This week we're breaking down:

• The Highlights:
  • Digging into the role of AR on Snapchat for brands

• Time to Get Listening:
  • Discussing how to market like a media company with Corey Haines of Swipe Files
• The Watercooler:
  • How to decide whether to focus on short or long-form content

• #MarketingTwitter:
  
  • Diving into three Tweets about Calm's branding strategy, how to create a content strategy that sells elegantly and unpacking Radio Shack's questionable Twitter strategy

THE ROLE OF AR IN SNAPCHAT FOR BRANDS

Snapchat has been evolving and rolling out new platform features for a while now. One feature that has been more unique to the platform and frequently used is its AR capabilities. Brands from several different industries have been leveraging this feature and Snapchat released a report to help others understand where users are finding the most value from it.

1. Discovery

When it comes to shaping brand image, gamified lenses work the best with early prospects. 34% of AR users say they are inclined to share these experiences with their friends.

2. Engagement

Shoppers are seeing the benefit of using AR in their journeys, 7 out of the top 10 drivers of Purchase Intent are AR experiences. One in four users say they would substitute AR experiences for in-person shopping.

3. Consideration

Personalization makes a difference for shoppers. 80% of customers are looking for hyper-personalized shopping experiences. Beauty brands like Ulta are using customized try-on features that allow users to explore and experiment with catalogue products through AR.

4. Conversion

Brands have reported a 94% higher conversion rate when customers interact with products that have AR experiences. 71% of users want to see more brands offering try-on filters.

5. Post-Purchase

Buyers are invested in their AR experiences beyond the purchase. Post-purchase AR content can look like usage instructions, suggested pairings or purchase recommendations.  

Marketing like a Media Company with Corey Haines

FOUNDER, SWIPE FILES

On this episode, Corey talks about why the trend of blending performance and brand isn't going away, why you need to think about earning attention from an audience perspective, and how to implement media brands successfully as a marketing engine for your company.

SHORT-FORM OR LONG-FORM CONTENT FOR THE WIN?

Should short-form content or long-form content take priority in your marketing strategy? 🤔

While #TikTok calls itself a social media company, more minutes are watched on TikTok than on #Netflix which creates an interesting dilemma for marketers...

With so many different platforms available and the battle for attention becoming more and more competitive by the hour, marketers are left wrestling with how to structure and prioritize the tangled mess of platforms and content.

My POV? Winning brands will focus on the following:

1️⃣ Using Audience & Competitor Research To Guide Strategy

The landscape will continue to change, attention will be finite and competition will increase. People will behave how they want to behave – some prefer to read blog posts, others prefer to watch long-form videos on YouTube and even more love scrolling TikTok or Instagram. The smartest marketers will dig into audience research to deeply understand the behaviours of their brand's target audience while also leaning on competitor research to understand the marketing activities of competitors and use both to drive effective strategy and tactics.

2️⃣ Building Agile Content Teams

Platforms are going to come and go, what's important is having a team that can produce content designed for native consumption – no matter the platform. This means you may need new talent, new processes, and less red tape to give your team the freedom to be creative & find new ways to connect with your target audience and consumers.

3️⃣ Strategize, Produce, Distribute, Analyze, Repeat

This cannot be a one-night stand – I repeat, this cannot be a one-night stand. Building a workflow (and team) that is designed to provide a consistent feedback loop from strategy to production to distribution to analysis is the name of the game. Far too often I see marketing strategists focus on specific parts of this loop every once in a while, but the hard truth is that approach doesn't work as it needs to be consistent with each part getting the attention it deserves.

THREE TWEETS

Here are three Tweets you should check out this week:

1. How Calm is nailing branding and content

2. How to create a content strategy that sells... elegantly 

3. Radio Shacks' questionable but effective (?) Twitter strategy

In case you missed any previous versions, check them out via the links below.

1. Fandom, Remix Culture & a Responsive YouTube - What's Working in Marketing

2. Audio 🤝 Gen Z - What's Working in Marketing
3. Time to Consider Gaming - What's Working in Marketing