The growing use of the internet has prompted a shift in the nature in which businesses seek to promote their products and services. The use of social media has also gone a long way in increasing internet participation amongst people across all divides. One of the many social media platforms called Snapchat is a multimedia mobile application focused on image messaging.
Internet users, especially social media users, have devised ingenious ways of drawing traffic to respected sites for a number of reasons. Today, social media is a vital tool for internet marketing. Businesses, both small and big, have switched to internet as their primary platform for marketing their goods and services.
This report therefore provides an in-depth analysis of Snapchat as one of the many social media platforms and illuminates how this platform is currently used by internet marketers for the purpose of brand awareness.
Snapchat as A Social Media
One ought to note that Snapchat is principally used to create multimedia messages that are commonly referred to as snaps. On most occasions, snaps are images that can be manipulated to amalgamate various effects as preferred by the user. Nonetheless, snaps can also consist of short videos and drawings that are also editable to contain captions, effects and filters.
Over the years, Snapchat has evolved significantly to include new and interesting features that add to user experience. Today, this mobile application is not only used for socialization but also as a marketing tool for most businesses that seek to attain online awareness amongst its potential and existing customers.
There are a number of features incorporated in Snapchat that make it ideal for use as not only a social media platform but also a marketing tool for businesses that seek awareness online.
Geofilters
For example, one of Snapchat’s features called the Geofilter was incorporated in the application in 2014. This feature is important for availing certain special graphic overlays when the user of the application is in a certain geographical place like a city or event. As such, users are able to identify with their locations when they take snaps of images or videos of their surroundings.
Lens Feature
Another significant feature of Snapchat is the Lens feature that was first introduced in 2015. This is a special feature that provides users with the opportunity of adding real-time effects in the snaps of images or videos that they take. One ought to note that this feature makes use of face detection technology that also forms a vital part of the Snapchat application.
When using the lens feature, Snapchat users activate the face detection technology by a long-press on a face that appears within the view-finder window or screen. These are just some of the features that together bring up the much-needed user experience and satisfaction. Unlike many social media platforms and applications, Snapchat is user-friendly and offers real-time guidance to users during use.
Contact Synchronization and Notifications
When it comes to synchronizing contacts, Snapchat offers one of the best and easiest-to-use guides. Snapchat users are able to synchronize their contacts from other social media platforms that they already have. Additionally, Snapchat also suggests contacts to its users.
Users are able to link up with contacts that they might know or be interested in. Alongside the provision of contacts, one ought to note that Snapchat also features notifications of snaps that can be customized according to user preferences.
Snap Duration and Screenshot Notification
One is able to customize his or her image or short video in a way that it can be viewed for a specified period before it becomes inaccessible to other users — usually between one and ten seconds. Initially, users were required to hold down the screen to view a snap, but this requirement was removed in 2015.
Snapchat does notify the original sender if a screenshot is taken. While users are allowed one replay per snap per day for free, additional replays require purchase via micro-transactions within the app.
Adding Friends and Synchronizing Contacts
Just like any other social media platform, Snapchat has a provision for adding friends via phone contacts and usernames. This is called synchronization. The ability to add friends is made a lot easier through the “Add Nearby” function or customizable Snapcodes that allow users to link up with their contacts from other social platforms.
Authenticity over Idealism
Unlike numerous common social media platforms, the intention of Snapchat was to counteract the norm in which users felt compelled to maintain an idealized identity. It was designed to bring more authenticity and fun back to communication.
The ‘Memories’ Feature
An interesting feature of Snapchat is the “Memories” feature introduced in July 2016. Since its introduction, users are now able to save story posts and snaps into private storage. These saved images and videos can be viewed, edited, and re-published.
Content in Memories can also be locked into a “My Eyes Only” area, protected by a PIN. This adds a layer of privacy for stored snaps.
