Aside from being great apps where people can explore endless visual content, Instagram and Snapchat are two very effective marketing tools. If you are looking to use these apps to boost your brand or business, you need to know which one is more effective in different aspects. Let’s zoom in on each of their capabilities.
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Snapchat
As of now, Snapchat has over 530 million users globally. But does that give it the competitive edge a business owner needs for their brand?
When you share a story on Snapchat, it only stays active for 24 hours and when you share a chat, it’s deleted after it’s viewed by all recipients. You can take a screenshot of the “snap,” but the original poster will be notified if you do.
While this app is known for being popular among youths and those who enjoy rainbow-coloured filters, its popularity is growing thanks to Facebook’s interest in it.
Pros:
- Snapchat boasts up to 400 million daily users. Therefore, the chances to increase your brand awareness and exposure is pretty high. It’s great for short attention spans and for creating a sense of urgency—this message will self-destruct in 10 seconds—ideal for time-sensitive promotions and pop-up sales.
- Encourages interaction between users via private messaging options; allows users to send a story posted by a brand to a friend via direct message.
Cons:
- Very limited audience compared to other platforms. Unless you are targeting tweens and college kids, it won’t help you.
- The quick-view feature has downsides; once a post is gone, users can swiftly forget about you. And if they weren’t paying attention, they probably never got your message in the first place.
Read also: 2 free benefits of having social media and a website for your brand
Instagram app
There are 1.074 billion active monthly users on Instagram. The Facebook-owned company has a bit more sophistication than its counterpart. Except for the “Stories” feature, there is no expiration time, so images remain indefinitely unless deleted. It offers several filters and editing options, encouraging better quality. Users include descriptions and hashtags with their posts.
Pros:
- Use of hashtags and links allows you to connect images to your website, blog, and other social media pages.
- Seamless integration with Facebook, you can easily share an image from this app to the other, including tags.
- Encourages interaction and engagement between users via private and public comment options; allows business to communicate directly with followers.
According to AdAge, Instagram is a better choice for brands.
Cons:
- No sense of urgency like with Snapchat, particularly since recent changes mean users no longer even see posts in their feed in chronological order. This can be tough for markets since many users won’t even see a pic until it is too late.
- Best for visual products, such as retail items, can be a more difficult medium for selling services or the technology industry, such as software as a service (SaaS).
So, Which is the Better App?
No doubt, both apps have their appeal and core audience. But, there is a distinct difference in who is using each photo-sharing tool. While Snapchat caters to a much younger audience, Instagram is trying to compete with similar 24-hour viewing period features, its core user group tends to be slightly older and less fickle.
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