State of Snapchat: A #BufferChat Recap
This week on #bufferchat our community chatted all about Snapchat and shared thoughts on the future of this platform. Read on to discover all of the awesome insights shared during the chat!
Catch our weekly Twitter chat, #bufferchat, at TWO times every Wednesday for valuable industry insights and to meet hundreds of other smart marketers and social media enthusiasts. Same topic, same place, just at different times – feel free to join whichever chat time works best for you!
4 pm AEST (Sydney time)
9 am PT (San Francisco time)
This week’s stats:
Bufferchat #1 (4 pm AEST): 15 participants; reach of 987,488
Bufferchat #2 (9 am PT): 41 participants; reach of 1,084,139
Q1: Do you currently use Snapchat? For business or personal use?
From the community:
A1: I use snapchat personally, but less and less as more people are using Instagram stories! I’m slow to transition but I’m getting there ? #bufferchat
— Lauren Blake (@_lblake) April 25, 2018
A1: I currently use Snapchat for personal connection. Business wise, we don’t feel our customers currently reside there. We would rather put our resources into Instagram stories. #bufferchat
— Joanna Easley (@jo_easley) April 25, 2018
A1: Personal only (and usually just watching over my daughter’s shoulder with streaks). Business? It’s WAAAAAAY too expensive at times. #bufferchat pic.twitter.com/5YTOK6sEO3
— Shawn Paul Wood (@ShawnPaulWood) April 25, 2018
A1: I don’t use it for either. I think Shapchat will fall the same way Vine did. Also, it’s so demographic specific (13-18 yr olds) and you don’t get enough ROI. #bufferchat
— Alexandra Sebben (@alexandrasebben) April 25, 2018
See all the great answers to question 1 here!
Q2: How could Snapchat fit into a social media marketing strategy?
From the community:
A2: Event-driven content is where I think Snapchat can still shine. It drives people TO the platform (which is the issue they have in general) for a “special” experience. Ultimately though the audience needs to be on the platform already to leverage, and not many are #BufferChat
— JT White (@Receptiv_JT) April 25, 2018
A2: Recruiting events at colleges – targeting our next generation of scientist & engineers so they might consider a career at a #NationalLaboratory. #bufferchat
— Jessica Wisse (@jesswisse) April 25, 2018
A2: If your target audience is using Snapchat, it can be used as an inside look into your brand – behind the scenes. If you do it right, you can establish the desire to be associated or part of your brand. I think they call that #FOMO (fear of missing out) #BufferChat
— Katrina (@kjcxme) April 25, 2018
A2: I’ve used it specifically for events! Branded filters and a collective story, as well as in-line (retail event) giveaway entries. #bufferchat
— emily white (@imaginyst) April 25, 2018
See all the great answers to question 2 here!
Q3: What did you think of the Snapchat redesign earlier this year and the resulting strong reactions?
From the community:
A3: Initially, I found it challenging to adapt to the new Snapchat design. Now that I have adjusted to it, I understand the purpose of the update and can appreciate it as I view more content than I previously would have on this platform #bufferchat
— Alexandra Enayat (@aenayatPR) April 25, 2018
A3: I’ve had it for months before everybody else since I was part of the beta. And I immediately quit Snapchat in December. Viewing stories (which was the main thing I actually used it for) was a terrible experience as well as trying to manage messages on your feed. #bufferchat
— Wayne Jones (@wayneoflife) April 25, 2018
A3. I really wasn’t that fussed by it to be honest…apps like this go through constant redesigns. People weren’t happy when Facebook did it, but people adapt and will ultimately still use it if they enjoy the platform! #BufferChat pic.twitter.com/nM0Kg4quEy
— Ben Hardicre (@BenHardicre) April 25, 2018
A3: I worked w/ Yahoo when they redesigned Mail to appeal to new demos – and their older existing users HATED it. Full redesigns to target new users always risks alienating current users. #BufferChat
— Jack Appleby (@JuiceboxCA) April 25, 2018
See all the great answers to question 3 here!
Q4: Did any of the missteps or bad press (questionable filters and ads) change your opinion or use of Snapchat?
From the community:
A4: No. Since I didn’t like the update, others’ opinions only affirmed my feelings. However, if I were a shareholder, I would panic knowing major celebrities hated the platform. They lost 1.3 billion after Kylie Jenner’s tweet. That’s a HUGE loss. #bufferchat
— Joanna Easley (@jo_easley) April 25, 2018
A4. Not really. Speaking objectively all of the platforms have made questionable decisions. Twitter is my fave and they’re still pretty bad about what they allow—hate speech, verifying questionable ppl, etc. I don’t think they ad missteps helped their brand recovery. #bufferchat pic.twitter.com/4ulse06Egw
— D Johnson Lindsay (@djohnsonlindsay) April 25, 2018
A4. It was more the things I’ve been reading about people moving away from Snapchat because of those changes. Why bother if people are moving away? #bufferchat
— Janine Ripper (@janineripper) April 25, 2018
A4: No more than any other social media platform, they are all going through similar turmoil with content/ads. The Rihanna ad was in bad taste – it highlighted that platforms need to be more vigilant with ad approval and hopefully that is something we see in future. #bufferchat
— Little Tzu Marketing (@wearelittletzu) April 25, 2018
See all the great answers to question 4 here!
Q5: Are there any brands that are using Snapchat effectively? Or brands that could?
From the community:
A5: @tastemade always kills it on Snapchat! #bufferchat pic.twitter.com/9ueOYhP5dX
— the DRIVE (@theDRIVEblog) April 25, 2018
A5: First thing that comes to mind is beauty products promoted by some of the big magazines. Example: Cosmo, Glamour, and Self. #bufferchat
— Kristyn Pilgrim (@kristynduhhh) April 25, 2018
A5:) After @deadpoolmovie & @Sherlock221B success on twitter, other movies should experience with maybe character’s takeover snap and behind the scenes.
As for who’s doing snap chat right, It’s hard not to mention @NatGeo & @AlAinZooUAE #bufferchat
— Fouad (@fouad_khafaga) April 25, 2018
A5: Early days @tacobell had a fun campaign – as to its effectiveness, depends on the KPI. @Marvel I think nailed the filter game for new releases, which assuming awareness is the KPI I think they nailed it. Same for @netflix with the Stranger Things. #BufferChat pic.twitter.com/kMQ0Vk04XU
— JT White (@Receptiv_JT) April 25, 2018
See all the great answers to question 5 here!
Q6: What are your predictions for the future of Snapchat?
From the community:
A6: It’ll continue to serve as a fun quick video app with messaging and calling but I don’t think it’ll truly capitalize as a social media site the way the rest do #bufferchat
— Justin Bienvenue, #ModernDayPoe (@JustinBienvenue) April 25, 2018
A6: I don’t see it succeeding in the space it’s trying to. Some social sites are best NOT to monetize and SC is one of those. There are limited tools for marketers. I see it losing if it continues to shift to a business platform #BufferChat
— Tamara (@itstamaragt) April 25, 2018
A6: Until a new social media platform comes out and the younger generation jump ship, I think they’ve got a good future ahead of them…. unless they do another update that people don’t like or make more silly filters and ads! #BufferChat
— GazPitt (@PittAlunG) April 25, 2018
A6: Not that I want to see this, but I think eventually it will die off. Money talks. #bufferchat pic.twitter.com/iekwbAtZQO
— Jessica Wisse (@jesswisse) April 25, 2018
See all the great answers to question 6 here!
Thank you so much to our awesome community for sharing such great insights in this chat!
Do you have any comments or answers to these questions? Leave your thoughts in the comments! We’d love to hear from you!