12 Mar 5 Features Social Media Marketers are Missing on Snapchat

Once a force to be reckoned with, Snapchat more recently seems like an afterthought in most social media strategies. Over the last year, brands have fixated on going viral on TikTok and are now looking at even newer apps like Clubhouse to stay relevant. With that mindset, many brands are missing out on existing opportunities that already have a steady fan base – Snapchat being one of them.

The State of Snapchat in 2021

This year, Snapchat’s celebrating their 10-year anniversary in July, and I wouldn’t be surprised if some major announcements followed. Until then, here’s some interesting data regarding the current state of Snapchat and its active users:

• As of Q4 2020, Snapchat has accumulated over 265 million Daily Active Users, a 22% Y-o-Y growth.
• Survey results from Q3 2020 show Snapchat is the #4 most popular app with teens/young adults.
• Snapchat reaches 90% of 13-24-year-olds and 75% of 13-34-year-olds in the U.S.
• Snapchat reaches 2X more 13-17-year-olds in the U.S. than Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger combined.
• Moms are more likely to be on Snapchat versus TikTok with 20M parents on Snapchat.
• 40% of Snapchatters aren’t on Instagram.

Does your target audience align with the above? If yes, then you’ll want to ensure your social media teams are considering Snapchat as part of their social media strategy.

After 10 years of new developments and optimizations, there are tons of opportunities for brands to reach target audiences throughout the app. While most marketers know about Stories, Discover, and Lenses, we’re breaking down 5 specific features you’re likely missing out on.

5 Snapchat Features to Know

Lens Studio for AR

With over 75% of Snapchatters engaging with augmented reality on a daily basis, dipping your toes into some of Snapchat’s AR features is a logical route to take. It may seem like a difficult barrier to cross if you don’t have internal team members who have the capabilities to tackle this type of creative, but Snapchat actually offers a variety of tools to assist brands with these developments, including the Lens Studio.

Brand Profiles

Snapchat’s newer Brand Profiles feature (launched in 2020) allows brands to not only showcase their unique Snapchat content (such as Stories and Lenses) but is easily discoverable and enables more eCommerce opportunities with native commerce stores (powered by Shopify). What’s also unique about this feature is that Snapchatters can subscribe, which enables the brand’s profile to show up in the user’s Discover carousel.

Spotlight

While Snapchat’s Spotlight feature isn’t a place for brands directly, there’s still opportunity within this new feature. With over 100M monthly active users already, Spotlight is designed to be a positive experience where users can view some of the most entertaining Snaps created by other users. (You could easily compare this user experience to that of TikTok, but without all the trolls.) Content is moderated and audiences can engage only by liking content. There are no ads within Spotlight right now (including sponsored content from creators – that’s not allowed), but this could be a new location for advertising opportunities in the future.

Visual Search

This somewhat forgotten feature that was launched in 2018 baffles me the most. Snapchat has teamed up with multiple partners to develop a visual search tool that helps users identify music (Shazam), solve math problems, identify dogs, plants, and cars, but most notably, scan a product barcode and be given a direct link to Amazon to then purchase that product. Given the recent rise in eCommerce activities this past year combined with the fact that 89% of buyers are more likely to buy from Amazon than other eComm sites, I’m surprised at how little this feature is talked about.

Snapchat Pixel

It’s safe to assume that most brands are leveraging the Facebook Pixel that enables enhanced targeting, tracking, and insights for advertising. That said, not as many marketers are aware of or leveraging Snapchat’s tag. The Snapchat Pixel (rolled out in 2017) has been optimized to include custom audiences and custom events since its initial launch and arms marketers with more information and data about their audiences. Not every network is able to offer these capabilities, so make sure you’re leveraging this tool.

While Snapchat might not be the most talked-about social media network right now, it’s still one of the most actively used apps. Sometimes utilizing a popular, but less buzzworthy app can save you from wasting your resources trying to reinvent the wheel on another network when your audience is already established elsewhere.

If you’re not sure where to begin on Snapchat, Ignite Social Media is a Snapchat certified marketing partner and happy to help – so feel free to contact us. Alternatively, feel free to subscribe to our e-newsletter below to keep up with any new features Snapchat might launch later this year.

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