Snapchat just rejected a $3 billion offer from Facebook and introduced Snapchat Stories last month, which provides brands the opportunity to have a public presence on a medium that used to be only dedicated to private sharing. Snapchat Stories could even be the next step in incorporating sponsored content. With this advancement to the app, there is a strong possibility that Snapchat could be the next Instagram or Twitter.
Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel in Los Angeles. –Associated Press
Obviously Snapchat plans to grow into a big business since they just rejected a $3 billion offer from Facebook, which is nearly three times as much as they offered Instagram in 2012. Instagram actually has more users than Snapchat, 150 million vs. about 30 million, but Snapchat is still confident because of its frequent user interaction. Instagram users post about 55 million pictures a day, while Snapchat users share about 350 million Snaps a day. This level of user interaction shows big promise for the platform.
With the introduction of Snapchat Stories last month, Snaps can now live longer than 10 seconds after being viewed. This feature allows a user to add Snaps to a feed, stringing together images to create a narrative of the day. The Snaps submitted to this feed can be seen by any of their friends as many times as they want in a 24 hour period. When 24 hours is up, the images start to disappear in the order they were taken and new ones are added in their place. The Story always plays from the first picture taken to the last, mimicking the order each moment was experienced.
This new feature gives people a reason to go to the app even if they didn’t receive a Snap because, ideally, there will always be a steady stream of Stories from their friends. This allows people to use the app similar to how they use Facebook and Twitter, to catch up on what their friends are doing.
The function of Snapchat Stories makes the app more appealing to public sharing rather than private sharing, similar to Instagram. People can choose not to include their Snaps in a Story, but having this new function gives people a reason to make their content more visually appealing. A user can also elect to share their Story with just friends, a custom list, or everyone on Snapchat. The public sharing feature of Snapchat Stories is a good incentive for brands to start using the platform. Stories provide a good opportunity for video advertising especially for musicians, movies, and entertainment brands whose target demographic are teens. It is unclear exactly how advertising on the platform would work, but it is something that might be just around the corner.
If you are interested in learning more about social marketing trends and seeing what Agency Entourage can do for you, give us a call at 214-414-0305.
