2016: The Year of Snapchat

Snapchat got its start in Spring 2011. At that time, Instagram was just gaining a following within Gen Y, Twitter had a stronghold for individuals and brands alike, and Facebook was still the unsurpassable deity of social platforms.

Fast forward nearly 5 years and Snapchat has over 100 million active users globally in the 18-34 age range. Between Gen Y and the younger “Camera Roll” generation, daily Snapchat use has skyrocketed. With that said, it’s no surprise that Snapchat is becoming an outlet for brands to engage with their fans and build their digital presence.

Initially, Snapchat began as a one-to-one messaging system in which users could individually send pictures directly to a follower, then it grew to a one-to-many platform with the addition of video and the evolution of Stories. The progression of Stories has gone from Personal Stories, to Live Stories, and now to the Discover feature. It is through Stories that companies are able to effectively engage and excite users about their brand. If done properly, a Story can develop a compelling narrative for a brand in a way that has never been possible before.

As the platform is gaining more notoriety, Snapchat is becoming similar to the multi-billion-dollar business of television. Before the days of DVR and online streaming, there was a sense of urgency to watching TV. If you didn’t catch the episode Tuesday night at 7pm, then you would be left to hoping for a rerun to air within the coming week or filling in the gaps during the recap before the next week’s episode. That same sense of urgency is now developing through Snapchat in which massive audiences all have to “tune-in” within a certain live time frame.

With Instagram overtaking Facebook to become the most influential social media outlet, it’s safe to say that we now live in a world where the digital space has become very visual. Our generation is becoming conditioned to 10 second attention spans and that’s definitely what makes Snapchat the perfect medium. If your brand hasn’t jumped on the Snapchat bandwagon already, it’s time to add it to the 2016 agenda.

Additional articles worth reading on Snapchat:

1. How Snapchat Built Its Most Addictive Feature by Victor Luckerson
2. 10 Brands to Watch on Snapchat Right Now by Lucy Hitz
3. Snapchat Marketing: Why Brands Shouldn’t Fear the Ghost by John Montesi
4. Meet YesJulz, the 25-Year-Old That’s Changing the Way Brands Use Snapchat by Chris Danforth