Brands Braving Snapchat to Engage Consumers

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Brands Braving Snapchat to Engage Consumers

This summer it was clear that Snapchat had become a rising star in the social media world. Once the company secured $60 million in funding, started see 8 million monthly users and began to process approximately 200 million snaps per day in June the social photo and video sharing application quickly captured people’s attention especially the interest of brand marketers.

September this year the company reported that it sends approximately 350 million snaps per day, which is a significant increase in daily use in only a few months.

Snapchat And The ROI Challenge

Content on Snapchat lives a relatively short lifespan, so brands have had to think I bit more cleverly when it comes to creating content. The beauty of capturing a brief, sometimes imperfect, candid moment to share with close friends and family is what lies at the core of Snapchat’s purpose.

Brands Braving Snapchat to Engage Consumers

The idea of sharing content that

  • is not permanent
  • does not generate a customizable profile or page and
  • is a one-to-one communication that is not about sharing with a massive public audience

presents whole new uncertainties for the brands. Snapchat turns the way brands have traditionally executed strategy on social media upside down.

Thus far, brands have had a fairly easy time establishing a measureable brand presence on most social networks or applications.  In contrast to other social applications and networks, Snapchat should to be carefully considered especially in determining whether it would be a good fit for a particular brand, in addition to establishing the potential ROI related to engaging with consumers in this new space.

Brands On Snapchat

Despite the potential challenge that lies in measuring the value of engaging on Snapchat several brands have entered the Snapchat circuit and started engaging with consumers.

Below there are six examples of brands that have established a good presence on Snapchat:

Taco Bell

This major fast food brand has been living on the edge of innovation when it comes to entering new social networks and establishing a presence. So it’s not surprising that Taco Bell was likely one of the first major brands to join the snap happy users of Snapchat.  The brand persuaded its audience to join them on Snapchat via other social media sites for a special announcement, in which the brand revealed the return of the Beefy Crunch Burrito.

Acura

The Japanese luxury car manufacturer launched a VIP-like campaign with consumers for a product sneak peak.  Audi promised the first 100 people to add them on Snapchat an exclusive video clip of the NSX supercar in action.  The clip showed off the new vehicle’s stylish façade and it’s incredible speed.

MTV UK

The popular the cable television network elected to join Snapchat to engage its audience in visual dialogue about the upcoming season of the Geordie Shore. MTV sent snaps to friends of exclusive images and video clips of the cast prior to the premiere of the Geordie Shore’s sixth season and on the night that the new season started it sent snaps reminding people to tune in to watch. The vice president of marketing for MTV UK noted that Snapchat offered

[quote] a direct marketing route to our fans by reaching them on their most beloved devices.[/quote]

Rebecca Minkoff

Each season there are a handful of fashion designers that try to out do the competition during fashion week showings. This year that designer was Rebecca Minkoff and the brand’s weapon of choice in this case was Snapchat. The brand enticed its audience to add them on Snapchat for an exclusive glimpse at several pieces moments before they hit the runway.

Karmaloop

This urban ecommerce clothing company based in the Boston area has been snapping photos of its models in rather suggestive shots, in addition to snaps of new products. In only a few weeks the brand has been able to grow an audience of more than 2,000 friends. Later this month the brand has plans to introduce coupon codes exclusively for its Snapchat friends.

16 Handles

A small New York based frozen yogurt franchise, 16 Handles, has been pegged as one of the first brands to engage with consumers on Snapchat. The frozen yogurt company asked its young and savvy audience to snap a photo of themselves and their friends enjoying frozen treats from 16 Handles.

The company responded to snaps with a coupon valued at either 16%, 50% or 100% off their purchase, which had to be reveal at some point during the completion of a purchase. This campaign was on par with a philosophy that the 16 Handles CEO lives by, which is “that ‘passion brands’ are built by engaging with customers in ways that enrich their daily lives.” This campaign reportedly engaged more than 1,400 customers on Snapchat.

Snapchat Infographic

Here’s a great Infographic from uKnowKids that gives you some facts and figures about Snapchat.

Snapchat Infographic

A lot of marketers are monitoring what the early adopters among brands are doing on Snapchat very closely. Not to mention the fact that Snapchat is still a very young company that’s been around for less than three years.  There’s no doubt that there will likely be a few major changes or updates made to the application as it continues to grow to better suit the needs of all users including brands.

What About You?

Are you, or your brand already on Snapchat? Let us know in the comments.

[Images: Infographic by uKnowKids]

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