So you've been thinking about finally getting started with a brand Snapchat account, and all of a sudden, a new competitor comes along: Instagram Stories. An admitted copycat of Snapchat, Instagram Stories seems like a platform where you could produce the same content, which would be viewed in the same way. What's your next move? Flip a coin?
Amy Derjue, senior content specialist at Solomon McCown & Company, discussed the issue of whether to get started on one of these platforms, and which one, in a recent PR News webinar. Here are three considerations to kick off your strategy planning:
To learn more about communicating on Snapchat, come to the PR News Snapchat Boot Camp, December 7 in Washington, D.C. at the National Press Club, where speakers from IBM, C-SPAN, United Way Worldwide and more will provide practical advice for the PR pro.
Who is your audience?
Instagram's 300 million daily active users bests Snapchat's 150 million, but that audience may be somewhat different in terms of demographics. 60% of Snapchat users are 18 to 24 years old, a narrow age range compared to the wider reach of Instagram. This will inform your communication strategy: If you want to target your content to youth specifically, you may see a lower rate of enthusiasm on Instagram.
Have you already built a community on Instagram?
For some of the brands that have decided to jump into Instagram Stories, the deciding factor was that they had already been on Instagram cultivating a following that would now start seeing their Stories. If your Instagram presence is strong, it might be more effective to simply redouble your content creation efforts there.
Do you have the resources to dedicate to build a presence on Snapchat?
People can't simply discover and follow your brand on Snapchat as easily as they can on other platforms. You'll have to cross-promote with your other platforms, develop content to share around and show that you're worthy of following, perhaps work with an established presence on an account takeover... do you have the man-hours to dedicate to that?
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