While brands initially flocked to Snapchat, many accounts have been dormant, report suggests
Snapchat is now a mainstream social channel for many brands, especially those aiming to reach young consumers, but new research found that although Snapchat adoption among brands increased throughout 2016, many of these branded accounts lay dormant once they were opened.
According to L2, the percentage of brands that have a Snapchat account increased across all verticals between January and September 2016. Approximately 90% of active wear brands and 78% of beauty and fashion brands had a Snapchat account as of September 2016, while about two-thirds of retail and watches and jewelry brands had an account, eMarketer reports.
Growing adoption shows that brands have been sold on Snapchat's value, but L2 found that many of these branded Snapchat accounts were abandoned. The study pointed out that "...many brands have struggled to produce content for the platform. Inactivity persisted throughout 2016—only 70% of accounts were active (posted within the past month) in January 2016, and only 67% were active in October 2016," according to eMarketer.
"Creating a brand presence on Snapchat requires a unique strategy. The more intimate nature of the platform means brands need to think carefully about a new, perhaps more personal, story they can tell about their brand on Snapchat than they would on Facebook or Instagram," said eMarketer analyst Cathy Boyle.
Another reason may be that brand accounts are not found. "Unlike legacy social platforms, user accounts, including brand accounts, are not easily discoverable on Snapchat," she said.
Snapchat expanded its ad offerings considerably in 2016 and its revenue is rising rapidly.