Snapchat is a global phenomenon but has so far been an underused tool in B2B content marketing
In the digital world, it’s been a long time since Snapchat could be considered the new kid in class.
More than 150 million people use Snapchat on a daily basis – beating Twitter by around 10 million. Brands and businesses are coming round to the realisation that the app is here to stay, and there is a thriving amount of B2C content being produced.
Not only do many send out snaps and videos to their followers, the Snapchat Discover function gives a select few brands the chance to showcase content within the app on a dedicated news platform. It includes media outlets such as CNN, BuzzFeed and Vogue. Brands can include Snap Ads to run between content – videos of up to 10 seconds.
But what lessons can we learn from B2C Snapchat content that can be brought back to B2B?
The 10-second rule
From its initial formation as a photo-messaging app, Snapchat is now a major player in hosting video content. Currently, there are over 10 billion video views a day on Snapchat.
Snapchat videos are all vertical; landscape video is not supported by the platform. Unlike any other form of video, on Snapchat video content must therefore be optimised for the vertical format.
The time restriction of 10 seconds presents challenges for businesses but ensures anyone watching the content will take in the whole thing from start to finish.
Although video has been long established as a tool for content marketing, this has tended to be steered towards YouTube. The mobile-only, youth-orientated Snapchat places restrictions on content but also focuses the brief as to what is required.
Behind the curtain
Snapchat content tends to provide behind the scenes insight. Unlike, say, Instagram’s filtered vision of the world, Snapchat is an instantaneous medium. For an example, just look at the avatar for each user: a photo squeezed inside the bright yellow Snapchat ghost logo. It does not have the edited and preened appeal of other social media profile pictures and is clearly more informal in tone.
Where B2B content marketers can take advantage of Snapchat is in capturing backstage moments. At an event, for example, this type of content can reach representatives of other brands.
Some companies, such as Cisco and IBM, have hosted Snapchat ‘takeovers’, where staff post day-in-the-life style content.
This sense of opening the doors to typically unseen photos or video is exactly where Snapchat comes into its own.
B2B is B2C too
It is worth remembering that B2B content is still viewed by consumers, in the sense that you are marketing to someone who is consuming your product or service.
As such, there is a great deal of value in creating fun, memorable content. The lines are harder to distinguish on how to be fun without seeming unprofessional – another reason the day-in-the-life content works well, giving a human face to the enterprise.
Despite its reputation as a platform for teenagers, this is no longer accurate. In fact, more than half of today’s Snapchat users are over 25. They are brand representatives, decision-makers and prime Snapchat users.
Keep it raw; keep it fun
Its ephemeral nature – disappearing after 24 hours – means that all content for Snapchat should retain that uncensored feel.
B2B marketing has traditionally been pored over by committee before being signed off and released into the world. It can be hard to loosen that control over output, but successful Snapchat content requires a relaxation of that grip.
The analytics available for Snapchat remains limited, but the vast number of users engaging with content every day means simply ignoring the platform no longer makes any sense for businesses. The next content marketing phenomenon isn’t around the corner – it’s already here.
