Is Marketing On Snapchat Worth It?

Technology is ever-changing. A golden rule in marketing is to stay up to date with these changing trends to maximize ROI. A large portion of this technology phenomenon is social marketing. This includes the major platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. There are newer platforms, however, and one in particular that marketers are often curious about: Snapchat.

Released in September 2011, Snapchat offered features the world had not yet seen: photos and messages that are only accessible for a short period of time. With the primary purpose of sending multimedia messages, or “snaps,” it played on the consumer’s new obsession with sharing images. These snaps have a fun twist and consist of photos or short videos that are often edited with various filters and effects, text captions and drawings. Snapchat is a widely popular social media platform for consumers, but is it worth it for marketers? In this post, we’ll uncover the value of Snapchat for marketing in 2017 to help determine whether it is worth it to spend valuable time and money on the platform.

Growth Rates

Both Facebook and Instagram are growing at rapid paces and continue to dominate the social scene. In April 2017, Instagram announced it has 700 million active users – four months after reaching 600 million. Facebook continues to increase 17 percent year-over-year, with 1.32 billion daily active users in June 2017.

In contrast, Snapchat has seen some disappointing growth rates. The launch of Instagram Stories (a clone of Snapchat) is not helping speed up the platform’s user rates. In fact, Instagram Stories now has 200 million daily active users which still beats Snapchat’s 173 million daily active users.

Analytics companies and social media celebrities told TechCrunch they had seen Snapchat view counts drop between 15 percent and 40 percent thanks to Instagram Stories. More and more users and companies are beginning to share and watch stories on Instagram. Instagram has had such an impact on Snapchat’s growth, that in February 2017 it was reported that Snap’s growth fell almost 82 percent. This is a probably a good warning sign that it is in most companies’ best interest to advertise on the other platforms that have more reach and potential.

Who should use Snapchat?

Typically, most brands that advertise on Snapchat are in the B2C space and are producing a lot of fresh content (Daily Mail, for example) or a CPG (consumer product goods) company. These brands need advertising platforms that reach a wider audience. Typically, the wider the audience, the more money required to get the best social marketing ROI. Brands such as Gatorade, Dominos and Under Armour have the budget to reach this wider audience and have seen success. Brands like these are also targeting a young demographic, tailoring their Snapchat content to meet the specific needs.

Target audience matters, since 71 percent of Snapchat users are under 34 years old. This makes Snapchat a potentially great tool for reaching a younger demographic. If your company has an older demographic or broader target audience, other social media platforms may prove more effective.

It is important to know that Snapchat is generally a more expensive advertising platform than both Facebook and Instagram, and that tends to keep marketers away. Both Instagram and Facebook use a cost-per-click model. Depending on the ad type, the minimum daily budget is between $1 and $5. However, Snapchat’s regular ad model consists of cost-per-impression. Their minimum spending requirement is a whopping $40,000 per month. Marketers also have the option of a cost-per-swipe model for ad units such as sponsored geofilters, which can also add up. However, smaller business do have options for local geofilters with a smaller reach, which can cost as low as $5.

Due to the nature of the platform, Snapchat ads disappear after a few seconds, increasing the difficulty of a potential customer remembering the ad. This also provides the advertiser with less ROI, as Snapchat ads with a broader reach are much more expensive. If you want to optimize your budget while still reaching a broader audience, Facebook and Instagram are the better choices. Not only are these ads more affordable, but they are longer lasting as well.

The Consensus

The narrow scope of businesses that Snapchat works for and the impeding growth next to Facebook and Instagram Stories are all signs that social media marketing should be centered around the powerhouse platforms. Yes, as marketers, it is important to stay up to date on the latest technology and to find your audience where they are. But, Snapchat may not effectively optimize your budget and help you reach your desired target market. As shown in this blog, Snapchat reaches a limited audience (unless you have a massive social marketing budget) and has seen plummeting growth rates. Facebook and Instagram, on the other hand, are dominating the social space right now and are worth your marketing efforts. Our consensus is to stick to social platforms that deliver ROI and give you the biggest bang for your buck.

Do you need additional help or have any questions? BeWhys Marketing can help you stay on track for a successful social marketing campaign. Contact us today!

 

Beyond LinkedIn: Marketing in the Social Media Age

Social media has changed the structure and layout of traditional marketing campaigns. With so many options at our disposable, marketers face a constant battle of capturing and holding the attention of potential customers. Proper social marketing can positively increase sales. According to a report by Converto and AOL Platforms, social media is proven to be essential to the lead conversion process, adding a high level of brand awareness that bridges the gap between the initial interaction with a lead and the point of conversion.

It’s essential that marketers know how to use social media platforms to their advantage and properly develop campaigns that maximize the success of their strategy.

Marketing on LinkedIn

With an array of tools at our disposal, LinkedIn no longer provides the same value it used to. Once known as the professional medium of social marketing, its more user-centric applications now present some limitations. This includes a more challenging approval process, which determines what content will be featured on the platform. The new specifications impact the type of content that is created and the approach tactic for lead generation and advertising.

Even though there are new API-restricting limitations on LinkedIn, the user interface has recently become much more aesthetically appealing. Pulse (LinkedIn’s publishing platform) and sponsored content are still viable ways to reach your audience and promote top-of-funnel marketing content. Just remember to consider all social media platforms when developing your marketing strategy, not just LinkedIn.

Social Tools for Marketers

Other social media platforms allow marketers to have more flexibility in terms of content, lead approach and advertising. In contrast with LinkedIn, these other platforms reach a broader audience (not just professional contacts, but other potential consumers as well). The value of social media in establishing a loyal customer base is immense. According to Ambassador, 71% of consumers who have had a good social media service experience with a brand are likely to recommend it to others.

Use social media as an effective customer service tool to increase brand engagement and win new customers. With the right tools, marketers have found ways to find success with more flexibility and control of their campaigns, which can ultimately result in higher conversion rates. It is crucial to analyze the success rate of your campaigns in order to optimize your budget and create more effective content that speaks to your target market. There are services out there that provide top-notch analytics for you. Are you ready to take your social media campaigns to the next level? Here are some favorite tools used by marketers to optimize and manage their social media campaigns:

  1. Sprout Social is a one-stop social marketing tool to help manage campaigns on any social media platform. It assists with the delegation of tasks and communication amongst team members. In addition to this organizational factor, Sprout Social allows you to schedule posts and analyze the success of your campaign.
  2. Buffer is known amongst marketers as one of the top social marketing tools. Not only does it allow you to schedule posts on any social media platform, but it also offers an analysis of each post so that you can determine the success rate of your strategy.
  3. BuzzSumo helps you stay up-to-date on relevant, trending content. Learn about content that can help shape your campaigns as well as discover relevant influencers who can help you gain visibility and following on your social platform.
  4. Tagboard helps you keep track of trends. Stay up-to-date on current hashtags and topics that are relevant to your industry. This will prove to be valuable information when creating content that speaks to your target audience.
  5. Everypost simplifies your research process by pulling together multimedia from YouTube, Instagram, Flickr, etc. This information allows you to create relevant and specific content, optimizing your posts.
  6. Social media is very image-focused. Visage helps you design social media graphics that are in line with the brand style. Consistency across your platforms helps make your brand recognizable to your audience.
  7. It is very important to remain customer-focused in your social media campaigns. Audisense assists with your audience management, and allows you to discover new leads and understand the needs of your current audience through tracking and analytics.
  8. Socialbakers provides overall insight and recommendations that help optimize your budget and improve your content.

Social marketing can help you reach an untapped market. So why waste the opportunity? Collaborate with your team to create viable and targeted social marketing campaigns. It is also important to seek help from professionals who are experienced in content strategy and lead management. With the right content and strategy, your company could use social marketing to generate awareness, generate leads and convert customers.

Have questions? BeWhys Marketing can help you stay on track for a successful social media marketing campaign. Contact us today!

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