3 Things to Know About Ephemeral Sharing

Ephemeral messaging apps, which enable users to share content that only lasts for a short period of time (like 10 seconds) to other users, have been rising in popularity over the last year - particularly Snapchat.

In fact, Snapchat has an estimated 26 million active users in the U.S. and sees about 400 million snaps sent per day. Younger generations have been the quickest to adapt to ephemeral sharing, but these emerging platforms also hold vast opportunities for brands.

Just like any new channel, however, it is important for brands to do some research and put strategies in place before launching new campaigns. For starters, look below to discover three things every brand should know about ephemeral sharing:

1. Know the Demographics

Millennials are adapting Snapchat at a rapid clip, but the app's core audience is actually a bit younger, according to a Marketo infographic, it is between 13 - 25 years-old. Moreover, data shows that 70 percent of Snapchat users are women.

These stats mean that creating a marketing strategy for Snapchat is a no-brainer if your target audience is young and female. Brands targeting an older audience, however, might want to wait. Although it isn't necessarily a bad idea to create a presence on the app, brands targeting an audience base outside of Snapchat's core users should probably spend less time making a marketing strategy for Snapchat, as they are likely to obtain a better ROI (return on investment) in other marketing channels, like email, search and traditional social.

2. Be Innovative

Snapchat is meant to be a lighthearted, fun app. Keep it that way. This doesn't mean you can't promote your brand, rather, it means that you need to come up with amusing, interactive ways to promote it.

Brands, for example, can grab the attention of their audiences by creating humorous skits or using the app's editing tools to create funny pictures. Personally, I have seen brand Snapchats featuring everything from twerking girls and silly office pranks to the comical graphic from GrubHub shown below (see image). Plus, promotional offers or contest details can be added to these images and videos in order to provide value to consumers and keep the app interactive.

It is important to note, however, that brands should leverage Snapchat's "story" feature to keep their snaps alive for a 24-hour period. In doing so, audience members can look at the snap again to access information they may have missed the first time around, like promotional codes or contest details.

3. Promote Your Presence

Last, but certainly not least, it is vital for brands who have created a presence on Snapchat to promote their usernames across channels. Promoting the new marketing channel on the company's website, within emails and on social networks is necessary so that brands can grow their audience. After all, if you're putting resources into Snapchat, the only way to see a return on the investment is by building an audience and providing them with quality, interactive content.