PR pros understand the importance of a great hook in storytelling. But how do you employ such hooks on Snapchat, where you have just one day to get noticed before that crucial opening moment disappears, along with the rest?
Melanie Cohn, social media marketing manager at Dunkin' Brands, says that success lies in crafting an enticing hook that keeps audiences along for the ride, and following through with a matching payoff within the platform's 24-hour window.
Cohn has driven several campaigns for the Snapchat-savvy Dunkin' brand that enlisted followers to join in on the fun from the get-go—and stay on board for the duration. "Offering a carrot of sorts at the beginning and ending it with a piece of cake—whatever that may be—is great way to think about format," she says.
Among the playful Snapchat strategies Cohn has piloted: A treasure hunt of sorts for limited-edition geofilters and exclusive offers, behind-the-scenes sneak peaks of Dunkin's "secret culinary lab," nationwide musical influencer takeovers and cross-promotion on Instagram with an edible Snapchat logo. PR News asked Cohn to divulge some munchkin-sized morsels of Snapchat wisdom.
PR News: At Dunkin’, have you supplemented and cross-promoted your Snapchat channel via other social media channels?
Melanie Cohn: Absolutely. We find that putting out teasers across our other channels is a main driver of interest [to Snapchat]. For instance, on Instagram, we’ve had our culinary team create Snapchat Donuts to give a very uniquely Dunkin’ spin on asking people to check out what’s happening on the channel. We’ve also had influencers who we feature on Snapchat point to their story on their other channels, which causes a big spike in followers for us.
PR News: Celebrating events in real time is a great Snapchat use case. For instance, how did you generate engagement around National Donut Day in June?
Cohn: We had a really dynamic program for National Donut Day working with Snapchat influencers. We selected Snapchatters from Los Angeles, to New York, to Texas, to take over our Snapchat channel and share how they were celebrating National Donut Day in different parts of the country. They acted almost like news anchors, "throwing it over" to the next Snapchatter in another city. We bounced around the country and got unique perspectives from all kinds of personalities—from an L.A. beatboxer, to a Nashville singing duo, to an NYC foodie—to celebrate the day.
PR News: When Dunkin’ launched its cold brew campaign this summer, followers were sent on a treasure hunt of sorts for an exclusive filter. How did you get users to complete this multi-step process? Would you consider the campaign a success and, if so, how did you measure it?
Cohn: We were one of the first brands to test Snapchat’s Snap to Unlock product, which allows users to unlock a geofilter for 24 hours anywhere you are (vs. being in-store [or on-site]). You simply had to open up your Snapchat camera, point to a special Snapcode we provided and press down to unlock the filter. We used it first on Twitter, for National Donut Day, and following that, in our DD Perks email as a way to give our most loyal members first access to our Cold Brew geofilter before anyone else. Since we were one of the first [brands] to do this, we don’t have benchmarks, but we were very pleased with the usage overall.
PR News: What are a few of your favorite snaps on Dunkin’s channel, and what made them so successful?
Cohn: My favorite snaps tend to feature our culinary team—it’s like being a kid in a candy store. We have amazing chefs sharing delicious creations from donut recipes to new twists on beverages. When we give users a sneak peek inside our secret culinary lab, we can provide them with a new glimpse into our world.
PR News: What types of snaps see the least amount of engagement? Is there anything brands should avoid in their snaps and Stories?
Cohn: Luckily, we haven’t done a series that’s fallen completely flat but that’s likely because we’re always iterating. We look at response rate, view through and screenshots to understand the type of content viewers want to see, and we tweak from there. I’d say anything that feels overly produced or doesn’t reward the user with a payoff at the end is going to be the least engaging. Offering a carrot of sorts at the beginning and ending it with a piece of cake, whatever that may be, is great way to think about format. That could be a reveal, an offer, etc. Always ask yourself: What utility or value am I providing with this story? Why does my audience care?
PR News: Any thoughts on the ideal number of snaps for a story? Ideal amount of time to wait in between posting snaps?
Cohn: I don’t think there’s a magic number, but you want your audience to be excited when they see you’re there. To achieve that, a daily feed could work if you’re providing enough valuable content, but for us, we wait until we have something really special to say so that our audience gets that reward each time for participating. That could be once a week, or two days in a row, depending on what’s [current]. It’s less cadence driven and more idea driven.
Follow Melanie: @socialmel
Follow Sophie: @SophieMaerowitz