Introducing Snapchat or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Understand New Social Media.
Facebook is 10. In social media terms, that’s old – very old. Along with Twitter, YouTube, and to a lesser extent Instagram, many companies are only just coming to realise the potential of these established channels. To have to think, let alone learn, about a new service sends a chill down the spine of any marketing exec, manager, or director. It shouldn’t, but it undoubtedly does.
When writing on Snapchat – at 3 a social media teenager – the focus could be on what Snapchat is and how a brand can use it: the fact that it’s a fast growing channel with a young demographic; that it allows brands to communicate instantly with customers; that the message sent is far more likely to be opened than an email and far less less likely to be missed than a tweet or Facebook post. All of these points are true and valid, but a far greater lesson is encapsulated by the ignorance, apathy, and fear of Snapchat – the need to understand new channels.
In the fast moving world of social media, companies and those responsible for marketing them have to stay up-to-date with new channels: learn, explore, experiment to see if they will work as an effective tool now or in the future. To ignore a new service like Snapchat is foolish. For instance, many will see the stats on a young demographic and decide that this doesn’t match their brand. Demographics change, and quickly. Once, Facebook was restricted to university students – not anymore. Snapchat today is no different to Twitter and Facebook five years ago – a new and growing marketing channel which the best brands took the time to understand and harness to positive affect, while the worst ignored, delayed, and found themselves playing catch-up to their competitors.