SNAPCHAT ISN'T ABOUT CELEBRITIES - YET
You may not have a Snapchat account yet - and if you are over 30 years old, that isn't so surprising. But 100 million people ARE using the app every day now, and according to a study by Harvard researchers, 36% of 18–29 year-old Americans have a Snapchat account, up from 28% in 2014.
In this blog post, we look at what Snapchat is, why brands should care, and the fact that the platform as a celebrity social influencer base isn't seemingly successful - quite yet.
What Is Snapchat
Snapchat itself says that the app "lets you easily talk with friends, view Live Stories from around the world
Basically, by using the app a user can take photos, record their videos, add text and drawings to the video, and then share them with their own friend base. When an image or video is sent it is called a "Snap" and once opened, can be viewed for a pre-set time frame of 1 to 10 seconds.
There is also a "Stories" functionality that allows the content creator to take a number of their "Snaps" and add them together to create a story that is viewable in chronological order, and which is available to view for 24 hours after posting.
Snapchat itself hires content creators to create Snapchat stories under a variety of themes, and this is where publishers along with movie and TV creators have started to make short-form content that brands can sponsor.
Brands too have entered the picture by creating their own shareable snaps and stories - for a somewhat hefty price.
How Many Eyeballs
Snapchat reported that as of May 2015, users sent 2 billion photos and videos every day and that Snapchat Stories content was viewed 500 million times a day. And as of early 2016, it is already being reported that Snapchat now has 7 billion daily video views.
That's quite a jump in 6 short months.
According to Snapchat, these are their current stats (which differ a bit from more stats below based on the age ranges included).
The Snapchat User
According to Harvard research, the fastest growing social media platform for millennials is Snapchat. In the survey of 2,011 18 to 29 year olds:
- 36% had a Snapchat account (28% previous year/ +8%)
- 46% had an Instagram account (39% previous year/ +7%)
- 34% had a Pinterest account (30% previous year/ +4%))
- 14% had a Tumbler account (13% previous year / +1%)
- 81% had a Facebook account (80% previous year/ +1%)
- 38% had a Twitter account (38% previous year / +0%)
- 27% had a LinkedIn account (no data for 2014)
And just like social media sites everywhere, the overall user base is heavily female (42% female vs. 31% male.)
The Infographic
Newscred and Column Five created the below infographic on Snapchat's user profile.
What we found the most interesting was the overall lack of engagement with all things celebrity to date. When we are working on social influencer campaigns for brands, we often get asked about using "new" social media options, like Snapchat. With 64% of users seemingly NOT following celebrity accounts, the research below indicates that it's not the right platform for brands to use for celebrity social influencer engagement. At least not quite yet.
Other Options For Brands With Celebrities & Social Media
Are you interested in learning how to successfully partner celebrities with your brand - without spending a million? Watch this short webinar to learn Hollywood insider tricks to create and kick-start an entertainment marketing campaign that is the perfect extension for your social media program.
Also, feel free to read these other Hollywood-branded blogs for more information on marketing using Snapchat!
- Snapchat's Original Content: Brand Marketers, Pay Attention!
- Snapchat's New Update Is Great News For Brand Marketers
- Snapchat's Brand Marketing Wins Big At Cannes
- 5 Opportunities For Advertising On Snapchat
- Free Versus Paid Marketing On Snapchat
