Differentiating Social Apps

Digital Marketing - Study Notes:

What is Instagram?

Instagram is defined as a visual inspiration platform used by marketers to move and inspire audiences by showcasing their brand and products to dive action through a visual medium.

What is Snapchat?

Snapchat is defined as an image messaging and multimedia mobile application. Snapchat is used by marketers to utilize effective, ephemeral content storytelling and showcase their product through vertical video.

Difference between Instagram and Snapchat

Instagram and Snapchat initial uses differed, as Instagram focused on capture and share the world’s moments, which translated into posting beautiful photos of travel, food, and adventures. Whereas Snapchat’s core differentiator in the marketplace was in its ability for snaps to disappear after 24 hours. This ephemeral content focus defined Snapchat’s initial product offering and tagline of “Snapchat is the fastest way to share a moment.” This meant that curation and beautification of a photo wasn’t its main purpose. It also meant that there were two different audience types. Although today, there is much overlap.

Instagram had a lot of early adapters from photographers, brands, celebrities, influencers, and, of course, millennials. Snapchat did extremely well with millennials in Generation Z, influencers, news organizations, and brands. As stated earlier, Instagram has more daily users. However, Snapchat has the fastest growing user base in the social networking marketplace.

Instagram

In Instagram, there’s better targeting and analytics, and this is because there’s a Facebook integration which gives you way more data and analytics than you would on Snapchat. There’s an ability to go live. So, when you go live on Instagram, you’re showing real time and you’re connecting with your audience. As said earlier, Instagram, especially with their Facebook integration, has way more users than Snapchat. And this gives more with influencer marketing, there are tons of Instagram influencers, as well as with the Facebook integration you have amazing insights using a business account. And this, of course, lends itself to better e-commerce and advertising opportunities.

Snapchat

Snapchat is all about ephemeral content. You’re creating content that can disappear and does a connection to build with your community. There’s also end-to-end storytelling. A lot of times, people will start and finish a Snapchat story because it’s just second nature to do this. You’re hitting up the millennial audience very hard, and there’s a new form of advertising content creation. It goes away from that curated Instagramesque style to create very authentic, organic kind of advertising that is really applicable to the Snapchat platform in itself.