Sinsay’s Snapchat Case — Fashion & Fun!
Snapchat is a social media app that has been on everyone’s lips. It’s ideal for communication, it’s ideal for teens and it’s ideal for fashion. Why? Because it boosts creativity, it’s easy to use (for teenagers, if you’re older you’ll take some time to get used to the controls) and it’s something new and fresh after years spent on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. It’s a great place for internet artists, everyday-users and brands. Let me tell you how it works for one of my clients — Sinsay, a fashion teenage-oriented brand.
Sinsay was established in 2012 and is part of LPP group that owns other popular Polish brands such as Reserved, Mohito, House or Cropp. Sinsay’s target group are mainly girls 14–25 and because of that, the brand has to always stay in touch with whatever social media channels the core target is using right now. It was one of the first Polish brands to become visible on Instagram and treats it as one of it’s main social media channels. But now Snaps are „a thing” so we had to add this chanel to our communication strategy.
Snapchat alone (and combined with Instagram) proved to be one of the coolest ways to communicate with the younger generation, or as marketers and journalists like to call them, Generation Z. It’s fast, the word „past” does not exist as snaps „vanish” after 24 hours and it’s got all the cool features that Instagram or Twitter lack. You can easily put a poo on somebody’s head, have him or her have monkey instead of a face and the list goes on and on. Making pictures funny because of the usage of emoticons or short but visible captions is, apart from the fun content in the discovery section and easy way to use the app, is what I think made it so popular. Also, it’s another addition to the internet culture — the memes, viral videos and uberpopular youtubers.
On the other hand it makes me think of the 90’s video tapes and homemade movies. Large portions of snaps are bad in quality and center around everyday things, just like home movies did in the good old 90’s. Or they even look like some movies. Blair Witch Project anyone?
It’s potential fascinated us and throughout the year we’ve been doing some actions on Snapchat. Mostly, they revolve around user generated content, which I think is one of the best ways to use Snapchat. The number of snaps send to us and interactions changed as Snapchat became more and more popular in Poland and users were more interested in following brands on Snapchat.
1) BFF Day!
One of the first contest was held on the BFF day. BFF means Best Friend Forever, one of the most important phrases in the world of Sinsay. The task was to send us a selfie with your #bff.
Numbers:
- We got 50 snaps
- Our snap was viewed 100 times
2) Sinsay Suprise Snap
After a couple of months of not using Snapchat, we finally decided to make it one of Sinsay’s most important social channels and started a little game we played with our followers, called “send us something”. It’s as easy as it sounds — we asked our Snapchat fans (and later, our insta followers) to send us something. Everything. Use their creative site and set the inagination free. The reason for that was that we wanted to check how mamy views our snaps get from our fans. The outcome? You can sum it up with one word: awesome. We got short movie-like Snaps about girls’ Sinsay collections, photos of wardrobes full of Sinsay clothes and even some pics of massive accessories collections. There were two editions of this activity.
Numbers:
- We got approximately 300 snaps
- Our Snap was viewed max. 2,100 times
3) Hola Barcelona MashUp
For the purpose of promoting Sinsay’s AW15 Collection we used Snapchat again. If fashion and Snapchat are all about fun, why not combine the two? Every Thursday we posted a picture from our official photo sesshion and asked our fans to post-product it plus posted some extra instructions. They could us Snapchat’s tools, photoshop it, even print it, draw on it and post it again. The whole event leasted for 24 hours, after that we posted the best creations as a gallery in our snapchat feed.
Numbers
The first edition brought us 1,400 post-views, around 200 snaps with our picture and multiple screen shots of various snaps from our “My Story” section (with the main picture being screenshot around 350 times). The second one’s numbers were 2,500 post views and around 400 snaps. The third one is 3,100 in snap-views and around 450 snaps sent.
And one more thing…
Rising interest in the product! After posting various photos we got numerous questions, both on Snapchat and on Facebook, about the clothes. So Snapchat really sells!
Things to remember when working on Snapchat platform — advices, tips&tricks and glitch-alert!
They may not make your life easier, as the famous Konami Code did in Contra game, but they might come in handy while planning quick contests or even campaigns on Snapchat.
- It takes time! It’s not Instagram or Facebook where you can put up a post and check it every 2 or 3 hours. Think of Snapchat as Facebook Messenger, but a lot cooler with more visual features. Facebook is the social media equivalent of your parents, while Snapchat is the coolest kid in your school.
- Don’t be afraid to mix it with your other channels! Why not post on your fanpage that you’re having a contest on your Snap? Why not think of something that will engage both, your Snapchat and Instagram users? Technology might be the limit, but your brain isn’t.
- Why so serious? When aswering questions on engaging in conversations don’t bring in the serious corporate-stiff-official talk. Feel free to use common phrases just like in an everyday talk. Teenagers fled from Facebook (but not from Facebook groups) not only because of the parents, but also because of the corporate aura.
- I’ve noticed that although snaps should be visible for 24 hours, sometimes the number of snaps we’re gettting is so big, that some of them dissapear and cannot be loaded. After a few refreshes of the app I can finally scroll down and see older snaps but it’s really annoying. The only way to avoid that is to check your incoming snaplist every 10 or even 5 minutes if you think you’ll be getting loads of snaps.
- When your’re a brand communicating on Snapchat, remember — many of the interactions/questions will concern costumer service issues so be prepared! We’re often asked about the new collection, shipping issues and discounts. But also there are many positive interactions, where our fans just want to tell us how awesome we are!
- Don’t use unnofficial apps! When using non-official apps be aware of the fact that you can get banned from Snapchat. So any apps that for example post pics from your gallery or hack the geo hashtags are illegal. One can experiment with various apps but remember: you do it at your own risk.
- If you don’t have the manpower to commit 100% of your time only to Snapchat (eg. you’re also running the brand’s other social media or even PR) lay some ground rules first. For example — let people know you’re using Snapchat only 1–2 days a week and that’s the time they can send you questions and connect with you.
- Don’t worry if something in the app does not work. For example: we posted around 70 pics that our snap followers made and seconds later the app had some major issues connected with viewing your snaps or friendlist. We couldn’t take snaps but we could respond to some quesstions what’s going on. Dialogue is always better than silence!
- One of the fastest ways to gain many snapviews? Hire internet celebrities — youtubers, bloggers with vast number of snapchat followers (or, as I like to call them, snapollowers). Sure, it costs money but they will surely bring new audience onto your Snap account.
- The app is in development the whole time and gets some minor changes every now and then. Be sure to check if there were any updates as it may change the way the app works and there might be some new features!
- Charge the battery! Snapchat is a real energy-drainer as it literally drain your whole battery in 3–5 hours when you’re using it really often. My advice is to invest money in a battery pack (saved my life more than once), powerbank or just recharge often!
- Depends on your country’s law — remember about paragraphs concerning commercial contest and lotteries. Be sure to have one ready before the contest and make sure to make it visible for the participants (write a short link to the regulations in one of the snaps).
- Be inspired by popculture! People just love popculture references in Snaps or private conversations. Nothing is as inviting to a contest as a little Groot and a smart but short invitation text!
Any questions? Feel free to comments or write to me froger3@gmail.com. And don’t forget to add ilovesinsay on Snapchat and have fun! It’s what Snapchat’s for!
