Snapchat – The Worlds Fastest Growing Social Media

The digital world has seen its fair share of trends and fads, particularly in relation to social media platforms. The rise and fall of Bebo will be remembered as the most prolific, with the unprecedented speed of the social platform’s demise catching many people by surprise. Nowadays, digtal marketing managers the world over adopt a laissez faire attitude to emerging social technology. The latest addition to the social environment, Snapchat, was thought by most to be a passing fad that would soon become a distant memory of a particular demographic. How wrong they were. Since its creation in 2011 Snapchat has become the fastest growing social network worldwide and has been adopted by an ever increasing portion of the Irish users.

According to Ipsos MRBI, over 85% of 15 – 18 years old in Ireland own a Snapchat account with 85% of these using the app on a daily basis. Not necessarily a shocking statistic as most would identify this demographic as the apps primary users. More interesting is Snapchats adoption among older demographics. A whopping 35% of 25 – 34 year olds in Ireland are Snapchat account holders with a little over half using the app on a daily basis. This figure continues to grow. The applications unrivaled growth in popularity is attributed by many to the extremely short lifespan of messages coupled with the level of creativity users can demonstrate via the app.

For those who haven’t seen or used Snapchat, the application itself allows people to capture images via their phones camera, before utilising additional features such as text, drawings or graphic overlays to craft the perfect message. Once satisfied they can then send their final creation to one or to a group of “Friends.” When the recipient opens the message the image appears on their screen for a predetermined timeframe as selected by the sender.

The clever “My Story” feature allows users to broadcast their “Snap” to their entire friends list with the click of button presenting the user with the opportunity to broadcast the daily events in their life to a wider audience. The application also boasts a whole load of additional features such as direct messaging, video editing and screenshotting technology that allows receivers save the content that appeals to them most.

From the outside, Snapchats use for business may not seem apparent, however for Irish content marketers and ecommerce businesses, Snapchat is fast becoming a pivotal factor in their social media strategy.

In a world where distributing clever, relevant content to a target audience is driving profitable customer actions, Snapchat empowers marketers to reach customers in a way never seen before.

Snapchats clever technology gives customers a behind the scenes look at the business while sneak peaks and stock previews tantalise customers, ultimately driving sales. Projecting the personality of a business has never been easier thanks to snapchats “My Story” feature, while running competitions via snapchat gives customers the opportunity to engage with the business and demonstrate their creativity.

In May 2016, Snapchat began testing ecommerce integrations with the application. Joanna Coles, a member of Snapchats Board of Directors, has said that they were hoping Snapchat would ‘morph into an ecommerce platform where consumers would be able to buy from it’. Although at this stage it is unclear what shape these integrations will take, if successful, Snapchat looks set to become one of Ireland’s largest ecommerce platforms and as such, should be a key consideration for new businesses entering the Irish market