When Ernest Goes to SnapChat
A Young Millennial (Saba) Tries to Explain SnapChat to an Old Millennial (Me)
While at Silicon Beach Fest this summer, I planned to attend a panel called “How Businesses can use SnapChat.” The topic piqued my interest because I was generally confused why anyone would use this form of social media. But given my schedule, I wasn’t able to attend. However, I did meet Saba Sedighi, one of the speakers from the panel and she shared with me that I had to get with the times if I claimed to be an updated startup advisor. So I reached out to discover what I was missing. The following is an email thread between Saba and myself. This transcript has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Earnest Sweat: Hey Saba. Thanks for agreeing to bring me to the 21st Century. Until now I never understood how adults became so uncool. But I see it clear now at 31. You wouldn’t understand in your mid 20s. But you will see. Here’s the scenario. You will think you know about all the cool tech and pop culture references until one day a person that is only a couple years younger than you is excited to show you a new tech or social media tool. And for some reason the scariest four words come to your mind…I DON’T GET IT. That’s what happened to me and Snapchat. Can you please tell me how it isn’t just an app for Draymond Green picture sharing?
Saba Sedighi: Earnest, besides chatting with those who love tech, I love the challenge of breaking down the reasons why Snapchat isn’t just for those *private* pictures Mr. Green sends. For starters, Snapchat at its core is a communication and content creation platform. Back in 2011, It introduced a new way to share a moment or experience via photo/video with friends. It’s ephemeral nature stayed true to how we experience things in real life; moments are fleeting and so is the content you are sharing. Since then, Snapchat has grown up and become a real player within the social technology space. It’s signature “Stories” product has given its users a seamless experience in creating a timeline of their day aka vlogging for amateurs. Although the content you post to your story expires after 24 hours, the platform has created a product that encourages frequency of use and immediacy for consumption. With that being said, I can go on for days, but here’s a question — what’s your main hesitation for not trying it out over the years?
Sweat: I‘m not really sure. I can’t really explain it. I was an early adopter of Facebook (dating myself) and relatively early user of Twitter. So usually I have welcomed trying out new social media tools but for Snapchat there has been this hesitancy. Maybe I think I will like it too much or maybe I think I won’t get it and will be embarrassed that I’m getting older. But as a VC I definitely understand the appealing characteristics of the product more thanks to your explanation. I never thought about the expiration factor contributing to the addictive nature of snapchat users. So yea now I’m thinking if I could jump in a DeLorean (btw I’m judging you if you don’t get that reference) and travel back to 2010, I would invest in this team. So you are on your way to converting me a capitalist apologist of Snapchat but I’m still not sold on the me using it or companies for that matter. Like how have older millennials (30–35) and professionals used it the best?
Sedighi: There is definitely a hesitancy in getting on the platform not only because of the learning curve it presents for many but the lingering stigma around the content that some may be sharing. When you put those to the side and simply try it for yourself, you’ll immediately start to realize how fun and different the platform is. The experience is like no other with all the ways you can create content: facial lenses, face swaps, stickers and Bitmojis. Before I address how professionals can use it, there’s one thing that many companies hold near and dear to their hearts and that is storytelling. It has become a vital strategy to not only talk about the product or service you are selling but to create a narrative around what your brand stands for in a certain context. Keeping that in mind, a platform such as Snapchat is a great channel to do just that. Older millennials, professionals and companies can leverage Snapchat to tell their story. Whether it’s through a Behind the Scenes look at their events or create stories around new products that they will be coming out. If your company or brand has a blog of any kind, you can translate that storyline into an engaging / fun snapchat story. The key to Snapchat is to tell your story in micro moments and provide content on a medium where immediacy and frequency of content matters to the end user. You are reaching them where they are the most engaged and plugged in! Every social platform fills a need in the market and caters to a different medium of content — Snapchat is the answer for short form ephemeral content that is created and posted real time.
Sweat: Ok. I’m starting to understand it better now but something came to my mind when you mentioned stories…and that’s Instagram Stories. Has Snapchat simply introduced something that is really sticky and disruptive just to allow a bigger player use that knowledge to take over the market. It reminds me of Lyft & Sidecar (RIP). They introduced the ride share concept and Uber just bounced on it. So why wouldn’t companies, professionals, and consumers simply utilize a trusted medium like Instagram? Am I undervaluing the switching cost and love of filters.
Sedighi: A very valid question — ultimately Instagram did “rip-off” the most popular product Snapchat introduced which is Stories but they are a few years late to the party and that’ll cost them. As a platform, Snapchat grew using a network effect starting with southern California high schools. They focused on user adoption through word of mouth and created an interface that you needed a friend to teach you about. Taking that into consideration, their user base is loyal to the platform and although IG stories exists on a platform with double the daily users, the communication piece of how Snapchat started is not available elsewhere. Instagram created encouraged their users to create a narrative around a person’s “perfect life” whereas Snapchat did the complete opposite. They were not just innovated about how people shared daily content (ephemeral + short form) with their communities but like you mentioned they have introduced things such as facial lenses, geofilters and brought back their own version of the QR code aka Snapcode. If you want to compare both platforms side by side, it’s important to look at the full picture and take into consideration which platform provides a more well rounded experience for the user.
Sweat: Ok I get it now. Snapchat understands their users, the new world of ephemeral and short form media, and knows how to continue to keep them engaged. So how can an old guy like me utilize the strengths of this social media tool in my industry. Here’s a chance to prove your social media consulting skills with the ugliest duckling — me. Where do I start?
Sedighi: The hardest part is always starting. The first step I would take is to either sit down with a friend who understands the platform to explain how they are creating content and communicating with their network or take a course at General Assembly — I personally teach in the LA market a Snapchat for Business Bootcamp. My encouragement towards enrolling in a workshop is not a personal plug but a lesson I’ve learned through my students. Most people will understand Snapchat at a micro level (lenses, 10 second videos, it has a story features) but they will not take the time to understand it on the macro level which maps back to their overall content strategy. Understanding the unique features are easy for most but to really leverage the platform within a wider strategy, you need a macro perspective of where it fits into the landscape.
After you complete one of the above options, the next step is to focus on practicing your content creation skills and figuring out what type of content you enjoy creating. Questions to ask yourself:
- Do I enjoy vlogging throughout my day?
- Do I want to spend a specific amount of time producing content?
- Do I feel that I’m creative?
- What are my goals with the platform?
- How will this best compliment what I’m currently doing?
Answering the questions above will help guide you to the third step: Content Strategy. What content will you be creating and why (how does it map back to your goals)?
** If you skip to creating your content strategy before practicing content creation and understanding the time it takes to produce a great story — you’ll be stuck with misguided expectations.
With Snapchat, it’s about taking the right steps to understand the platform, having fun and making sure you’re consistently being creative. If you have questions, hit me up!
Sweat: Thanks Saba I think I finally have the understanding I need to jump into SnapChat (or Snap Inc.)!
Editor’s Note: This last email was sent weeks ago and no progress has been made yet but it should happen before the end of 2017.
Saba Sedighi is the current Audience Development Manager at Hired. She has also spent time as a social marketing strategist, who coaches businesses on how to leverage Snapchat as a storytelling and community building platform. You can find more information on Saba on twitter.
Earnest Sweat is an Entrepreneurial Engineer for Camelback Ventures and an Investor in Residence for Backstage Capital. If you have any questions or requests please connect with Earnest through LinkedIn, Twitter, or AngelList.
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