Social Booom: Snapchat is the first social network to capture this element of our lives

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On most social networks we post the best and worst parts of our lives—in a highly curated way. We share the highlight reel. This highlight reel effect is even more true for brand accounts. Where curation is governed by what generates revenue, stays on brand, and gets approved by legal.

But, the story is different on Snapchat. And that matters a lot, especially for businesses interested in marketing on Snapchat.

This focus on curating only the specific story we want to tell disappears on Snapchat. Users are more inclined to share the in between moments. The journey. There are two reasons why:

Snapchat has a content creation focus. When you open Snapchat, you see a camera (whereas with Facebook, Twitter and most social networks, you see a stream of content first).
Snapchat started as messaging app and it still has the DNA of a messaging app. There’s no public feed. There’s no permanent list of your old content for people to review or judge.

If you’re not familiar with Snapchat yet, just imagine all your silly text messages, photos, and gifs suddenly became a social network.

If you see a cool antique lamp at your hotel you might share it on Snapchat. You might share 10 photos of your weekend BBQ on Snapchat (instead of just posting one photo on Facebook). On Snapchat you’ll post multiple selfies, palm trees swaying in the wind, shopping photos, clips of live TV, and anything else that sparks your interest. Without guilt.

In between moments are more valuable

At first glance all of this sounds like it would be less valuable, that content shared on Snapchat is more trivial. When in fact, all of these pieces together create something more meaningful.

On Snapchat, users share less polished and more authentic moments, which allows you to see more about someone’s real life. In between our highs and our lows is where we live our life. It’s what our day to day really looks like.

This same authentic opportunity exists for brands. Share your brand’s in between moments and you’ll be surprised at the relationships you can build.

In Between moments build trust

Right now, it’s difficult to build an audience on Snapchat. Unless you have a massive audience, big name influencers, or ads, you have to rely on your existing audience from other channels.

This makes Snapchat the perfect place to deepen relationships with your most loyal fans and customers.

Lose the polish, production, and script for your Snapchat strategy. Don’t approach it the way you would approach Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Go with what already works on Snapchat: authentic and honest stories that capture in between moments.

This will build trust with your fans. And in turn, increase your word of mouth and customer loyalty.

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This article is an excerpt from Social Fresh’s upcoming course, The Social Marketer’s Guide to Snapchat. Be the first to get access to the course here.