Snapchat Discover: Brand’s Secrets Viral Guide
Snapchat has been gradually reinventing itself from a platform that used to be limited to the simple sending of self-destructing pictures and videos. One of such features is Snapchat Discover, which serves as a curated content hub, making it an exclusive platform for brands looking to target a young and hyper-engaged audience. But just what is Snapchat Discover And how, exactly, are savvy business using it to turn it into a launch pad for viral marketing and audience growth? Let’s dive deep.
What is Snapchat Discover and Why Should Brands Care?
Snapchat Discover is a hand-selected area of Snapchat, that is displayed front in center for users to find. Unlike the user-generated content that appears in ‘Stories’ or direct snaps, Discover shows content from established publishers, media powerhouses, influencers, and brands. It is a platform designed where content can be discovered and consumed actively, in a richly visual, immersive way.
Here are some of the key features of Snapchat Discover that helps to attract brands:
- Curated and Premium Environment: Discover is not an open thread of content. Snapchat curates which publishers and brands it features, giving what appears to be a stamp of quality and credibility to its content. This selective space allows brands to shine from the clutter of regular social media channels.
- High Visibility and Engagement: Discover is prominently positioned within the app, ensuring its visibility to Snapchat’s vast user base. “Because users need to navigate to Discover in order to find content, they’re less passive when it comes to Discover than scrolling through some feed.
- Visually Driven, Immersive Format: Discover content is typically visual, taking advantage of Snapchat’s unique vertical video, animations, and additional interactive features such as polls, quizzes, and swipe-up links. The format is ripe for engagement, particularly in capturing the passing attention spans of mobile users.
- Younger Demographic Reach: A large share of Snapchat users fall under the highly sought after 13-34 age demographic. For brands who target this demographic, Discover provides unmatched access.
- Storytelling and Brand Narrative: The layout of discover makes it perfect for longer-form storytelling and developing a unified brand narrative. Brands, can create serialized content, episodic shows, and deep-focus features that are more than hit-and-run social media posts.
- Direct Traffic and Conversion Potential: Awareness is one of the core goals, but Discover does provide avenues to move people down the funnel and facilitate conversions. Discover content with a hyperlink also allows a user to swipe-up links to a brands website, product page or to download an app, which can easily be tracked for measurable marketing results.
Case Studies: Brands Cracking the Code of Snapchat Discover
To appreciate the true might of Snapchat Discover, its worth analyzing some engaging case studies from brands which capitalized on its potential to fuel viral campaigns and audience expansion:
1. Taco Bell: Spritzing Interest to Gen Z with Fun Discover Content
- Brand: Taco Bell, baiting the 23 meaning kid-friendly fast food chain with the great commercials.
- Goal: Drive brand awareness and engagement among Gen Z, and solidify Taco Bell’s fun and trend-focused brand personality while driving visits to stores.
- Discover Strategy: Taco Bell created a stand-alone Discover channel that consists of varied content formats, and all speak to their brand personality:
- Humorous and Relatable Short Series: They produced short, snackable video series that addressed relatable Gen Z topics through the lens of Taco Bell humor. Think about “Life Hacks,” “Awkward Moments” and “Foodie Adventures.”
- Behind-the-Scenes and Exclusive Content: Showcasing glimpses behind Taco Bell kitchens, employee stories, and early looks at new menu items created a sense of exclusivity and insider access for discover viewers.
- Interactive Polls and Quizzes: Vying with audiences for their preferred menu items, testing their Taco Bell knowledge, and asking “This or That” style questions gained traction and conversational engagement, as well as valuable audience insights.
- Partnerships with Snapchat Creators: Teaming up with Snapchat Creators and influencers to create Discover content had a multiplier effect, allowing brands to access organic conversations happening in established audiences.
- Viral Campaign Elements & Audience Growth:
- Consistent Content Schedule: By consistently posting new and relevant content, Taco Bell kept users returning to the channel and cultivated habitual media consumption.
- Content Tailored to Snapchat’s Format: Optimized vertical videos, rapid-fire editing and heavy use of Snapchat’s creative tools (think filters, lenses and stickers) made content feel native and resonate on the platform.
- Emphasis on Entertainment Value: Guide on the side, Taco Bell knew that Gen Z audiences on Snapchat come to be entertained not directly marketed to.
- Cross-Promotion: Taco Bell went for a lighter approach teasing their Discover channel on its other social media channels and in-restaurant, to attract initial traffic and awareness.
- Metrics and Results:
- Significant Increase in Brand Awareness: Taco Bell’s Discover channel received millions of views and subscribers, achieving tens of millions of additional reach within the Snapchat demographic.
- High Engagement Rates: Polls, quizzes, and interactive elements experienced high participation rates, showing strong user interest and involvement with the content.
- Positive Brand Sentiment: The fun user interaction and engaging Discover content produced a positive brand perception for Taco Bell for Snapchatters, including fun and trendy tastes to the brand hot key.
- Measurable Traffic to Restaurants (Indirect): Although directly attributing restaurant traffic was difficult, Taco Bell identified that driver periods often saw increased traffic to restaurants in comparison to non-Explore periods, suggesting that Discover was an effective influencer of consumer behavior..
- Takeaway from Taco Bell:
- Authenticity is Key: Gen Z consumers are skilled at detecting performative marketing. Taco Bell succeeded by wholeheartedly adopting Snapchat’s playful tone and making content that felt native to the platform..
- Entertainment First, Marketing Second: It’s all about entertainment first and marketing second. Direct product promotion has to be subtle and should integrate naturally.
- Consistency Drives Habit: New ongoing content encourages users to interact with and return to your Discover channel.
- Creator Partnerships Amplify Reach: Leverage Snapchat creators to reach big audiences and bring authenticity to your content.
2. Sephora: Tutorials and Shopping on Discover
- Brand: Sephora, the world’s largest beauty retailer.
- Objective: Establish Sephora as the beauty expert among Snapchat users, increase awareness of beauty trends and products, and enable direct shopping.
- Discover Strategy: Sephora used Discover to build a beauty-centric content hub that included:
- Step-by-Step Beauty Tutorials: Short, snappy visually appealing tutorials on make up looks, skincare, hair and other beauty regime, using the Sephora products subtly but prominently.
- “Get the Look” Features: Editorial pieces detailing current beauty trends and including product recommendations to achieve the respective look (with direct links to individual product pages on Sephora’s site).
- Interactive Product Demos and Reviews: You can use Snapchat photos to demonstrate the texture and swatches of the products along with mini-reviews so that users can virtually try the products.
- Behind-the-Scenes at Sephora Events and Launches: Providing behind-the-scenes glimpses of product launches, beauty events, and influencer collaborations, giving Discover viewers a VIP experience.
- Q&A Sessions with Beauty Experts: Host live or pre-recorded Q&A sessions with Sephora beauty advisors and makeup artists offering beauty advice and product recommendations.
- Viral Campaign Elements & Audience Growth:
- Actionable and Educational Content: Beauty tutorials and expert advice offered real value for viewers, so that Sephora’s Discover channel became a trusted source of beauty information.
- Seamless Integration of Shopping: Direct swipe-up feature within tutorial and product features caused people to go to product pages within the Sephora website and app for seamless purchasing.
- Visually Appealing and High-Production Value: Sephora focused on high-level video production value along with visual graphics which are aligned with their branding as well as consumer beauty-module aesthetic expectations.
- Targeted Content Themes: Content was tailored to trending beauty topics, seasonal looks, and specific product categories.
- Metrics and Results:
- Significant Traffic to Sephora’s Website and App: Content featured on Discover saw a particularly significant amount of swipe-up traffic to Sephora’s website and app, which suggests a strong correlation between what someone engages with on Discover to them visiting a website.
- Increased Product Discovery and Sales: Product features and “Get the Look” content resulted directly in product discovery and sales, especially of featured items.
- Enhanced Brand Perception as a Beauty Authority: Sephora’s Discover channel established them as the go-to source of beauty information and forwarding trends, enhancing domain authority in beauty.
- Growth in Sephora’s Snapchat Following: While Discover and the Snapchat main user following are currently different entities, the success of their Discover channel and brand awareness indirectly aided Sephora’s growth in the broader Snapchat platform.
- Lessons Learned from Sephora:
- Value-Driven Content Wins: Creativity that is truly useful and instructive (think: beauty classes) wins audience and engagement on Discover.
- Seamless Shopping Integration is Powerful: Allowing viewers to buy featured products directly from Discover content can lead to measurable conversions.
- Visual Quality Matters in Beauty: Spending big on imagery and production values pays off on visual-first platforms such as Snapchat Discover, which is branded as the premium solution to connect beauty brands with consumers.
- Content Themes and Trends Enhance Relevance: If the content focuses on current beauty trends or seasonal themes, it feels more relevant to audience and may encourage viewer engagement.
3. BuzzFeed: Mastering the Art of Shareable Discover Content
- Brand: BuzzFeed, the digital media company known for its viral content, quizzes, listicles and storytelling.
- Objective: Grow BuzzFeed’s audience on Snapchat, generate traffic from Snapchat to BuzzFeed’s website and other platforms, and establish a presence for BuzzFeed as an entertainer and purveyor of shareable material.
- Discover Strategy: BuzzFeed was an early champion of Snapchat Discover and has consistently led the way in terms of new content formats, including:
- BuzzFeed’s Signature Quizzes and Lists: Adapting the signature quiz and listicle format popularised (at scale) on the BuzzFeed website to the vertical video format of Discover to produce highly shareable, engaging content.
- Short-Form Docuseries and Reality Content: Playing around with short-form documentary series, reality-style content, and behind-the-scenes peeks into BuzzFeed’s office culture the appeal of real, relatable stories.
- Food-Focused Content (Tasty Channel): Using their well known and successful “Tasty” brand to produce mouth watering food videos, recipe demos, food quizzes and similar concepts on Discover.
- News and Current Events (BuzzFeed News Channel): Creating a dedicated channel to distribute news and current events within Snapchat’s digestible and visual audio/visual media format for younger consumers of news.
- Interactive Storytelling and Choose-Your-Own-Adventure: Exploring the outer limits of Discover’s interactive features by exploring choose-your-own-adventure style content, and polls, and branching narrative.
- Viral Campaign Elements & Audience Growth:
- Content Designed for Shareability: BuzzFeed discover content is built to be shared, precisely what the users want to share with their friends are entertaining, relatable as well as informational.
- Diverse Content Formats to Cater to Varied Interests: By creating many formats of content from quizzes to docuseries to food videos, you are covering a wide array of interests that exist within the audience of Snapchat.
- Leveraging BuzzFeed’s Established Brand and Content Expertise: BuzzFeed has been creating viral content for years, knowing what audiences respond to online and how to tailor it to the Snapchat platform.
- Cross-Platform Promotion and Brand Ecosystem: BuzzFeed was able to drive traffic and awareness by heavily cross-promoting their Discover channels across their site, social media accounts and other content assets.
- Metrics and Results:
- Massive Reach and Viewership: BuzzFeed’s Discover channels are consistently among the most-viewed on the platform, reaching millions of Snapchatters a day.
- High Social Sharing and Virality: BuzzFeed’s Discover content often goes viral on Snapchat (and beyond), giving them great exposure on other social channels and the web.
- Significant Traffic to BuzzFeed’s Website and Properties: See content does well in driving traffic to BuzzFeed’s website, YouTube channels, and other online properties in how much they are for BuzzFeed’s overall digital footprint.
- Reinforced BuzzFeed’s Brand as a Digital Content Leader: BuzzFeed’s performance on Discover reinforced their status as a top-tier digital media company, skilled in producing enticing and shareable content for online viewers.
- Lessons Learned from BuzzFeed:
- Shareability is the Currency of Discover: Content built to be just so shareable, entertaining, relatable will be most successful on Snapchat Discover.
- Format Innovation is Crucial: Exploring different content formats and experimenting with Discover’s interactive capabilities keeps content fresh and exciting.
- Brand Consistency Across Platforms: There is no doubt that keeping a consistent brand voice and content style across Discover and other platforms enhances brand recognition as well as cross- platform engagement.
- Cross-Promotion is Essential for Growth: If you want to drive any sort of traffic in the beginning and retain an audience, you need to advertise your Discover channel on other platforms.
Key Strategies for Brands to Win on Snapchat Discover
Drawing on these case studies and wider best practices, below are some practical solutions for brands looking to drive success on Snapchat Discover:
- Understand Your Snapchat Audience Intimately: Learn Everything You can About Snapchat Demographics, User Interests, and Content Types Format your Discover content to cater to this audience with tailored topics that are not just generic or recycled content.
- Prioritize Visual Storytelling and Immersive Experiences: Experiment with Snapchat’s visual-first approach. Use vertical video, animations and interactive elements to make content that is fast, eye-catching, and immersive.
- Focus on Entertainment, Value, or Utility: Explore users are looking for entertainment, information, or utility. Your content should offer one or more of these. Skip the overly promotional, salesy materials.
- Be Authentic and Conversational: Use an authentic, relatable, conversational tone. The Snapchat audience craves authentic relationships. Steer clear of content that sounds too polished or corporate.
- Experiment with Diverse Content Formats: Do not remain limited to one type of content. Mix it up with short series, tutorials, behind-the-scenes, quizzes, polls, interactive stories, and much more to keep your Discover channel fresh and engaging.
- Utilize Snapchat’s Interactive Features: Use Snapchat’s interactive tools such as polls, quizzes, swipe-up links, and lenses to enhance engagement, gain insights into the audience, and channel traffic.
- Maintain a Consistent Content Schedule: Regularly add new content so users return to your Discover channel. To establish an audience, you need consistency.
- Collaborate with Snapchat Creators and Influencers: Partnering with Snapchat creators relevant to your industry can increase your reach, add authenticity to your content, and give your brand access to existing audience networks.
- Cross-Promote Your Discover Channel: Share your Snapchat Discover channel across your other social media platforms, website, email marketing, and even offline channels to help generate initial traffic and create awareness.
- Analyze Performance and Iterate Your Strategy: Keep a close eye on the performance of your Discover content. Keep tabs on metrics such as views, completion rates, swipe-up rates, and audience feedback. So optimize your content strategy accordingly using these insights.
The Future of Brands on Snapchat Discover
Snapchat Explore, a new platform for brands to keep evolving with the ever-changing content landscape. Snapchat offers a variety of marketing channels, but Discover continues to show the greatest potential for virality and audience growth as the platform grows. With creativity, authenticity, and a great deal of understanding of the Snapchat audience, brands that adapt can expect great success on this one-of-a-kind, engaging platform.
Through these and other tactics inspired by the successes of Taco Bell, Sephora, and BuzzFeed, your own brand can take advantage of the viral potential of Snapchat Discover and engage with an audience that is engaged and useful. Secret Discover, And no, it’s not only an advertising platform, but a powerful engagement platform, content engine, and brand need.
