Franchise Update Magazine Issue III, 2016 | Page 63

CONSUMER MARKETING

Social
media

Snapchat Lessons

Learning from changes in customer behavior
BY ADAM PIERNO

I

f you’re paying attention to media,
you know that Snapchat is being
crowned the new social media (if
not total media) darling. You may know
it as the disappearing messages app, but
that is an oversimplification and overlooks
what makes it so popular and heavily
used. How heavily? According to Bloomberg, 150 million people use the app each
day—more daily users than Twitter; and
comScore reports that 60 percent of 13to 34-year-old smartphone users in the
U.S. use the app.
So much has already been written about
this trendy app. Perhaps you’re interested
in knowing why people love Snapchat so
much. Or maybe you’re a user and want
to know how to improve your own experience. Rather than a “how-to” story about
using Snapchat to promote your business,
this column is about understanding some
key behaviors behind its usage.
1) Be in the moment
Unlike many photo sharing apps (I’m looking at you, Instagram), Snapchat doesn’t
allow for “curation.” Upon opening the
app, users are beckoned to take a photo or
video immediately. There’s no room for
being overly precious. Snapchat is saying,
“Let’s focus on what’s really happening,
right now.” The immediacy of the snaps
users see is one thing that makes the app
so addictive.
• How does this apply to your business?
Focus on the moment. Snapchat is reminding us that