The Modern Brand Guide: Creating Scroll Stopping Content on Snapchat

In today’s modern world, it’s never been more important for brands to build video content that will break through, especially with creative being the primary driver of sales in a media buy at 47%.¹ Gone are the days of planning for the epic 30 second spot where months are spent on the storyboard, animatics and finally, the finished film. Today, video production can be captured in the moment or shot by a creator on their phone. This requires a rewrite of rules for great content creation - content that feels simpler, gets the message across faster, and feels more like a friend-to-friend on Snapchat.

Snapchat partnered with VaynerMedia and Realeyes to uncover the type of scroll-stopping brand content that works to drive impact. Realeyes conducted an in-context study among ~5,000 US Snapchatters between 16-49 YO who watched video ads on Snapchat while their attention and reactions were measured second by second. A post exposure survey measured impact on brand metrics and a custom survey also explored consumer motivations behind viewing content on Snapchat – all to reveal today’s modern video best practices for brands.

Rule #1: Leverage UGC

Platform native brand content that looks authentic, and DIY was perceived relatable and trendy, generating 19% higher happy emotions and capturing attention for at least 13% longer (vs. study avg) – this was especially true for Millennials. The learning? Consumers expect brand content to reflect a platform’s native environment for a seamless experience.

Rule #3: Use Lens-Powered Content

Video content that featured people using sponsored AR Lenses on Snapchat were the most successful at driving brand recognition, generating 40% higher brand recognition and 32% higher recall (vs. study avg). Engaging and humorous content paired with brands’ lenses have the ability to drive strong memorability, foundational to upper funnel campaigns. The learning? Don’t shy away from new tech, embrace it while implementing platform native features and formats that users embrace.

Rule #4: Push the Envelope With Hacking Content

Content that hacks the platform and breaks out of the confines of its placement dimensions/specs performed exceptionally well for ad likeability (14% higher) and persuasion (9% higher) vs. study norms, especially with Gen Z. The learning? Content that jumps out of the screen captivates and captures attention.

Rule #5: Edutain

Creatives that met at the convergence of education and entertainment surprised and delighted consumers – edutainment content over indexed for driving emotional reactions by 12%, capturing attention 30% longer, and yielded 17% higher persuasion (vs. study norms). With 46% of Snapchatters watching video for inspiration and tips, brands need to create content that provides knowledge back to users in a fun, entertaining way. Because reading labels and instructions is boring, make it more fun!

Rule #6: Align Brand Content to Passion Points

Snapchatters seek food and entertainment content (55% and 54% respectively). However, females are more likely to engage in fashion, shopping, and health fitness content, while males are more likely to seek sports and personal finance content. Relative to Gen Z, Millennials are more likely to be interested in beauty and home improvement. Brands should tailor their content to align with consumer passion points to drive even stronger engagement while making sure it fits with their core brand values. The learning? Show what the people (audience) love!

Rule #7: Don’t Forget Strong Branding

Commerce content that focused on directly selling products/services and brand polished content that was heavily branded (similar to traditional TVC content w/logo first 3s) still performed well for both ad recall (17% higher), ad likeability (11% higher), and persuasion (26% higher) vs. other content pillars. Prominent branding should be used across content pillar types regardless of pillar in order to drive memorability. Some core principles don’t change - brand early and brand well!

Implications for Marketers

In a world where consumers are bombarded with thousands of ads everyday, it’s become even more important for brands to design content that will appeal to human emotion and capture attention in a fun, humorous way to drive real business outcomes. Brand partnerships with creators is a way to authentically connect with new customers, while Lens-powered and edutainment content are additional ways to amplify the effectiveness of UGC content. However, there’s one best practice that’s timeless and that’s to ensure your product and brand are still a focus to drive memorability. If you would like to learn more about how to create video content best practices for brands, please reach out to your Client Partner or Creative Strategist.