Does your business or institution use Snapchat? It's the fastest growing mobile app among teens in the United States, passing Twitter and the very popular Instagram. In a recent PiperJaffray survey, 28 percent of teenagers consider Snapchat their preferred social network with Instagram falling just slightly behind. Statistics show that Snapchat has over 100 million daily active users, with more accounts created each day. By the way, Snapchat has over eight billion video views each day.
It's the perfect app for short attention spans, like teenagers. Did you know the average attention span for humans is now only 8 seconds? Snapchat videos can last up to 10 seconds...
If you work in higher education marketing, that means your future students use Snapchat, which is why it makes sense to start using this popular app and connect not only prospective students, but current students and your young alumni, too.
The best part about Snapchat is the ability to create geo-filters, both community and on-demand. Community geo-filters are free whereas on-demand geo-filters will cost you money, but basic analytics are included. Still not exactly sure what a geo-filter can do? Think of it as a digital sticker or badge you can add to each snap you take with most only available is specific geolocations. It's also a form of marketing based on your locale or region where segmented audiences can be reached. Snapchat users are able to share your logo or event info without having any contact or interference from the sponsor or brand.
On Friday, April 22nd there were many events held at the University of New Hampshire related to their annual Undergraduate Research Conference. This year, UNH created an on-demand geo-filter (that means they paid for it). The geo-filter was live and available for anyone to use on campus from 8am until 8pm. Even though the filter was only used 137 times, it generated over 26,000 views on Snapchat, which helped promote the event and the brand. Was it worth it? Absolutely. Having that kind of exposure only puts UNH in front of more young people, because each snap taken is seen by their Snapchat friends, no matter where they're located in the world.
Geo-filters provide a great way to get your brand in front of Snapchat users everywhere and also have some fun. While the on-demand (paid) geo-filters are a bit more serious, there are also hundreds of thousands of community geo-filters (free) always available and always changing with your location. They're also easy to create, but some strict and there are some vague guidelines each one must pass before it's ready to use. To get started, visit snapchat.com/geofilters and learn more about the world of Snapchat and what type of geo-filter is right for your brand.