Snapchat is starting to focus more on the bottom line since going public. Over the past couple of weeks, they’ve been rolling out new features – some specific new ad features while others are user features that will likely end up being leveraged for advertisers in the near future. Additionally, some networks reach some major milestones this week in terms of total active users.
New Features:
Our Story:
Overview: If you’re a Snapchat user, you’ve likely noticed the “Our Story” update on your account. When a user adds their Snap to “Our Story”, it is added to an updated search feature where users can search for millions of snaps by keyword, category, or location. If you’re at a Mets game, for example, and you add your Snap to “Our Story”, those searching for “Mets” in Snapchat might come across your Snap.
Influencer Thought Starter: For Influencers snapping at a specific location, this can provide a big lift in Snap views. Before this update, Snapchat was personally curating this content and it was rare that a Snap added to a location’s story would be displayed to public users. Now by simply adding a Snap to “Our Story” in addition to “My Story”, Influencers can distribute their Snap to potentially millions of other users.
Link: https://www.snap.com/en-US/news/
Snap to Store:
Overview: Snapchat is allowing advertisers with a physical location to track in-store visits as a metric for Snapchat campaigns. Wendy’s, for example, can see how their Snap ads are driving in-store visits instead of just looking at metrics such as views and screenshots. This feature is currently available for advertisers who meet a certain spend minimum.
Influencer Thought Starter: Snapchat ads are an effective way in distributing Influencer content to a targeted audience. With this update, RhythmOne can take Influencer content, promote it through Snapchat ads, and track how that’s impacting in-store visit behavior.
ModiFace & Livestream:
Overview: ModiFace is an automated technology company for the beauty and medical industries. Through their platform, users can do a live demonstration of different makeup styles by virtually applying them during their livestream. Now the company has integrated their technology with Facebook & YouTube, allowing users to livestream a makeup tutorial with AR technology directly on these networks.
Influencer Thought Starter: For makeup brands, Influencers can demo many styles at once and have it applied instantly (instead of just doing one style over a 5-10 minute tutorial). A campaign can have an Influencer ask their Facebook network what style to try next during a Facebook Live stream and instantly show how it looks during the broadcast.
Link: https://venturebeat.com/2017/04/06/modiface-can-livestream-how-youd-look-with-makeup-in-real-time/
Stats:
- One in Five Facebook Videos are Now Live: Not only is Facebook Live’s growth significant, but Facebook still prioritizes live video over other types of posts in terms of organic reach. Expect Influencers to increasingly incorporate live video into their campaigns.
- Teens are Moving Away from Tumblr & Kik and Increasingly Using Instagram & Snapchat: This reinforces the importance of investing in these networks when reaching a younger demographic.
- Pinterest is Now Up to 175 Million Active Users (Up from 150 Million Last October): Pinterest has been developing great new products (both on the ad side and the user side) these past few weeks. As the network continues to show user growth and innovate with their product offerings, expect Pinterest to continue to be a major part of Influencer campaigns.
- Facebook Messenger Has Hit 1.2 Billion Monthly Active Users: Between Facebook Messenger’s rapid growth and the roll out of new features like Messenger Day, expect Facebook Messenger to be leveraged more by Micro-Influencers in the coming months.