One of the newest driving forces in future marketing strategies involves a type of content known as "ephemeral," which is a fancy word for "temporary." This technology was first introduced to the social media world with Snapchat.
With Snapchat, you can send short clips or photos but they only last for 24 hours on the other person’s cellphone. The idea of an impermanent photo or video opened up a lot of options for social media users.
What does it do?
The primary focus of ephemeral content is that it is not stored information; it just "lives" for a short period of time and then will be erased.
In recent years, Instagram and Facebook have implemented "Stories," which are indicated by a small ring around a profile photo. People can "watch" the story that day, and then it will disappear after 24 hours
How does this relate to your business?
This type of social media is not an option anymore for businesses and brands — it’s either do or die out.
You can use this type of tool for your marketing campaigns to make them both relevant and useful. Social media can always come with links for your products, your affiliate marketing tribes can use it, and businesses can see more generated profit from using this tech.
How can your brand use this type of tool?
Brands can give their audience a brief glimpse into their "behind the scenes" work, such as how products are created, shared or promoted.
Several advertisers also use these Snapchats or stories in order to show off their products being used in everyday life.
Dos and don'ts
Do: Your company can do an Instagram Story to display their newest product line before anyone else sees it to generate some buzz and let their fans get excited at being “in the know.”
You could show someone using your product/tool/brand. Or, you could even show how your product is made with small clips down the assembly line. If it’s a service, you could display people’s reviews/reactions to your service right there in the moment.
Don’t: Don’t repeat the same images that you use on your Instagram post, for your story. Your followers don’t want repetitive content.
Also, stay away from using big blocks of text on the story — as mentioned previously, followers only have a few seconds to review this content. It should make a statement, not be a giant wall of text.
Try to avoid having too much sound in the background — most people will skip over your story if you have too much noise.
Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook are great tools for your business, and the craze of ephemeral content is definitely here to stay because millennials love the idea of this temporary sharing of ideas, photos and videos.
It’s easy to snap a photo with your phone and show off your products or services in exciting ways without having to pay for a photographer or marketing team. More companies are using this type of marketing in order to appeal to younger generations and you can, too!
