and post them for all of their Snapchat friends to view. Using this format, the first ever Snapchat ad was released in October: a 20-second movie trailer for the horror film “Ouija“.
Snapchat’s newest content-sharing feature, “Our Story,” was announced last summer, and collects users’ “snaps” from live public events such as concerts, festivals, and sports arenas. Contribution to the stream is limited to geographic location (to ensure users are in fact at the event), but the composition is updated live on Snapchat for all its users to see. This created the opportunity for advertisers to begin plugging their brand into these snaps, as Samsung did at the American Music Awards.
Fast forward to today, and with McDonald’s recently snapped “Choose Lovin” spot receiving positive reviews, it’s clear that Snapchat is quickly becoming one of the most interesting and effective forms of social media advertising. And companies will continue to find success with Snapchat advertising for a few reasons.
Viewing ads is optional. Users have the option of avoiding the ads all together by simply not clicking on them, leaving the content to disappear in 24 hours. However, any frequent Snapchat user knows that notifications on the app are hard to avoid. Being a Snapchat junkie myself, I know that it is common practice among Snapchatters to simply tap through all recent updates to clear the notifications, absorbing the content nonetheless.
Snapchat is “must-see” content. At this point, Snapchat has become so regularly used that if you do not have the app, you’re missing out. I have personally found in many social situations that Snapchat has become a way of finding out where your friends are or what they are doing. My friends are constantly asking each other “Did you see that snap?” And if you didn’t “see that snap,” well, you’re out of the loop. That being said, advertisers have utilized this “must see” nature by plugging in their content and spreading their brand to susceptible Snappers everywhere.
Ads are woven into the story. Lastly, the advertisements are actually really cool! I got hooked into the “Our Story” feature after Snapchat posted an incredible user documentation of last year’s Diwali celebration in India, featuring amazing shots and videos of the joyful and colorful celebration. Honestly, I was so enthralled that if there was a blatant advertisement in the story, I probably wouldn’t have noticed.
And apparently I’m part of the majority of Snapchat users that don’t mind these advertising plugs. According to a study conducted by Millward Brown Digital, 60% of users enjoy the various “Our Stories” and 44% enjoyed the sponsored “Brand Stories.”
Taking the creative and visually-pleasing nature of”Our Story” and combining it with brief, captivating ads is a perfect way to allow advertisers to join this hot market, while Snapchat users reserve their right to avoid the ads if they please. Everyone wins!
Are you a Snapchat user? What do you think of Snapchat ads? Share your thought in the Comments.