I hosted, for the first time, the Phorest Academy ‘Introduction To Snapchat’ webinar a few days ago, and to my great surprise, more than 75% of the attendees had previously used Snapchat – even if just for personal use. Hence, I spent less time explaining how to set the app up and more time on Snapchat’s underlying opportunities; because if Snapchat is one of the many salon video marketing platforms out there, it certainly isn’t the only one. Which brings me to this one question I was asked during my presentation: “How does Snapchat compare to Facebook Live and Instagram Stories?”
IÂ answered this question by email as a follow-up to the webinar. I got so caught up in explaining the differences I figured everyone could benefit from the answer. Building brand awareness is something you need to work on every day. So the question is: Should you try a new platform, or stick to those you know?
Snapchat VS Two Other Major Salon Video Marketing Platforms
Snapchat vs. Facebook Live
These two platforms are both very different.
On one hand, because Snapchat’s content disappears after 24hours and each video recording can only last 10 seconds. Facebook Live, on the other hand, is a platform on which you broadcast live for up to 90 minutes, while seeing how many users are listening to you.
Let’s put this in context, because realistically, you’re probably thinking: “Okay… but that’s not helping me make a choice?”
Imagine I was to work in a hair salon and I wanted to show off a special cut my colleague was doing. Personally, I’d immediately open Snapchat. Why?
a. Snapchat is easy.
b. As a viewer, I don’t want to see a 45 min – 1 hour cut live. There’s a reason why people don’t show up in salons just to watch other people get cuts, colors, or any service for that matter. Again as a viewer, I want to see the before, the after and maybe a tiny bit of what’s in the middle. But one thing’s for sure; I don’t have the time to watch a full cut on Facebook live. I’ll get distracted by a cute cat video after 30 seconds (& I’m generous).
In this case, Facebook Live is just not the right platform. But let’s say you’re to host a 30 min Q&A session every Wednesday evening, then maybe you don’t want to have to interrupt your speech every 10 seconds to record a video. And maybe you want people to chat to you live through Facebook comments.
Snapchat is a quick, efficient way to showcase insights. It’s an in-the-moment platform: impulsive and goofy. It was build to create disappearing content to allow people to get a glimpse of other people’s daily lives without the embarrassment of it staying on a platform forever. It’s the same for the brands who use it. Also, Snapchat lets you be creative, draw on your photos & videos, add emojis, etc. All things Facebook Live can’t offer.
Facebook Live is great when there’s much longer content to showcase. This article is quite interesting and goes more in-depth about both platforms pros & cons: Â Facebook Live vs. Snapchat Stories
Snapchat vs. Instagram Stories
These two are much more alike. Not everybody likes Instagram Stories, given the fact that they have pretty much mirrored Snapchat unique-selling point compleltely. However, regarding how both salon video marketing platforms work, they’re crazy similar.
Instagram and Snapchat may both be photo-heavy social networks, but for many, they are two distinct entities providing a user with completely different experiences (check out this link to find out more). Some salons will most likely jump to Instagram stories, for the possibility of reaching a sometimes bigger, already existent audience. In fact, Snapchat currently has 150 million daily active users vs. 300 million daily active users on Instagram. Plus, you probably already have a following on Instagram (but we also have ways to quickly grow your following on Snapchat, read more here).
What I’m trying to say is: don’t put all of your eggs in one basket with one social platform or feature. First, question yourself:
- Who are your customers?Â
- What does your audience look for?
- Why are you trying to reach out to your clients?
You have to know your audience, what they expect from you and how they plan to consume your content. It’s not about you! You have to make it about them!
Otherwise, Snapchat does have things Instagram lacks – for example the geo-filters (Instagram Stories are severely lacking in the filters department). Users can’t enhance their selfies, share their location, or anything like that just yet – limiting the interactivity. So to those who think Instagram Stories are the perfect replacement to Snapchat, they aren’t.
And when it comes to engagement statistics, Instagram Stories has not yet made a measurable impact since its launch. In fact, Instagram’s placement of the stories and the fact that you don’t have to “sign up” to get the Stories (they’re just there up top the feed and in line) makes it nearly impossible for a user to have a look at the 2000 Stories of the accounts he follows.
What does that mean?
It means that if perhaps I might flick through the first 6 stories that are shown to me on Instagram, I’m not going to go through watching 2000 accounts’ Stories. Tough luck if your salon wasn’t featured in those first 6 Stories (it’s nothing personal, I’m just being honest and trying to illustrate a concept).
Snapchat, on the other hand, shows you all the Stories of the people you actually CHOOSE to follow FOR their videos in the first place. Then it also displays them in a way that makes it possible to quickly run through the 60 different Stories posted throughout the day.
Which salon video marketing platform is the best then? There’s no absolute answer.
It depends on who your audience is, what they’re looking for, when they want it, and how they look for what they want.
This was a great question on salon video marketing guys. Keep them coming and share your thoughts on this article in the comments!
Learn more about Snapchat by watching the Phorest Academy ‘Introduction To Snapchat’ Webinar! Your return on time invested? A brand new platform tailored to your next generation of clients! 😉
