How PR Professionals Can Take Advantage of Snapchat Discover
February 28, 2017 | By: DCI
As the landscape of news media rapidly changes, news outlets, editors and PR professionals alike must get creative to reach audiences in new ways. Popular photo-sharing service Snapchat offers a solution with its “Discover” feature, which brings the news to millennials in vibrant and visual bites. We put together a guide for PR professionals to take advantage of Snapchat Discover in their pitching strategy:
How does Snapchat Discover work?
- Outlets on Snapchat Discover produce 24-hour “stories” that run in a slideshow format. The slides are a combination of videos, pictures, articles and advertisements. Each slide has a cover page that gives users the option to scroll down to read the full article, which is usually brief.
- Each outlet on Snapchat Discover has its own style and vision for the platform. The Economist, for example, produces exclusive stories that go in depth on one topic, like gene editing, emotions in animals and top-performing cities. CNN, however, usually recycles their online content onto their Discover page. The Wall Street Journal often posts abridged content from their website with new visuals and eye-catching graphics.
Why should PR professionals pay attention to this Snapchat update?
- Snapchat Discover stories are visual and easy to consume. Because Snapchat Discover stories must be succinct, only the most engaging content is shown. And since the slides come in a direct stream, there’s a high chance that Snapchat users will watch an outlet’s entire story.
- Outlets on Snapchat Discover run the gamut from classic heavy-hitters like The Economist to lifestyle favorites like Refinery29 and Cosmopolitan. With such a wide range of outlets, Snapchat Discover’s stories can be a fit for many different places and brands, all in one digital space.
- Snapchat Discover consistently reaches its target audience. Cosmopolitan’s Snapchat Discover story averages 3 million viewers per day, 72% of which click through to the entire story.
How should PR agencies incorporate this into pitching strategy?
- Pitching Snapchat Discover can be challenging because it can be unclear who is creating the content. Discover stories aren’t always written by a typical editorial team, so PR professionals have to be creative when they pitch. However, many of the more conventional news outlets on Snapchat Discover like The Wall Street Journal give their Snapchat teams a digital “byline” on the last slide. Reaching out to an outlet’s digital content editor is a good place to start.
Since Snapchat Discover is relatively new, PR professionals face an exciting opportunity to help shape and determine how content is created and pitched to outlets. Overall, it’s safe to say that Snapchat Discover is a peek into the future of media consumption and how outlets will try to stay ahead of the curve.
What are your experiences with Snapchat Discover? Let us know in a comment or tweet us @AboutDCI!