If you are unfamiliar with Snapchat, it is an app that is used on a cell phone to take photos and videos that you can either send directly to friends or share on your story, which means viewable to anyone you are friends with.  The ones to friends disappear immediately, and on your story they can be viewed for 24 hours – unless someone takes a screenshot, which you are alerted to.  Snapchat might be most known for its array of changing filters that allow you to view yourself with animal ears, big lips, or even a beautifying blurring filter.

According to Statista (Clement, 2019), Snapchat had 203 million daily active users worldwide.  Statista also reported that in a study from spring of this year, U.S. teenagers shared Snapchat is the most important social network of their generation.  In fact, 78% of 18 to 24 year olds in the U.S. use Snapchat.

What could utilizing this platform mean for companies exploring new marketing options for young adults?  Potentially throwing open doors to prospects and receiving higher engagement.  Entrepreneur states that Snapchat gets almost 4 times higher engagement rate than similar platforms such as Instagram (Siu, 2017).  Entrepreneur also shares some ways that marketing can be effective through Snapchat: Offer promo codes, launching new products, and leveraging influencer marketing.

I believe the latter is one of the best ways to successfully utilize social media, but especially with Snapchat because it allows you to share not only with all of your followers but those of the influencer as well.  It can also be a relatively inexpensive way to market compared to purchasing ad space on other platforms.

On the flip side of appealing to young adults, Snapchat is certainly not a way to market to older generations.  Depending on the product and target audience you are hoping to reach, another method might be more effective.  The Snapchat usage rate for those 50 and above is only 7% (Influencer Marketing Hub, 2019).  However, it can certainly play an important role in your overall marketing strategy!

References

Clement, J. (2019, August 14). Daily active users of Snapchat 2014-2019. Retrieved from Statista: https://www.statista.com/statistics/545967/snapchat-app-dau/

Influencer Marketing Hub. (2019, April 30). Snapchat Statistics, Revenue, and More. Retrieved from Influencer Marketing Hub: https://influencermarketinghub.com/snapchat-statistics-revenue/

Siu, E. (2017, February 21). 3 Ways to Use Snapchat for Marketing. Retrieved from Entrepreneur: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/289286