This is so on-point, Erica — thanks for writing this!

As I was sitting in church today, I was thinking about Snapchat (I know, not very holy of me) and how brands will start using Memories. One pitfall I foresee is the new ability of Memories to allow brands to create what is as close to an automated response as you can achieve right now in that platform.

For instance, I greet every new Snapchat friend with a private Snap (sometimes it takes me a few days to do it, but I make the effort). I do that live, each and every time, and while some of those welcome Snaps are probably similar, they’re not automated.

Enter Memories. I can totally see how a brand could create an automated initial Snap to send to new friends… and therein lies the pitfall. Snapchat has been an amazing app to force authenticity and realtime response. Brands will be tempted to automate and balance authentic response with routine processes in the interest of saving valuable time. My hope is that good marketers will ensure that any “canned” Snaps are as authentic as possible and have the ultimate goal of developing genuine relationships vs. an assembly line of leads.