Ten Billion Daily Video Views and Counting: How Franchises are Succeeding on Snapchat

Brands are winning over Snapchat viewers by creating both exclusive and sponsored content for the platform.

SPONSORED 4:16PM • 06/22/16

Right now, you’d be hard-pressed to find a brand that isn’t already established on social media. Strong Facebook, Twitter and Instagram presences are all essential for engaging with millennial consumers. But there’s one platform that offers a unique advertising opportunity for franchises—Snapchat.

Brands have been experimenting with Snapchat since the company first introduced sponsored content campaigns in 2014. The platform gives brands serious exposure, especially to a millennial audience. The company boasts over 100 million daily active users, and there are more than ten billion video views on Snapchat every single day.

What makes Snapchat truly unique is that it provides multiple opportunities for franchises to get their brand name and message across to viewers. Yes, companies can pay for quick video clips to play like traditional ads on the platform. But they can also create their own Snapchat stories for users to watch at their own discretion. That makes advertising on the platform seem way less intrusive.

At Advertising Week Europe, Snapchat’s vice president of content Nick Bell said, “Think about how users are using the product—it’s also important for brands to understand how to play in the product as well. If you are having a conversation with your friends, the last thing you want is a guy with a sandwich board to push into the middle of the group and start shouting at you. That’s really disruptive and doesn’t seem to make a huge amount of sense. Advertisers need to be thinking about where the natural elements in a product to insert advertising are.”

There are two main ways franchises are currently succeeding on Snapchat:

Exclusive and Original Content

When brands offer entertaining content that can’t be found anywhere else on their Snapchat stories, more viewers are likely to tune in. When Toppers Pizza* set out on its Toppers Campus Tour last fall, offering free pizzas and Topperstix at locations across the country to mark the beginning of the school year, it streamed the event on Snapchat. That added buzz to the event and enabled Toppers to build brand awareness by reaching a new audience.

Snapchat content can also be created to support the release of new products or limited time offers. Dairy Queen* launched its Snapchat account to drum up awareness for Free Cone Day, when the brand offers free small vanilla ice cream cones. Dairy Queen announced its new Snapchat account on its other social media platforms as well, leveraging the fan base it’s already built up.

Sponsored Content

Another way brands are making the most of Snapchat is through ads. One franchise that’s mastered the platform’s sponsored content opportunities is McDonald’s.

The brand tapped into Snapchat’s most popular feature—filters. McDonald’s created a set of sponsored geofilters for Snapchat that feature cheeseburgers, fries, and of course, the McDonald’s logo. The filters only pop up when Snapchatters are near or inside a McDonald’s location. Because the geofilters are part of the process users go through to create and send a snap, it’s a more fluid way to advertise.

Ultimately, being successful on Snapchat comes down to franchises understanding the platform and creating content that doesn’t seem forced or out of place to its users.

“Use Snapchat and be familiar with the product. Create stories and consumer content. Then really think about the message you are trying to get across as a brand,” said Bell.

*This brand is a paid partner of 1851 Franchise. For more information on paid partnerships please click here.

Ten Billion Daily Video Views and Counting: How Franchises are Succeeding on Snapchat

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