How to use Snapchat and how media companies are using Snapchat as a tool for reaching a new audience in 2015. Includes interviews with The New York Times, Mashable and NPR. Also includes information on how the Drake School of Journalism and Mass Communication is using Snapchat.
2. What we will discuss
• Why I love Snapchat
• How to use Snapchat
• Why college students use Snapchat
• People to follow on Snapchat
• How Drake SJMC is using Snapchat
• How different media orgs
are using Snapchat
3. About CHris Snider
• Assistant professor in the Drake
University School of Journalism
and Mass Communication
• Teach classes in social media,
web design and multimedia
• Formerly digital editor of the
Des Moines Register and editor
of Juice Magazine
• chrissnider24 on Snapchat
4. What about you?
• How many of you use social media for work?
• How many of you have a Snapchat account?
• How many of you actively use Snapchat?
• How many have never used Snapchat?
• What are your opinions of Snapchat?
5. So why am i standing here
in front of you talking
about snapchat?
So why am i standing here
in front of you talking
about snapchat?
8. • Messages are gone quickly,
so you have to pay attention
• It’s creative
• It’s a fun storytelling tool
• There’s no shortage of
content (brands are there
and Discover feature is
intriguing)
• It hits the right audience…
Snap by Shonduras
9. –Gary Vaynerchuk (@garyvee) … Feb. 27,
2015 socialmediaexainer.com podcast
“Where are people paying
attention? …
If you want to reach a 15- to
25-year-old in America, and
you don’t realize that
Snapchat has a
disproportionate amount of
the attention of that
consumer, then you’re just
not paying attention.”
12. – Shaun McBride (@Shonduras) … Feb. 27, 2015 socialmediaexainer.com podcast
“(People) think it’s disappearing content,
so it’s not valuable. But what people don’t
understand is that you have their attention
100 percent for those 10 seconds or however
long. They are completely absorbing
your content for that time.
If you’re looking on many other platforms, they
are scrolling past quickly. And even though it
will be there forever, they’ll never see it again.”
13. 2. It passes the Groundswell
Technology Test (MOSTLY)…
14. Groundswell Technology Test
1. Does it enable people to connect with each other in
new ways? YES
2. Is it effortless to sign up for? YES
3. Does it shift power from institutions to people? YES
4. Does the community generate enough content to
sustain itself? YES
5. Is it an open platform that invites partnerships? NO!
15. ABOUT SNAPCHAT
• Launched in Sept. 2011 (originally called Picaboo)
• Developed by Stanford students Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy and
Reggie Brown
• Estimated 100 million active users as of Aug. 2014
• 70 percent of college students report posting once/day*
• Spiegel said in 2013 that 70% of users were women**
• Fastest growing social app of 2014
• Valued at $15 billion in March 2015
* http://mashable.com/2014/08/08/study-snapchat-college/
** http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/11/20/snapchat-ceo-says-70-of-users-are-women/
17. HOW IT WORKS
Source: BusinessInsider.com
http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-use-snapchat-2015-2
53. Why you won’t like snapchat
• No special tools for storytelling (have to create
in real time, and you have to create in the app)
• (Some people create
elsewhere and take a photo)
• Little/no analytics (not
even followers!)
• It confuses new users
• Lazy efforts don’t work -
you have to be creative
55. What analytics you DO see
• Your followers as they come in (have to keep track)
• How many people view each part or your story (so you
know who started and who finished)
• Snapchat usernames of those people
• How many people take screenshots or each Snap
• Snapchat usernames of those people
• Anyone who responds to you
67. This is a story about a guy who
runs his mouth too much…
68. That guy is me…
I’ve been saying that Drake
University needs to be on Snapchat.
So I finally decided to put MY*
money where my mouth was.
*It’s really their money
70. Results from
24 hours:
Started viewing: 45
Finished viewing: 44
Responses: 1
71. OUR APPROACH
• Have fun
• Entirely meant to entertain students (at least for now)
• Not promoting or selling anything
• Post about twice a week (Mondays and Wednesdays)
• Let 24+ hours expire before posting again
• Focusing on growing our followers
72. Snapchat storytelling template
Storytelling tools: photos, videos, drawing, text and emojis
Native content on Snapchat: selfies, artistic masterpieces, ugly faces, pets, what I’m doing now
We even
created a
template to
help make
sure we were
using all of
the Snapchat
storytelling
tools.
78. Results from
24 hours:
Started viewing: 103
Finished viewing: 100
Votes: 21
Some FB posts
don’t even reach
100 people
79. WHAT WE’ve LEARNED
• Tell stories
• Use all the tools (text, video, emojis,
drawing)
• Keep Snaps short (1-2 seconds can be OK)
• You’ll get a lot of views while you’re still
creating. Just roll with it, and don’t rush.
• It’s OK to take Snaps of your screen. >
• Include other people in your stories as a
way to spread the word.
81. How NPR uses Snapchat
• On Snapchat as nprnews
• In a “very exploratory”
phase.
• They find an interesting
article, then ask the
reporter to share a fact
in a 10-second video.
• They post that video to
their Snapchat Story.
Source: Tajha Chappellet-Lanier
82. NPR’s Global Health
and Development
correspondent
Jason Beaubien talking
about the measles
immunization rate
in Tanzania
83. NPR: REsults
• As of March 23, 2015
• Around 10,000 followers and 5,000 views per snap
(they have 466k followers on Twitter)
• Get a few screenshots, but more if reporter is
attractive
• Starting to receive incoming Snaps, and are trying
to encourage more
84. NRP: Lessons
• To get interaction, give more interaction
• Experimenting with being more interactive
• Keep is simple if you have a small team
85. How THE NEW YORK TIMES USES
• On Snapchat as thenytimes
• “Unofficially” using since March 14,
2015 - only promoted through
individual reporters’ social media
• Using it the way they feel “stories”
feature was meant to be used.
Telling journalists to tell a story
about what they are doing.
• Raw stories from a first-person
perspective
Source: Talya Minsberg, social strategy editor
87. NY Times results
• No official launch, so no real numbers to share
• Followers are into tech, so tech reporter covering
Facebook’s F8 conference got positive feedback
• Most interesting stories have been around events
• Not requiring any reporters to use it; all voluntary
88. NY Times lessons
• Stories should have a beginning, middle and end - so
they encourage people to have an intro and a sign-off
• The app itself is a disadvantage because it’s difficult to
learn and tools are somewhat limited
• Encouraging reporters to experiment with their own
Snapchat accounts to be ready for what’s next
• Interested to see how app evolves - will they get better
tools for telling stories, better analytics?
89. How DAILY IOWAN USES
• On Snapchat as
thedailyiowan
• “We felt as a news
organization that it
would be another
different way to reach
out to the community.”
• Started off showing behind-the-scenes info from the office.
• Have since given login info to reporters covering events.
Source: Jordyn Reiland, editor
90. DAILY IOWAN results
• A little over 100 followers as of late March 2015 and
a story gets roughly 75 views in the 24-hour period.
• Saw a large number of followers in a short amount of
time at launch, but it has since slowed.
91. DAILY IOWAN lessons
• What they learned: Don’t be afraid to try new things.
• They were hesitant at first, but glad they jumped in
and tried a new way of storytelling.
92. How MEDIANOWSTL USES
• Summer camp for high school
journalists in St. Louis
• On Snapchat as medianowstl
• Using Snapchat to share info
and build excitement for camp;
see it as a great tool to use
during camp
• Did a fun series introducing all
of the camp instructors
Source: Aaron Manfull, workshop director
95. MEDIANOWSTL results
• About 65 followers (725 on Twitter)
• Get 40-something views per story
• Camp is built around preparing students for the ever
changing digital media landscape, so they are always
trying new things and testing them out
• FHNToday getting 130 views/story
96. MEDIANOWSTL lessons
• Not a place to hard-sell your customers
• Not a place for long stories
• Tell a story; not a bunch of random snaps
• It’s hard watching content they work hard on disappear
98. Published Jan. 23, 2015
http://mashable.com/2015/01/23/snapchat-what-we-learned/
101. What they learned
• Snapchat is a powerful tool for delivering visual stories
• It drains batteries (15 full iPhone 5S charges for one
day-long story)
• Editing tools are limited, so they tried third-party apps.
Snapchat has since shut out those apps.
102. What they learned
• Embrace the strange intimacy of Snapchat videos
• Never underestimate the power of a one- or two-
second snap
• Employ emoji whenever possible
• If you put enough time and resources into it, you will
get great mobile stories for your followers