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Retail brands start to use Snapchat to engage – and its not just for the kids, study shows

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With brand engagement becoming more important to most retailers than brand awareness, many are taking to new channels to interact with their shoppers and Snapchat is becoming one of the most important, suggests the latest research from Snaplytics.

Originally thought of as a social network mostly geared toward teenagers, now millennials are engaging with Snapchat. In fact, businesses are quickly taking notice of the fastest growing social media site and the many benefits it offers.

According to Snaplytics survey of 500 brands with 24,180 Snapchat stories and a total of 217,000 Snaps, organizations are learning how to use Snapchat to reach target audiences in a way that is more ‘at eye level’ and supplies details on the most effective ways to leverage the platform.

The study finds that 61% of the content posted by brands on Snapchat are videos. This is a 5% increase from the first quarter of 2016.The number of snaps in a story averages around 11 snaps per update.

Consistency and ongoing activity is key. Brands post, on average, content two times a week and completion rate, or the number of people viewing the whole story, climbed to 88% compared to 84% the previous quarter.

“Snapchat is unique because it allows businesses to connect with people in the moment and offer a different brand experience,” said Thomas Cilius, founder and CEO, Snaplytics. “It’s the only social network where marketers aren’t seeing a decline in reach. With 161 million daily active users on Snapchat, brands are quickly learning this is the go-to outlet because it allows them to engage their brand ambassadors and deliver content that really resonates with people, in real-time.”

The Report also provides insights, metrics and analysis regarding what brands must consider as they develop their Snapchat marketing strategy the best approaches to growing a follower base (followers find brands by Username 64% of the time).

“It is essential for marketers to be creative and build followers quickly since our research shows that recommendations and calls-to-action made through Snapchat are much stronger than what is accomplished with Facebook or Instagram,” Cilius continued.

With London Fashion Week kicking off, it is likely that many fashion brands will use this coming week to delve into Snapchat and other social media platforms. As James Brooke, CEO of Amplience explains: “Customers crave more from their shopping experience – a simple photo no longer suffices, shoppers need to see the way clothes look, move and feel before they click to buy. Retailers will be using this new function to provide shoppers with live views from catwalk shows, VIP arrivals and aspirational video content.”

Brooke continues: “Snapchat has been a firm favourite of fashion retailers over the last year, and it’s no wonder. Over 150 million people use Snapchat every day, a large portion of them 18-34 years old. This level of engagement means fashion retailers targeting this cohort will move from occasional messaging to daily updates, especially over London Fashion Week. Clever retailers will be looking to create short, shareable views of the catwalk and exclusive behind-the-scenes content to entice shoppers.”

And to get a better and more rounded view of Snapchat, check out this Infographic from websitebuilder.org that says it all.

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