Fashion Brands on Snapchat: How to Use the App to Reach Customers

The Rise of Snapchat

Snapchat, still a relatively new social media platform, is pushing brands to rethink their marketing strategies. Facebook dominates as the leading social media platform for businesses, whereas only 2 percent of businesses utilize Snapchat’s features for marketing.  If so few businesses currently use Snapchat, why are brands beginning to search for new Snapchat strategies? The answer is in the numbers. There are currently 130 million active daily Snapchat users, a growth of 30 million daily users in just one year.  As of February 2016, the majority of these loyal Snapchat users were under the age of 35 years old.  In fact, 18 to 24 year olds made up 37 percent of the total amount, the platform’s largest demographic.  The smallest age group of Snapchat users were those over the age of 54 years old, making up only 2 percent of Snapchat users.  These statistics stress the advertising value Snapchat holds for brands – millions of potential consumers are using Snapchat every day, yet only 2 percent of brands are using the platform to advertise.

Snapchat differs from Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest in many ways, including the fact that it does not reveal how many followers you have. You are only aware of who you follow and how many points you have, which are gained from sending and receiving Snaps and creating Stories.  Snapchat users can choose to send Snapchats to individual friends or post Stories for all of their friends to see under their Story tab. To add friends, you must search for their exact username and send a request. How can brands push people to follow their accounts? One way is by sharing a photo of their “ghost,” or profile icon, to give users easy access to their profile. As a brand, it may be useful to advertise a Snapchat username on other social media platforms where there already exists an established presence and following to drive traffic and followership. Examples include tweeting a username or posting an Instagram photo of your ghost. 

After creating a Snapchat account, what measures can brands take to increase their followers and engagement? Read below to find out.

Celebrity Endorsements

Celebrities and fashion bloggers keenly use Snapchat to increase their popularity and connect with fans. They post Snaps of their everyday lives and updates about projects. These highly regarded Snapchat users often times influence their viewers into buying products based on the latest trends. It is not uncommon for celebrities and bloggers to get paid to wear a garment “in real life” and on other social media platforms. Their sponsored endorsement can lead to an increase in sales, so why not apply this tactic on Snapchat? Consumers are influenced to purchase the necklace or shirt that their favorite fashion blogger is calling attention to.

Source: inquisitr

In addition to having a celebrity post Snaps on their personal account, the brand can use its own account to create Stories to advertise an event, announce a new product or simply further brand messaging. Users following the brand can see the brand’s Story or receive individual Snaps from the brand. This is a cost-effective way for brands to advertise their products that is, if the brand has followers to advertise to.

Stories

Having a compelling, short, and unique Story is critical for any brand aiming to reach consumers on Snapchat. Viewers can see individual videos or pictures for as long as 10 seconds, with the collective media compilation disappearing after 24 hours. This means that the brand must constantly create new stories every day, throughout the day. This is beneficial because consumers become disinterested of repetitive advertising.  They will be more likely to watch an advertisement they have never seen before. It is important to note that very long stories may be read as spam to viewers.  The most successful stories tend to be minimalistic and straightforward. 

Discover

The Discover section of the Snapchat app exclusively features brands. Brands undergo a process in which Snapchat determines whether they can join the selective section. Discover channels are available for all users to view and they are not limited by which profiles the user follows. Users can access a brand’s Discover channel by clicking on the brand’s Discover icon. Unlike a regular Snapchat account, the icon is not a ghost, but a circle with the brand’s logo. The Discover feature forces brands to get creative; Snapchat suggests that brands take vertical videos, making it difficult for brands to repurpose horizontal content posted on television and on YouTube.  

Discover channels, like regular stories, have individual media components that are less than 10 seconds long and disappear after 24 hours. The critical difference is that brands make Discover stories interactive. For example, on April 4th, the Burberry Discover channel themed their story “how to be a modern man,” which included a “guide to spotting a good suit, how to wear fragrance, the steps of a good grooming routine and a 'stylish man’s guide to London.'”  The brand’s channel included an assortment of style and grooming tips, interviews, videos, and articles which helped promote their new fragrance. The videos were comprised of a performance by Benjamin Clementine, clips of the fragrance being made, and a short by the same photographer who created the advertisements for the fragrance, Steve McQueen. 

One industry that has seen great success with Discover is the fashion industry. The options are limitless when it comes to Snapchat. Snapchat users can view a fashion brand’s Story or Discover Story to see a brand’s latest products. If there is an item the viewer finds interesting, they may swipe down and view models, celebrities or fashion bloggers endorsing the product with picture or video content. They may read interviews with the CEO of the fashion brand or even learn about how the product was produced. 

Filters

After snapping a photo, filters allow the user to swipe left or right to add the temperature, speed, current time, overlays, Geofilters, or a simple colored filter. This allows users to customize their Snapchats. Geofilters are especially innovative because they give a brand the opportunity to integrate their product/messaging into a user’s photo. If you are in the area of that filter’s geologic parameters, then you can apply the filter.  For example, if you are attending a concert in a stadium, your brand could create a custom filter that will appear to anyone in attendance. Another interesting type of filter are “Lenses,” which detect your face and place a filter over it. Snapchat will request you to do something to activate the Lens like “raise you eyebrows.”  The filters come and go every day, including featured filters, and are paid for by various companies. 
 

Source: giphy

How can brands use filters to their advantage? For instance, if a fashion brand hopes to increase sales on sunglasses, then it may create an interactive filter in which Snapchat users can take selfies using the Lens to try on the sunglasses. The brand can incorporate audio and digital effects to make the experience more stimulating for users. Brands may promote discounts, sales, new items, and even a pop-up shop. One case of this type of advertising occurred recently when Starbucks released a Happy Hour Frappuccino Geofilter, which can be used in or nearby Starbucks locations. Snapchat users who see the promotion may become more inclined to take advantage of the discount and buy a Frappuccino.

On May 23th, 20th Century Fox used the Lenses and Discover features to advertise for the film “X-Men Apocalypse.” Fox released Lenses that allowed Snapchat users to take selfies with the faces of characters from the movie. When Snapchat users viewed Fox’s Discover channel, they were given the option to purchase tickets for the movie and were redirected to a webpage within the app. The implications of this event are tremendous. If Snapchat is willing to allow brands to sell goods to consumers through Snapchat, then brands have the tools to implement a Discover channel that may sell consumers products as well. 

Strategies for Success

Snapchat is providing brands with an unparalleled opportunity to reach consumers, particularly those in the millennial and generation Z demographics. Fashion brands, characterized by their creativity, can thrive by using the platform to share their unique and customized message. Snapchat’s intrinsically personal quality can aid brands into forming emotional connections with customers, ultimately creating a positive customer experience.

 

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References:

http://www.statista.com/statistics/259379/social-media-platforms-used-by...
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https://support.snapchat.com/en-US/a/hiscore
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/repetition-advertisement-technique-24437....
https://snapchatstrategy.com/tips-for-your-snapchat-story-eec125866568#....
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https://support.snapchat.com/en-US/a/geofilters
https://support.snapchat.com/en-US/ca/lenses