As the CEO of an influencer marketing company, I can tell you Instagram is winning that battle in a big way. That positioning doesn’t signal to the market that social media marketing is a priority for the company. Prioritize building a community to win back influencers. This feature allows users to link to external websites in their Snapchat videos. Score one for Snapchat since Instagram currently only allows verified accounts (brands and celebrities) to add links in their Instagram stories -- but it must do more. They should also consider third-party partnerships that would enhance its ability to gather the data and add it in a user friendly fashion. Once Snapchat gets its data game up to par, it should focus on winning over direct response advertisers.
Snapchat calls itself a “camera company.” No wonder it’s getting crushed in the social media space.
Everyone who works in digital advertising — especially those with a focus on social media and influencer marketing — knows there is a fierce battle going on between Snap Inc. (Snapchat) and Instagram. As the CEO of an influencer marketing company, I can tell you Instagram is winning that battle in a big way.
Instagram stories launched in August of 2017 and their brands are already leveraging these stories far more than Snapchat stories. Of the campaigns we’ve run here at Open Influence in 2017, we have found 22 percent leveraged Instagram stories compared to just five percent that leveraged Snapchat stories.
There are many reasons for Instagram’s dominance from an influencer marketing perspective, but let’s start with the fact that Instagram markets itself as a social platform while Snap Inc. describes itself as a “camera company.”
Considering Snapchat itself is a social platform designed around ephemeral communication between users, it seems odd for Snap Inc. to brand itself as a camera company. That positioning doesn’t signal to the market that social media marketing is a priority for the company.
That said, this battle is far from over. There are many ways for Snap to close the gap and better compete with Instagram in the world of influencer marketing. Here are three things Snap should do today:
1. Prioritize building a community to win back influencers.
Snapchat has focused primarily on facilitating communication between users that already know each other. They are essentially neglecting influencers engaging with their platform in the process. In July of this year, Snapchat finally unveiled a few features designed to appease influencers, most notably, Paperclip.
This feature allows users to link to external websites in their Snapchat videos. This enables influencers to link-out to brand websites. It is this branded website traffic that demonstrates the value of their influence to advertisers.
This is a solid step for Snapchat. Score one for Snapchat since Instagram currently only allows verified accounts (brands and celebrities) to add links in their Instagram stories — but it must do more.
Additionally, Snapchat needs to give social influencers a little TLC. Unlike A-list celebrities, many influencers’ livelihood depends on their ability to capitalize on their social followings, and posting on each platform is a full-time job. These small businesses or influencers aren’t getting paid by advertisers with no expectation of returns.
Treating them well and making it easier…
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