By Judith Lee

You’ve seen those Millennials glued to their smartphone screens. At any given time of day, they are likely to be viewing their Instagram or Snapchat account. If your business has a need to reach a young audience, you should consider these social media platforms for marketing.

Instagram and Snapchat have more similarities than just being photo sharing platforms. Along with appealing to younger age groups, they are mobile-driven and large portions of their audience use the apps every day.

But which to use for your business marketing? Learn the important metrics for each to make an informed decision.

Instagram

Instagram was launched in 2010, and quickly picked up steam, especially since Facebook purchased Instagram as their new sister company.

Instagram has more than 400 million monthly users, and there are more than 80 million photos posted daily. Some 53% of Instagram users are 18 to 29 years old; 25% are 30 to 49 years old, and 11% are 50 to 64 years old.

Engagement on Instagram is public, and comes in the form of hearts, comments and shares. Instagram now offers ads, partnered with Facebook Ads.

Instagram heavily utilizes hashtags, has a wide international reach and incredible click-through rates. Instagram enables cross-posting to Facebook, Flickr and Twitter.

Snapchat

Snapchat launched in 2011, though it’s only recently that businesses and brands started to use it as a marketing tool.

Snapchat has 100 million daily active users, and there are 400 million snaps per day. More than 60% of Snapchat users in the United States are 13 to 34 years old, and 37% are between 18 and 24 years old. The platform is particularly popular among college students; 77% of them use it daily.

Engagement on Snapchat, if any, is private. Snapchat’s images (which do not have to be high-quality) are only temporary – they disappear in 24 hours. Only 2% of marketers are currently using Snapchat.

Next week: How to use Instagram for Business Marketing
_______

Judith Lee is a marketing and communications professional who focuses on social media and email marketing based in Atglen. She is a SCORE Volunteer and the Chair-Elect of the Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce. She can be reached at 610-368-2058 or via email at judithlee@epix.net.

________
Top photo credit: Dallas – Texting and Phoning via photopin (license)