Dear Snapchat Marketers,

I’m going to tell you the truth.

You tell me you’re tired of marketing gurus that tell you one thing then do the other. You say you want me to speak brazenly and bluntly and “tell it like it is” about the real truth behind marketing solutions.  Well, according to a recent report by Shift Communications, “There is no current business case for Snapchat.” Which matches our experience with the solution as I wrote about in March.  

Personally, I believe Snapchat has a unique opportunity to help marketers move the needle – but for now, that needle is stuck on empty. There are still several changes that must be made to the platform in order for it to be a viable marketing solution. Let’s examine some of the data from the report which surveyed Snapchat users that use the platform frequently:

More than 60% of people who follow at least one brand have not interacted with a brand in the last 3 months. I can hear the Snapchat protagonists now, “If brands are not producing quality content then of course users won’t interact with them.” But, as the Discovery tab has shown with its staggering view counts, some of the best content is being created by brands.

There are some life support signals in this result, but still far below those you find on other social platforms. Over 50% of Snapchat users have not purchased anything they saw on Snapchat over the past 3 months and Less than half of frequent brand-friendly users have purchased something they saw on a brand Snapchat account in the last three months. That’s a terrible ROI result for anyone offering a product for sale on any platform offline or online.

Does Snapchat Encourage Brand Loyalty/Evangelism?

A frequent rebuttal to my marketing arguments has been, “but what about brand loyalty and evangelism.” The survey answers that question, when they asked frequent Snapchat users how many brands they have recommended to a friend because of that brand’s Snapchat account.

The result: Less than 50% of frequent users have recommended a brand to a friend based on the brand’s Snapchat account in the last three months. In terms of the loyalty and the customer journey, this result is “devastating”.  According to the marketing research, Snapchat does not appear to significantly boost customer loyalty or evangelism.

So What Does it all Mean?

I’m just telling it like it is here. I’m sharing with you my experience and the blunt truth from Snapchat users themselves. I’m being completely and excruciatingly honest with you. I know you want a “no-brainer” solution to target today’s youth, a marketing panacea, and a tool that puts your product on the screens of an increasingly difficult consumer to reach. But it’s not working yet.

If you’re taking this seriously, you’ll keep an account on the platform, check in once in a while and wait for Snapchat to make this a marketing friendly tool. But you won’t invest any marketing dollars.

And if and when it does become a viable marketing solution, I’ll be the first to report on it.