Today I had the absolute pleasure to meet Snapchat’s Head of Fashion, Retail and Travel, Ruth Arber. Within minutes of meeting Ruth, who was dressed in tracky bottoms and trainers, we were discussing her past (and present!) love of the Spice Girls and she was complimenting me on my shirt. Yes, not very ecommercy, but this is how people interact in the real world and it’s also how people interact on Snapchat.
Ruth tells me that one of the things that makes Snapchat unique is that it’s very true to real life. Think of it a bit like Whatsapp messaging, except with video instead of mainly text. And Ruth says, don’t make the mistake of thinking Snapchat is like highly polished Instagram posts where people spend 15 minutes touching up their pictures before they send – Snapchat is instant true to life conversations and that’s why they have 21 million users in the UK and 850 million monthly users globally.
So with Snapchat being true to life conversations between friends, how can retailers insert themselves into the conversation in a natural non-intrusive manner? Well, Snap Inc have been working for over 8 years on their Augmented Reality (AR) tools and slightly newer My AI and these tools are paying dividends for savvy brands and retailers.
When we think of Snapchat AI, the first thing that probably comes to mind is a goofy set of dog ears and a slobbery tongue sticker to entertain our friends. But today Snap AR is a lot more sophisticated and a great example of try on experiences is for instance with makeup. Or how about virtually trying on dresses for a wedding and sharing with friends to ask which to pick? It’s also worth noting that these aren’t just clever tools to engage users – Ruth says that they can also reduce return rates as consumers know exactly what they’ll look like in a particular outfit.
So back to brands and how they can insert themselves into a conversation that is often a 1 to 1 interaction between family and friends? And it’s also worth noting that Snapchat isn’t a popularity contest – there are no public metrics on how many likes or shares you get… and Snaps disappear after 24 hours anyway! Ruth shared three ways that brands can get communicate with consumers:
- Messaging – stories served as ads
- Camera filters – Brands have access to Snap AR and it’s worth nothing that 70% of Snapchatters use filters on a daily basis.
- Content – Snapchat is the original vertical feed format and as well as following friends, users can choose to follow the brands and influencers that they like.
Meet Snapchat at ChannelX Conference on the 9th of October!
I’m pretty sure I could have talked to Ruth for hours but sadly time ran out. But the really good news is that her colleague, Claudine Clark, Senior Client Partner for Lifestyle at Snap Inc will be presenting at the ChannelX conference on the 9th of October. So if you want to find out more about how your brand can sell to Snapchat users with deep level engagement get your free ticket here.
