Snapchat Getting Started Guide
Many people are still struggling with understanding what Snapchat is and how to get started. I decided to create the “Snapchat Getting Started Guide” as a series of videos, and selected my colleague, Laura Embrechts, to join me. The first three videos of the #SocialMediaExplained are dedicated to Snapchat. Watch the first of the three short videos here.
Play the video:
The video explores how to use the unique features of the Snapchat interface.
The various Snapchat filters are shown and advice given in the video about what to avoid and how to experiment and have fun.
What Is Snapchat?
At its core, Snapchat is a camera app and a storytelling platform. This is a view from Snapchat:
“We’re like a camera company. Once you create a Snap, you can send it to your friends. That’s the communication side of our business. You can also choose to post the snap to your Story, which forms our content side of business.”
—Bryan Kim, Manager of Snapchat’s Strategy Group
Double-digit growth in the number of monthly active users is expected in 2016 and 2017 so Snapchat is growing and will continue to do so despite the introduction of stories by Instagram. A future video in the #SocialMediaExplained will expand on the Snapchat stories vs. Instagram stories debate. I touched on the way Snapchat users are communicating about the fashion Industry compared to Instagram, but there are a vast number of topics that are featured in Snapchat each and every day.
Look out for the #SocialMediaExplained Snapchat stories vs. Instagram stories video in the coming weeks.
Snapchat is a proof point of the growing trend of communicating using pictures and videos as a primary driver opposed to text, especially in the mobile smartphone segment.
The Snapchat pilot at Philips Lighting
I decided to start a Snapchat pilot in my company, Philips Lighting. A phased approach has been adopted where phase 1 is introducing what it is like to work at Philips Lighting, what the locations look like and what we are busy with within the scope of what can be public.
https://twitter.com/song2saygoodbye/status/763722442229579777
My colleague Laura Embrechts is managing the first phase and we have done extremely well with adding employees to the pilot from many of our locations around the world from North America, Mexico, India, Dubai, China and many locations in between. They had to be existing users of Snapchat and we are experimenting with all the features like Snapchat memories and tracking the public reaction by using Sprinklr social listening.
https://twitter.com/RecruitMoore/status/763061984032092160
One of the biggest challenges with Snapchat is that the content and analytics disappear after 24 hours but it was essential that we found a way around that, and we did!
For a B2B strong company, that is also B2C and B2G, something like Snapchat is seen as a challenging option for a company like Philips lighting, but for me, I love a challenge ;-). If you are using Snapchat, follow the pilot in Snapchat as “Philipslighting”.
I will expand on the Snapchat pilot as a keynote speaker at the Intranet Reloaded event in London in November 2016 (#IntrelUK ) especially about the significance it has for internal and external communications professionals as well as recruitment and talent acquisition. Look out for updates later this year.
For now, I am enjoying the pilot, being on Snapchat as “cliveroach” and giving visibility to the social media adopters from my company via the #SocialMediaExplained videos, which are extremely fun to make by the way!
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I think that talent acquisition and recruitment are very important aspects to highlight when talking about the value of Snapchat for businesses, B2B or not. When I saw your employee’s snaps from the offices around the globe, it made me think–oh wow, so that’s how it might look/feel to work for them.
Another very important thing, IMHO, is to remain authentic–after all, Snapchat is about the original, behind-the-scenes input. Personally, that’s the kind of Snapchat stories I like–not the carefully scripted, polished narratives, but the ones that are made by “ordinary” people about their coworkers and friends. That’s what makes it relatable, hence appealing in my eyes.
Great post! Looking forward to hearing your thoughts about the Instagram/Snapchat controversy and what it might mean for brands.
Thanks for your feedback on the Philips Lighting snaps Mariia. Your feedback was shared with the team and throughout the marketing group. I totally agree that it is important to be as authentic as possible. As to your question about Instagram vs. Snapchat, I have grown to think there is a place for both of them. We made a short video comparing them on YouTube. Please take a look. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiuvzVvWD5s We included topics like adding sparkle, making the video/picture and sending them and much more. We scored them too. Would you agree with our final result I wonder?