In this day and age, it seems we all spend countless minutes a day on our mobile phones. Doing what, exactly? It may be safe to say the majority of us are using mobile social media apps. These can include Instagram, Vine and Snapchat, some of which are limited only to use on a mobile phone.
For some, these mobile apps are used strictly for entertainment purposes. However, more and more businesses and organizations are beginning to see the powerful effect these apps can have on their brands. Instagram has already become a mainstream medium for brands. At the same time, Vine and Snapchat are quickly joining the scene as tools that brands can utilize. There are over 40 million users on Vine and over 400 million messages received on Snapchat every day. This makes it clear that these mobile social media apps give brands the potential to reach a large audience.
Although these two mobile social media apps are not being used to the extent that Facebook and Twitter are (yet), there are some organizations and brands that have already started using them.
Through The grape Vine
In particular, Samsung makes quite the impression on Vine. The Samsung Mobile US account has over 50 thousand followers and shares creative and often humorous stop-motion videos. A new feature on the app also allows users to track impressions with a loop count. Samsung’s videos have been looped over 675 thousand times. Other metrics on the app include the number of revines and likes on each video. This gives brands a way to measure their results.
A tip for companies interested in becoming active on Vine is to enjoy making their videos. They last up to six seconds long, so they don’t have to be professional. Users enjoy seeing homemade-looking videos and even user-generated content (like Nissan does with its Vine competitions).
Snapchat
Snapchat cannot be forgotten as a tool for brands. This mobile social media app recently introduced more powerful ways to share your brand images with My Story. A wide variety of brands use Snapchat to interact with their followers on a day-to-day basis. These brands range from sport teams to clothing designers. Doritos has used the app to announce new or returning products. Snapchat included a 2014 Rio World Cup story for all app users to see. This allowed users to share their World Cup-themed pictures and videos with all Snapchat users.
What’s Next For Mobile Social Media Apps?
The great thing about Vine and Snapchat is that they do allow for this two-way communication between an organization and the public. With the ability to revine or comment on Vine and to send Snapchats to participating brands, people feel more connected to certain brands. Marketing has become more and more about high engagement with consumers. The best way to achieve this is by using all social media and networking sites available, including mobile social media apps.
According to the people at Statista, branded Vines receive 400% more shares than branded videos, and Snapchat was a top five social media app for high school graduates. Why would a brand not want to take advantage of these mobile social media app platforms?