3 Things That Need to Happen Before a Snapchat Revolution
By: Anita Ferrer
Tags: Snapchat, Advertising, Media Trends, Social Media, Social Media Marketing

3 Things That Need to Happen Before a Snapchat Revolution

Discoverability, accessibility, and valuable metrics for marketers

Publishers are battling it out for a spot in Snapchat’s Discover feed, the area on the app dedicated to branded content, to reach this platform’s estimated 200 million monthly active users. According to Snapchat, the Discover feed attracts about 70 million views a month with its top channels averaging six to seven minutes per visit from each visitor. But there is some hesitance within the media industry about the future of the platform and what it can truly offer publishers.

“In its early days, Snapchat was a counter-culture hotspot for young people to use the Web without leaving a digital footprint,” The Next Web’s Matthew Hussey writes on the evolution of the platform. “When it first unveiled its Discover channel, the idea was for Snapchat to closely curate the publishers in accordance with what the company thinks is appropriate for its audience. Today, it’s more about how many millions of people companies can reach if they stump up the cash to be on it.”

The audience is young and highly coveted by publishers. Snapchat says 37 percent of the app’s users are between the ages of 18 and 24. BuzzFeed says about 20 percent of its audience is on Snapchat. Cosmopolitan says it’s averaging 3 million viewers per day on Snapchat Discover. But, for other publishers without the resources to invest in Snapchat, it might be too soon to determine whether an investment on Snapchat is worth the effort.

A Variety survey reveals what Snapchat users pay attention to on the app.

For users, Snapchat is all about experience, discovery, and making connections. The ease and speed at which you and your friends can share messages, or “snaps,” is only one of its strengths. Snapchat makes users crave real-time content, and they want it fast. But it’s expensive for publishers to maintain a strong daily presence on Snapchat because content has to be created or repurposed for the platform, requiring a sizeable team and budget. Other limitations include Snapchat’s use of vertical video and content that is ephemeral, rather than creating an archive for users to browse. What might be the biggest disappointment for publishers is the lack of a concrete way to measure success other than a count of daily views and shares.

Some publishers have gone above and beyond on Snapchat by investing significantly more time, people, and money than others. CNN has its cameramen take extra footage for Snapchat. MTV is reviving MTV Cribs exclusively through this platform. Comedy Central is creating nine series for its Discover channel produced by emerging talent. News-oriented media brands like iHeartMedia approach content creation for the Discover feed like a newsroom.

Food Network’s Discover channel is one of the most viewed publisher channels.

The competition may be small, but it’s already strong. The Discover feed includes more than 20 publishers creating content for the feed, and that number is growing. Some marketers are describing the Discover feed as a big piece of real estate, but an over-saturation of publishers creates a competition for user attention, which is already limited. Additionally, the lack of visibility on the application for Discover feeds may deter some users from watching. Advertisers say some channels are thriving, but others have low traffic.

While some publishers are building teams of up to eight people to create content for Snapchat, others are inevitably falling behind due to a lack of resources. Food Network is among the highest viewed Discover channels. However, it remains to be seen whether the investment will pay off.

The Snapchat Discover Feed features 20 channels with publisher logos.

“You, as a publisher trying to determine whether or not it’s going to be worth all the work and all the effort, if you’re going to make enough money to cover your costs, you have to think about what is the future of that real estate worth and how much is that audience worth five years down the road,” Vikki Neil, Scripps Networks SVP and GM of Digital and producer of the Food Network Discover feed, said about publishing on Snapchat.

Snapchat can also drastically change overnight. There are rumors that Snapchat will introduce an algorithm to serve as a “gatekeeper between brands and publishers and their audience,” Garett Sloane writes for Digiday. Similar to Facebook, the algorithm would filter and rank the content, penalizing some brands while boosting others.

“That’s why you don’t want to be beholden to any one of these platforms or you’re suddenly stuck when the game changes,” a top publishing source close to Snapchat tells Digiday.

Snapchat is also reportedly planning to redesign the Discover channel feed. The redesign may transform the Discover feed into a version of a newsstand, switching out logos to images in the hopes of drawing more viewers.