Meet the Snapchatters:

Cortlan McManus, director of social, Starcom

Ema Linaker, director of digital, Edelman Dabo

Farah Shaer, content manager, UM Studios

What is Snapchat?

Snapchat is the coolest thing to happen to social in a few years – even Instagram is getting the ephemeral feeling! It’s a super interesting notion of time and documenting experience: you get 24 hours to tell a story; ten seconds at a pop; and live life by the moment. It has the 21^st century version of documentary filmmaking that is open to all…brands included. They just have to think about their personality and NOT as a 20^th century marketer.

– McManus 

Snapchat is a mobile messaging app used to share photos, videos, text and drawings. The app is free to download and it’s free to send messages when you use it. Over the past year, Snapchat evolved into a mix of private messaging and public content, including brand networks, publications and live events, such as sports and music. It has shaped a new form of mobile-focused marketing that combines engagement, (playful) creativity, uniqueness and fun filters. Snapchat has achieved significant growth, counting more than 100 million daily active users and we are expecting this number to rise very soon.

– Linaker

Snapchat is primarily a video-sharing platform, but it can also be used to share images, drawings and messages. It is perhaps best known for its creative face recognition filters and the 24-hour clock that is put on the content being shared.

– Shaer        

Who uses Snapchat in the Middle East?

The cool kids! Seriously though, almost 20% of KSA and close to 10% in the UAE. It has a certain cachet when it comes to privacy, as well as being one of the lone “independent” social networks.

– McManus

The Kingdom is driving usage across the Middle East, with KSA No. 2 in the world for penetration among Internet users. Coming in at No. 1 in the world, Ireland leads Saudi Arabia by three points, with 12% of its Internet users utilizing the app.

According to GlobalWebIndex, some 9% of Saudis with Internet access are now on Snapchat. The UAE has 7% of its Internet users Snapchatting, followed by Turkey with 6%.

Interestingly, globally, teens (classified as 16- to 19-year-olds) have been turning to the app in large numbers; however, that trend seems to be lagging within the Middle East. While Saudi Arabia comes in at No. 2 for the percentage of overall Internet users, it only places ninth for percentage of teen users.

With 22% of Saudi Arabia’s teens on Snapchat, it trails significantly behind the global leader, which is again Ireland with 50% of its teens on Snapchat.

The UAE comes in behind Saudi Arabia once again with 22% of its teens on the app, followed by 20% in Turkey.

– Linaker

Of the Snapchat users in the UAE and KSA, 40% are between the ages of 16 and 24, and 30% are between the ages of 25 and 34.

Both females and males use the app, with a slight skew toward men at 56 %

Snapchat users love consuming video content – 76% – and use instant messaging services like WhatsApp or Messenger

– Shaer

(Source: WAVE Nielsen Study 2015) 

Why do people use Snapchat?

•          It embodies creativity, privacy and is super interesting

•          It feels like a person designed it and not a company. It’s super raw

•          Perhaps, most interestingly, Snapchat’s approach to marketing and advertising is unique in the social arena. In the era of ad-blockers, this is crucial to people’s enjoyment of the space

– McManus

•          Snapchat decided to take the ephemerality of posts to the next level by setting an expiry date to them, reminding us that if we want to enjoy what our friends post, we need to visit the platform daily

•          Some people like to use the platform to chat, but with visual content; other users tend to use Snapchat to share funny, quick moments

It’s interesting to observe the stats , s Snapchat users seem to really like their temporary posts, with 35 percent considering it as the reason they use the platform.

What do you like about Snapchat ?

Creating my own stories      48%

Video chatting           37%

Snaps/stories disappear      35%

Drawing, stickers and filters for snaps       34%

Friend emojis 32%

My parents don’t use it        30%

– Linaker

•          It’s casual and comfortable

•          It’s easy and fun to use

•          It’s full of content that is interesting
and different

–  Shaer

What do people do on Snapchat?

•          Try to squeeze their friends into the frame to do a cool lens

•          140 characters is old-school. It’s all about the magical ten seconds now and what you can do by bridging and editing these snippets together to create a whole story

•          Message, chat and respond one-on-one

– McManus

•          Private-message each other

•          Post stories

•          Communicate with real friends. Looking back isn’t a behavior people under 25 are interested in. Snapchat’s only built-in discovery feature is its ability to scan your phone’s contact list for friends, encouraging communication with real friends

– Linaker

•          Consume content relevant to them

•          Consume content produced
by their friends

•          Create content

– Shaer

What CAN brands do on Snapchat?

Organic: Use filters to craft a digital/physical story; a day in the life of the brand + product; and work with influencers for takeovers

Paid: Nothing is really available in the region…yet

– McManus

Organic:

•          Use it as an interactive TV: Walmart posted snaps of key products with a URL and then asked users to screenshot it. Users can then enter that URL into a browser and be redirected to the transaction page

•          Activate Snapchat influencers to give your brand a shout-out

Paid: Paid options are not available in until early 2017, but when they are, brands can sponsor Live Stories, Discover content, lenses or branded filters and geo filters

– Linaker

•          Influencer partnerships

•          Live coverage of events and behind the scenes coverage

•          Content-driven games, competitions and
geo filters

–  Shaer

What CAN’T brands do on Snapchat?

•          Analytics. There is Snaplytics, but it’s pretty expensive

•          Content can’t last for more than 24 hours, but Snapchat might introduce this as a paid option

•          Link to other social platforms

– Linaker

•          Paid advertising – in the region, at least

•          Detailed reporting

•          Link their Snapchat stories to other social
media platforms

– Shaer