Snapchat ISN’T a Social Media Platform

It’s much more…

For those Snapchat purists out there, let me relieve you by saying that I love Snapchat. I use it to build my brand, create exposure for my company and to teach others about marketing. I admit it, I’ve characterized this tool as social media too and I’ve recently realized that I was very, very wrong.

Snap, Inc. co-founder, Evan Spiegel simply and eloquently explained the biggest shift in social with one simple phrase- “We’ve moved from accumulation to instant expression.” We used to celebrate in “real life” and then share pictures and videos with friends and family, but it was all in the past.

With live streaming video and apps like Snapchat, we can now collaborate with friends, colleagues and even strangers, sharing in their real time experiences. We get to pick-our-own-adventure as we tap our way thru to the next story, chatting with and offering up our opinions on the lives of people we may have never even met. It’s a real life Truman Show - and it’s awesome.

I’m about to make a bold statement. Snapchat isn’t a social media platform. It’s not even just a messaging app. In my opinion, it’s the most powerful conversation pipeline available today. Snapchat fulfills the three things that a 2017 marketing plan requires: Audience, Participation and Authenticity. It can even help you scale those one-to-one conversations that Gary Vee is always talking about. Because I can collaborate with other Snappers, I have a small say in what their brand becomes. Together, we share a story and that creates trust.

Will a shiny new object take over Snapchat one day? Maybe. So what? Once you know something, you can’t “unknow” it. It’s not the content on Snapchat that’s so important, it’s the CONTEXT. That means that it’s not the message itself, it’s the way that we experience and receive that message that give us the real ROI.

We always learn from new experiences. Snapchat reminds me of those solve-the-puzzle team building rooms. At first you have no idea where to look, but you try a few things and then one clue teaches you to look for another one. Eventually you figure out the puzzle and if you had to return to that same room again, you would know exactly what to do.

Whether you call it social media or communication reinvented, Snapchat is a standout for business and brand growth for the near and hopefully far future. So far, I haven’t found another platform, app or site that will train you to communicate with consumers in the way that a 2017 world demands.

And remember, you don’t have to believe something for it to be true.