Snapchat.

It’s a silly app for Gen Y & Z.

No real value and certainly not worth reading about, right?

But the truth is however, that Snapchat is a revolutionary app.  I dare say.

The Truth

Upon first glance, Snapchat seems like a photo app. Similar to how one would take a selfie, the user looks into the phone screen and can scroll through photo and effect filters. These aren’t just your run of the mill “sepia/twilight/monochrome” filters but instead are more fun-filled! It’s quite novel and they mix up the options every day. And some of these filters are even used for advertisements –  by brands – to highlight new products and events. (Which is smart marketing, right?)   

Social Sharing… Aka Modern-Day Approach to Broadcasting

With Snapchat, there are “Stories”. These “Stories” include photo or video montages of whatever a user chooses to share.  And it’s also being used to broadcast live stories.  For example, instead of watching the recent Presidential Convention in its entirety one could instead have just watched 5-minute compilations of videos/photos shared by those that attended. What’s more significant is that these stories create an authentic experience since they contain raw footage, shot from the location, in the midst of it all!

• Snapchat stories are easy. One can create one in a matter of a seconds.  Which is good considering the attention spans of Gen Y & Z are said to be short.  
• They are catchy. They include images or videos on a range of topics.
• They are infectious. A story can go viral in as short amount of a time.
• The stories are consumable.  And they’re easy to digest – which is appealing to those that use the App.

In additional to event based “Stories” there are other types of “Stories” that allow a user to stay connected with their followers.  This type of Story can be posted to a feed which the user’s followers see.  And there are also local “Stories”  that help keep a users informed about local city activities like, for example, “Chicago Stories”.

And there is a presence on the platform for larger national outlets like CNN, Food Network, ESPN, WSJ, MTV and NBC  – these major players offers quick digestible stories on a variety of topics.

The 2016 Olympics

By the time you are reading this, we will be watching the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. A lot of people are excited and plan to tune-in as much as possible. Snapchat and NBC are also excited about the games and have entered into a partnership. They made a deal for coverage of the Olympics – because NBC understands the impact of Snapchat. 

So now there’s another place to see the Olympics. NBC will be sharing highlights of the games exclusively with Snapchat. And for those that want to experience the games as if they were actually there – the Snapchat Team will create live stories created by NBC, the fans and the athletes!  

If you aren’t convinced of the value of Snapchat yet, listen to what Gary Zenkel, president of NBC Olympics says about this deal: ‘Snapchat “really effectively reaches a very important demographic in the United States, and is very important to our efforts to assemble the large, massive audience that will show up to watch the Olympic Games.”

Right now,you may have seen this on Social Media, NBC is promoting the Olympic aggressively thru it’s Snapchat channel and is also using other Social Media outlets, like Twitter to drive its intended audience to Snapchat.

See NBC’s Tweet below.

Are you following us on Snapchat?

You should be! ?: nbcolympics pic.twitter.com/jCsLFlZ3RV

— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) August 5, 2016

 

OK your Snapchat download should be ready (if you don’t already have the App on your phone). And if you’re already using Snapchat – let us know your thoughts about the App.

For more digital marketing updates, be sure to follow us on Twitter @ZoraDigital.

Zora Digital is a Chicago digital marketing agency. We help healthy lifestyle brands with a spirit of innovation navigate the digital landscape and create significant ROI.