Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

It might be early days, but marketers are seeing little return when advertising on Snapchat. They also seem more interested in spending ad dollars on the company’s newfound rival: Instagram.

That’s according to a series of studies published by RBC Capital Markets in partnership with Ad Age, where some 1,600 marketers were surveyed in an attempt to gauge the pulse of the digital advertising industry. The sobering news underscores the uphill battle Snapchat faces as other platforms like Facebook-owned Instagram and Messenger mimic its features. It also shows Snapchat is a far cry from being in similar company to Google or Facebook, which both received significantly higher marks from marketers.

Between Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, Yahoo, AOL, and YouTube, Snapchat only outperformed AOL in terms of ROI, scoring a 3.43 out of a possible 8 points, according to the survey (AOL scored a 2.88). Google (6.98) and Facebook (6.72) led the pack, performing nearly twice as better than Snapchat, RBC said....

With smartphone use growing each day, companies that aren’t utilizing mobile marketing channels are missing a golden opportunity.  The prized Millennial demographic is shifting from traditional marketing methods and causing major players—like McDonalds—to find new ways to reach them. Using the above examples, here are:5 ways companies can use Snapchat in marketing:In-store couponsNew product announcementsExclusive looks behind the scenesExclusive deals and promotionsBuild followers with giveaways...

Wondering how to use Snapchat for your business?

Want to create deeper connections with your followers?

Snapchat can help you build an engaged following, increase loyalty, and boost your brand visibility.

In this article, you’ll discover 10 ways to use Snapchat for business.

Snapchat recently unveiled discover, a way for select publishers to share video content to users. From their blog post "Snapchat Discover" is a new way to explore Stories from different editorial teams. It's the result of collaboration with world-class leaders in media to build a storytelling format that puts the narrative first.

This is not social media! Snapchat, valued at $19B, has no problems getting new users. Their main focus right now is finding revenue streams. While it's still early, it looks like Discover is gonna be a big deal....

Snapchat has cultivated a unique identity as a smartphone-only social network and messaging platform focused around images and videos. The app has emerged as an everyday communication tool for millions of teens and young adults, particularly in the U.S. and Western Europe. 

Snapchat launched in September 2011, so it is not even three years old. But as BI Intelligence explained in a recent report, brands stand to gain a lasting advantage from adopting emerging social media early....

...Tressie Lieberman, director of social and digital for Taco Bell, says the brand has been "blown away" by the response it has gotten on Snapchat. Taco Bell is using the app to reintroduce the Beefy Crunch Burrito. "People are obsessed with Beefy Crunch Burrito so Snapchat seemed like the right platform to make the announcement," she says. "Sharing that story on Snapchat is a fun way to connect with the fans that we are thrilled to have. It’s all about treating them like personal friends and not consumers."

Taco Bell is one of the few marketers to embrace Snapchat, a mobile platform in which pics self-destruct within 10 seconds....