So maybe your Snapchat score tops 50,000, your friends worship your remarkable doodles, your geotags track your travels, your money transactions utilize ‘Snapcash,’ and your selfie has been seen by thousands on a local (maybe worldwide) ‘Our Story.’ However, there’s another feature, right under your nose and on your screen, awaiting your Snapchat talents.
‘Discover’ allows media platforms to show their content to Snapchat users. CNN covers breaking stories, Comedy Central shares clips, ESPN uploads sport highlights, etc. Since ‘Discover’ was released, the brands have worked within their comfort zone. But lately, some media brands have been having more fun with it, particularly Snapchat and Cosmopolitan. These two brands consistently make templates that can be sent to friends- all you have to do is press, edit and select contacts.
These templates have channeled Taylor Swift and Beyonce, asked funny questions on drawing canvases, shared entertaining quotes to allow Snapchatters’ creativity to blossom. Friends can send this new content through the Snapchat ‘chat’ window to break up the string of selfies or other mundane material. From there, receivers can view or save the image then access the full story via Discover with one click.
Other brands use the feature more straightforwardly. For example, users can press and hold an image on ‘Discover’ to share the story directly with friends. But the brands that engage with users, through these funny templates, will likely have more ‘Discover’ interactions.
Remember, ‘Discover’ is a business platform. Brands can feature advertisements and push sponsored messages. However, to sell the ‘Discover’ capabilities to clients, the media brand needs the number of views to make the advertising price worthwhile. These templates show the personality behind the brand more playfully than sales messages. So while these templates still work toward a business goal, users can enjoy the ride.
How else would you like media brands to interact with people on Snapchat?