Snapchat Captures The Attention Of Notoriously Inattentive Millennials
Millennials have a bad rap as being off-the-chart distracted. The truth is (speaking from experience) that's the truth. With the demand for instant gratification increasing and the average attention span declining, Snapchat's 10-second-or less rule just might be a homerun.
The problem with millennials (anyone age 18-34) is that we all remember a life before technology took over completely, and in 2105, that is both a blessing and a curse. When we were growing up, computers were stationary and pixelated, cellphones were attached to cars, and the VHS video drawer was our Netflix. We sat in our living rooms with our cassette tapes waiting for our favorite song to come back on the radio hoping there would be an intro before it started playing so we wouldn't miss the first few seconds. We paid attention. Those were the days… but those days are long gone.
Going from a world where dial-up internet was cutting edge to storing all of our most important information in a cloud is a pretty huge jump to make in a decade. Technology has taken off irreversibly, and with it, so goes our attention.
Snapchat has strategically capitalized on the ever-shrinking window of attention people are willing to give. Replacing the increasingly taxing task of logging into Facebook to actually read what your friends are doing, Snapchat, only allowing ten seconds per "snap", shortens the experience to quick, image-driven "stories".
With a clear method to their madness, Snapchat has attracted more millennials than any other social network. According to new comScore data charted by BI Intelligence, 71% of Snapchat users are millennials, an 18% lead over the next closest network, Tumblr.
Business Insider conducted a study revealing 77% of college students use the app daily, but more importantly, 73% of the surveyed students said they would open a Snapchat from a brand they knew and 45% would even open a Snapchat from a brand they didn’t know.
The moral of the story? If you're not using Snapchat to draw your fans in, now would be a good time to start. Make an exclusive announcement, share behind the scenes clips from your tour, give out discounts, or preview new content. The possibilities are endless, and the audience is there.
more importantly, whats next? They are still in their expansion phase, and new to a lot of people.