Snapchat is an instant messaging app owned by Snap Inc.
Snap Inc defines itself as a camera company.
Its core product is Snapchat.
It is a camera application, people can use to communicate visually with friends using videos and images.
These short messages are called Snaps.
One key feature of these Snaps is that they are available for only a short period of time and are deleted by default.
Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy and Reggy Brown created Snapchat.
The app was released in 2011.
Currently, the app has around 306 million Daily Active Users.
Who are the target market of Snapchat?
Snapchat mainly targets the tech savvy users from the millennial generation and Gen Z.
It is mainly the users in the 13-34 age segment which use Snapchat.
Apart from the western markets, India is also an important geographical target market for Snapchat.
According to Statista, the largest market of Snapchat where the highest number of its users are located is India followed by the United States.
The number of Snapchat users in India was 115.6 million in 2020 and 106.2 million in the United States.
France and the United Kingdom are the next largest markets for Snapchat.
According to Snap Inc’s website, more than 75% people in the 13-34 age group in the US, UK, Australia, France and Netherlands use Snapchat.
The millennials and the Gen Z are the most tech savvy of all the generations who spend a lot of their daily time on social media channels.
However, apart from the individual customers, Snapchat also targets businesses from around the globe that want to advertise on its platform.
Advertisers that utilize Snapchat’s advertising services include businesses and individual customers.
Snapchat Marketing Mix.
Seven Ps in the marketing mix of Snapchat
In this marketing mix, we will discuss the seven Ps of Snapchat’s services marketing mix.
Product:
Snapchat is snap Inc’s core mobile device application that has five distinct tabs.
These tabs include Camera, Communication, Snap Map, Stories, and Spotlight.
The AR enabled camera technology of Snapchat also offers voice and scanning technology.
Snapchat offers millions of lenses that have been created by Snap developers and its user community.
Apart from that, the app offers special features like voice, scanning and music, making it easier for users to personalize and contextualize their snaps.
The communication tab allows users to send snaps to friends and groups using the apps efficient messaging architecture.
Users can send text, snaps, or video call their friends.
Snap Inc also owns Spectacles and Bitmoji.
Spectacles are glasses offered by Snap that bring Augmented Reality to life and offer immersive AR experiences.
Bitmoji is Snap’s proprietary personalized avatar tool.
The other three tabs on the Snapchat include SnapMap, Stories and spotlight.
SnapMap is a personalized map service that allows SnapChat users to explore what is going on locally in their area and connect with friends locally.
The stories tab features content from the users’ friends and community and other content created by the Snapchat content partners.
Snapchat also offers premium accounts that users can use to sell their services online.
Snapchat premium accounts mostly offer adult content.
Apart from that, Snapchat also offers business accounts for businesses that want to promote their products and services online through the app.
Advertising products by snap ads:
The company provides AR ads and snap ads.
AR (Augmented Reality) ads allow advertisers to advertise on the Snapchat platform using AR tools.
Advertisers can serve ads using sponsored lenses or sponsored filters.
They can create visually engaging 3d advertisements to reach their users and target a highly unique and differentiated audience.
The snap ads are similar to the snaps that the users send and receive.
These ads can include single image or video ads, story ads, collection ads, dynamic ads, and non skippable commercials.
Place:
Snapchat has its headquarters in Santa Monica, California, United States.
It also has corporate offices in Europe, Asia and Australia.
Snapchat’s services are available in almost all countries except a few including China and partially blocked in countries like UAE.
India and the US are among the largest markets of Snapchat where it has the highest number of users.
Users worldwide can access Snapchat’s messaging services on their smartphones.
Price:
Snapchat’s services are free for users worldwide.
The company has experienced enormous growth in its user base as a large number of users are using the instant messaging app without incurring any charges.
However, there are certain features that are available only to the premium users.
Premium users can buy premium accounts to sell their services online to snapchat users worldwide.
The company also offers business accounts through which businesses can promote their products and services to snapchat users.
Its business model is based mainly on advertising.
Advertising generates substantially all of the revenues for the company.
The platform connects advertisers with snapchat users worldwide.
Promotion:
It is the digital era and brands are utilizing digital channels for marketing and promotions.
Snapchat is a well known brand in the world of social media.
The Instant messaging app has its own distinct place in the world of messaging apps and social media platforms.
Its brand image has been bolstered by the brand’s heavy focus on innovation and customer experience.
The company has maintained a unique organizational culture that focuses on diversity and inclusion.
Its focus on these things has helped the company maintain a strong social image.
Apart from it, the company also uses social media channels for marketing and user engagement.
Twitter is the main social media channel snapchat uses to connect with its users worldwide.
However, since Snapchat itself is a quite popular name in the digital world, the number of users and its brand awareness has grown fast worldwide.
In 2020, the company spent $555.5 million on marketing.
This sum is utilized by the company to market its products on various digital and other channels.
The mission statement of snapchat is as follows:
Snapchat is an app that empowers people to express themselves, live in the moment, learn about the world, and have fun together. It’s the easiest and fastest way to communicate the full range of human emotions with your friends without pressure to be popular, pretty, or perfect.
Snap’s camera supports real friendships through visual communication, self expression and storytelling. Moving forward, our camera will play a transformative role in how people experience the world around them, combining what they see in the real world, with all that’s available to them in the digital world.
Snap Inc Mission Statement.
People:
A tech organization’s most important asset are its people.
They are the fundamental drivers of its competitive advantage in the industry.
Snapchat is also a social media company and a tech business.
In order to maintain its competitive advantage and market position, the company invests in its employees and their performance management and professional growth.
Employees and culture are important focus areas for the business.
It focuses on employee empowerment, diversity and inclusion.
The company had 3,863 employees as of 2020.
Around 54% of its employees were in engineering roles and involved in the design and development of new and existing products and services.
The main objective of the company is to attract and retain highly talented staff.
The company also invests in creating an inclusive environment that supports professional growth of all employees.
Snapchat had more than 306 million Daily active users in December 2020.
More than 200 million Daily Active Users of Snapchat interact with augmented reality daily.
Processes:
Every tech business has to focus heavily on processes in order to drive stronger performance and better results.
Innovation is one of the core focus areas for Snapchat.
The company invests heavily in innovation in order to maintain its competitive advantage and beat the competitive pressure.
In the tech industry, businesses invest heavily in research and development to maintain their competitive edge.
The industry is evolving fast and in the social media industry, competition has grown a lot.
The focus of Snapchat’s R&D efforts is on product development, advertising technology and large scale infrastructure.
Apart from developing and improving its existing products, the company also invests in creating new ones to achieve higher user engagement.
Augmented reality is an important area where its R&D efforts are focused.
The company has partnered with Google and Amazon, who are the leading suppliers for its technological infrastructure.
It relies on Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform for its cloud technology related needs.
The two cloud platforms support the global availability of the platform’s services.
Physical Evidence:
In the digital era, the need for and importance of physical evidence has diminished.
People and businesses that utilize digital services do not always count on physical evidence.
Apart from the physical infrastructure including the offices and other assets owned by a tech company, there is little that counts as physical evidence.
Snapchat is an app that users can use through their smartphones.