Social Media Evolves Again

This blog will be short(ish) and to the point.  It never ceases to amaze me how social media platforms that were originally designed to service the needs of self-involved individuals continue to move toward servicing the needs of self-involved businesses.

This may be the result of an aging target audience, or other free-market drivers, but it’s interesting to see one more platform bite the dust … or join the club, depending on your POV.

Several SM platforms have already gone the way of all profit-driven flesh … Facebook went not long after its inception; LinkedIn, of course, is all about business; and Twitter has its nose firmly planted in the commercial trough.

I’m talking about Snapchat.  A great app and a giant killer; it absolutely laid waste to Facebook among the 13-34 year-old demographic. The fact that I use and like Facebook should tell me something.

BTW, a few years back, Facebook offered to buy Snapchat for $3 Billion … an offer Snapchat promptly refused.  Smart Snapchat.

Before I describe how Snapchat is now moving into the commercial space (and how tradeshow marketers can take advantage of their new capabilities) let me share a little history for … well … people like me. If you’re already familiar with Snapchat, now’s a good time to freshen your coffee.

In short, Snapchat enables users to take pictures or shoot short videos (called “snaps”) and share them with friends & followers.  You can also respond to the snaps, chat via text, etc.

What’s makes Snapchat different is that these pix and vids vanish within seconds of watching them.  Not to be indelicate, Snapchat enjoyed its initial success because users saw this as the perfect way to send “adult” photos or videos of themselves to others safe in the knowledge that after being viewed once, they would vanish. (the snaps, not the users) Vanish completely and forever. Snapchat was aware of this and leveraged this niche market.

After a while, users evolved (thankfully) into using Snapchat to chronicle their daily lives in a linear fashion. Shoot a snap, send it out.  Rinse and repeat. However, these snaps remained individual islands of information.

The next big step came when Snapchat added a feature they called “stories.”  Users could shoot pix and vids, save them to their “story,” and then—for 24 hours—their followers could view these “stories” (read: collected snaps) as many times as they wanted, and experience someone’s personal narrative in an extended format.

Of course, text chat, video replies, etc. continued to occur.  Snapchat added more fun features, such as the addition of emoticons, emojis (yes, I know the difference), colorful hand-drawn content, and other kitschy things. These “Stories” still vanished after 24 hours, but this was long enough for the attention-challenged audience.

Next, Snapchat added the ability to place “filters” over pix and vids that framed the content. These filters evolved into “geofilters” that were only available in specific geographical regions (New York filters in NY, Hollywood filters in LA, etc.) Everyone loved (and still loves) them.

Before I get to the big reveal, let’s take a short pause to review why Snapchat is so popular; one word … Millennials.

Younger users, especially Millennials, are attracted to the sense of NOW. They have no problem with the ephemeral.  They have never known a world of permanence; in their lives, things change before the real or metaphorical paint dries.  There are no sacred cows.  Snapchat reflects this worldview … it creates content that happens now, and then vanishes … no judgements, no scrutiny, no regrets … it just happens, and it’s gone.

This is challenging for business.  We crave permanence, if only to measure its ROI.

Tradeshows, of course, are the business equivalent of Snapchat.; they happen during a small window of time, they have their effect, and … POOF … they’re gone.  No regrets … well, maybe a few if that Cirque Troupe you hired failed to draw any crowds … but I digress …

Now for the big announcement … Snapchat has joined the world of crass commercialism.  They just made it possible for businesses to create branded geofilters, and they’re calling them … Branded Geofilters.  They’re doing this so old people like me can identify them.

For a small fee (ah, the profit motive at work), these branded geofilters can contain company logos, product messaging, etc.  As long as it fits in the Snapchat window (vertical, not horizontal), and isn’t objectionable, it’s allowed.  Also, the availability of these Branded Geofilters have the same limits as regular geofilters …they can be accessed only in specific geographic regions.  This enables companies to target specific events like tradeshows, concerts, sports, music, etc.

Users take snaps, (or re-purpose existing images or video), use the specially branded geofilter, and share it to the company’s “story.” This enables anyone with a smartphone or tablet to access this group-created story for 24 hours, and view it as many times as they want … and as times moves forward, it continues to grow. Of course, viewers see everything through the branded company lens.

To me, this is big news. I am excited to start using this in the tradeshow arena.  Staffers at an event can take pix and vids, share them through this filter, and create the “Story of Acme Widgets at CES 2017!”  Furthermore, if the company has an engaged & energized base, their target audience could also contribute to the fun.  Lastly, while the filter may be accessible only in a specific location, the “branded story” is accessible GLOBALLY.  This is where Twitter, et al come in handy … to push out your Snapchat content.

This is an extremely low-cost way to bring together 1000s—and potentially millions—of your target audience, and engage them in a shared activity. Talk about leveraging your tradeshow investment!

Of course, nothing is as easy as it sounds.  This type of will-o’-the-wisp social media marketing campaign needs a clear, strategic plan and strong execution or it will simply lay there and amount to nothing,

But as I said at the start of this blog, it never ceases to amaze me how the arc of the social media universe is long, but it bends toward commercialism (with apologies to Martin Luther King).

I look forward to creating implementing targeted Snapchat campaigns for my clients.

Maybe then I’ll become one of the cool kids.