Influencers, especially female ones, apparently dislike Snapchat. This may be due to the instant social mechanism itself, originally designed to allow users to reach small groups of followers with whom to share trivial contents, or to the protected area of marketing created around the subscribers; however, marketers looking for a way to promote products, have always stayed away from it. Read it in Italian.
When a few months ago, the influencers’ community Collective Bias surveyed its 550 members about their favorite social platforms, Snapchat was basically not taken into consideration. Instagram (28.4%), Pinterest (26.4%) and blogs (24.7) ranked at the top of their chart, followed by Facebook (14.2%) andTwitter (5.8%). YouTube gathered 0,6% of votes.
A previous survey, similar to this in its content, had highlighted the same indifference towards the instant social. The influencers’ network SheSpeaks asked 347 particularly active influencers running their own blog to express their opinion. In this case Facebook came first with 32% of votes, Instagram was instead selected by 24% of participants, Twitter by18%, Pinterest by 10% and all other platforms, under the “others” category, gathered a global 12%. Snapchat, was therefore not even taken into consideration or may have scored a zero point something percent in this last group (Facebook, Instagram Are Influencers’ Favorite Social Platforms)
Nevertheless, we are not facing a case of lack of public recognition or of injustice; the little appeal Snapchat has on female influencers’ marketing is actually well deserved, or, better, the result of a voluntary choice: it built its reputation onto a model which tries to put off brands from freely access its platform to convey them towards a specific area, Snapchat Stories.
But things are about to change. The world is evolving and such lack of influencers, whether males or females, must have started to negatively affect the social platform. To the point that at the end of last summer, it started extending the verified accounts option, so far exclusively reserved to VIPs and celebrities, also to influencers. Moreover, it opened for them the doors of Official Stories, an area that in the past had been dedicated to well known famous people (Snapchat warms up to social stars, extending verified accounts to influencers).
A confirmation has been given by the popular graphic designer (and influencer) Cyrene Quiamco, who can earn up to 10 thousand dollars by posting one of her drawings on behalf of brands such as Walmart, Samsung, Disney or Burger King and who has over 100 thousand followers on Snapchat. Better known online as CyreneQ, the designer has claimed to have been sent a mail by Snap announcing the creation of a dedicated verified account which makes her profile available when users search for key words such as “art” or “design”, and also a guide about how to increase her visibility and the number of her followers.
Which means the instant social is trying to attract influencers back. However, considering how tough the competition may be and the advantage of some of its competitors, the ascent to the top may be long and steep.
Do you think Snapchat will get influencers back? And, if so, do you think this may be positive or not and why? Tweet @agostinellialdo.
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