Through our partnership with St. Mary’s University of Minnesota, we meet extremely talented MBA students and social media marketing professionals. One of their assignments in our course, (no comma) is to blog on an area of social media that they found most interesting or learned the most about in their studies. We are proud to highlight some of the best of those submissions here. 

I make a living overseeing digital communications for a Fortune 300 company, but there is one social media platform that I have yet to incorporate into my social media strategy – Snapchat.

On the surface, Snapchat appears to be a space best left for personal connection – a platform that professional communicators would have difficulty engaging in authentic and spontaneous interactions with followers and without advertising to them.  And while Snapchat is the one social networking app that has been difficult for me to adopt, I was finally forced to explore it fairly and honestly for one of my graduate school classes.

The initial discovery of several online studies confirmed my suspicion that Snapchat is a useful tool for individual storytelling, and that brands struggle to use it for effective marketing.

A recent survey found that of people who use Snapchat, 54% use it daily while 32% use it anywhere from two-to-five times per week.  Though this leads marketers to believe Snapchat is an obvious place for brands to capture more engagement with their consumers, many Snapchat users don’t use it in the same ways that brands think are obvious such as live stories and branded filters.  In fact, 23% of Snapchat users say they never engage with live stories and 42% don’t use branded filters for their snaps (Morrison, 2016).  Just as the survey reports, my own digital team’s previous experience with Snapchat, utilizing both of these avenues, yielded diminutive results.

Even more discouraging for marketers, 87% of Snapchat users say they never buy things they see on Snapchat ads and 11% rarely buy (Morrison, 2016).

On the contrary, I was also able to find examples of effective ways marketers were able to leverage Snapchat to connect with their consumers.  In 2016, Kohl’s responded to a disappointed shopper on Snapchat in a way that resonated with the public and humanized the brand (in case you haven’t seen it, you can watch here).  The snap went viral and serves as a model for successful marketing with Snapchat.  This authentic interaction elevated Kohl’s credibility on that platform.

The lesson here: brands don’t have to be intimidated by Snapchat. When used the right way, for the right reasons, and at the right time, Snapchat can help brands successfully and genuinely engage with fans.

References:
Morrison, K. (2016, January 26). How People Are Really Using Snapchat. Adweek. Retrieved from http://www.adweek.com/digital/how-are-people-really-using-snapchat-infographic/

Author: Theresa Myers,

As a corporate communications manager with Hormel Foods Corporation, Theresa Myers is responsible for a wide range of internal and external communications functions with a primary focus on creating, coordinating and executing the company’s digital communications strategy.

A key member of the Corporate Communications team, Myers provides global expertise on emerging communications platforms, develops and executes internal and external public relations initiatives and plays a leading role in content creation and public relations campaigns.

Myers joined the company in 2016 and has more than 15 years of experience in leadership, strategic communications and marketing.  Prior to joining Hormel Foods Corporation, Myers worked at St. Croix Hospice – a Minnesota based, regional healthcare provider – as a Branch Operations Director and Corporate Director of Communications for six years.  She joined St. Croix Hospice after nearly a decade in sales, marketing and communications for Ashdown Publishing, Hubbard Broadcasting and Heartland Home Healthcare and Hospice.

Historically, Myers has been active in volunteerism surrounding health related issues including a two year period as chairperson for a local chapter of the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Luncheon and for children’s hospice called Crescent Cove where she lends a hand in fundraising and writing projects.  Myers looks forward to using her passion for charitable work around issues that pertain to Hormel Foods.

Myers earned a bachelor’s degree in Marketing Management from Concordia University in St. Paul, MN and graduated with a master’s degree in Business Administration from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota.