Dive Brief:
- Marketers and publishers might need to brace themselves – according to Digiday, an algorithm is coming to Snapchat.
- Right now Snapchat users see messages from people and companies they follow in chronological order, but the algorithm will shake that up and allow the social media platform to curate how brand and publisher content is presented to its users.
- A publishing source with knowledge of Snapchat’s algorithm plans told Digiday, “It’s going to be the same model Facebook has: It’s free for everybody to share content, but an algorithm will penalize some people and boost others. That’s why you don’t want to be beholden to any one of these platforms or you’re suddenly stuck when the game changes.”
Dive Insight:
Algorithm tiffs between social platforms and users is something the marketing community has seen before. Last December, Twitter tested showing tweets based on curation rather its organic chronological feed. More recently, Instagram threw its influencers into disarray after announcing it was moving toward an algorithm model, which would turn users’ timelines into something more like the experience offered by Instagram parent company Facebook.
Realistically, social media has been moving toward a pay-for-play advertising driven model over organically reaching an audience for some time. An advantage is audiences can be targeted with specific messages and marketers typically get some performance metrics in return. Of course it means inbound organic tactics, where the only real cost is time spent, have become much less valuable. One way marketers can approach social media is use advertising for promotion and brand awareness. By staying active organically to communicate with social followers who have customer service or other concerns, will help them build brand loyalty.
In separate Snapchat news, Digiday's fashion publication Glossy reported that Snapchat has become something of a go-to platform for the fashion industry. Spring CEO Alan Tisch told the Glossy Podcast that Snapchat is the “most authentic platform” with its unedited live in-the-moment video.
