A substantial number of mobile users spend much of their time on social platforms such as Facebook and Snapchat, so marketers flock to these channels to better reach this important audience. For these platforms to continue to draw in these brands, they need to better serve marketing content to users, but this can be a difficult task as consumers can be turned off by overly sponsored content and these new updates keep that in mind. 

The mobile messaging application Snapchat introduced its branded channels feature early this year, in which publishers have native channels to publish content.  However, the Discover page was less accessible to user-generated content and relatively went unnoticed by consumers. 

Snapchat?s recent update brought Discover to the homepage of the app, where the user-generated content is featured. The publisher and entertainment brands? content is now the first thing on users? feed, above friend?s content and the live stories, which is a collection of Snapchat content from various areas and events. 

 

This is a risky move on Snapchat?s part, and can cause a drop in users or at the very least, negative brand sentiment for the publisher partners. The app has attempted to combat these issues by shrinking the icon size and allowing for users to seamlessly share content from Discover, but Snapchat and marketers need to ask themselves if it will be enough. 

The update to the homepage, or the story page, now features the Discover stories at the top, which consumers can click on to view content from the particular publisher such as Daily Mail, Comedy Central, Cosmopolitan, ESPN, CNN, People, Food Network, National Geographic, Vice, Warner Music and Yahoo. These entertainment brands have a significant audience, and with the new placement consumers will be more aware of their content. 


Snapchat's new update to its stories page

Within these stories, the brands share content that is relative to content featured on their original networks or publications or repurposed original content. Within this content there are also separate sponsors and advertisements. 

For instance, Cosmopolitan shared a current event articles regarding actress Amandla Stenberg and her recent social media posts on cultural appropriation and a Starbucks customer discovering a camera filming the women?s bathroom. After scrolling through the news content, the last page on Cosmopolitan?s Snapchat features and a video advertisement for feminine products brand Always. 

Cosmopolitan put a focus on creating authentic content that Snapchat users would be interested in and want to share with friends. But, will the overly sponsored content be too much for users? 

Snapchat users can share content from Discover seamlessly by tapping and holding the image they want to share with friends. Users interested in sharing the Starbucks story hold their finger to the story and the tools to share the image pops up. 

These brands are also playing with this feature to better appeal to users. The women?s magazine features an image to be shared through the app, that encourages users to write, with Snapchat?s text feature, what they love more than food and share on their stories. 

Facebook?s update may create a more organic connection between consumers and brands. The social media app introduced a new feature for its homepage, in which users can customize which friends and pages they want at the top of their feeds. 

For instance, a user can now adjust her newsfeed to feature her best friends and family to be the first thing she sees, but also she can add brand pages to that as well. This allows for brands to create a more secure bond with consumers. 

This update is extremely beneficial to brands with loyal followings, and will solidify that bond as long as the brand continues to serve relative content the user is interested in. However, this could cause less-relevant brands to fall by the way side and become unnoticed. 

This is the second notable update for Snapchat recently and brands quickly took to last week?s update to connect with consumers. For instance, fast food chain Sonic Drive-In played into the social media discussion surrounding the elimination of holding down snaps by leveraging fun facts and personal conversations across several channels in a continuation of the brand's lighthearted personality (see more). 

Brands creating their own usernames and passwords may have an advantage over those with advertisements on Snapchat. For instance White House Black Market?s recent introduction of a public Snapchat account is an example of how retailers are embracing the platform for its potential to more effectively draw in younger consumers compared to other social platforms through a mix of behind-the-scenes pictures and spotlighted products (see more). 

"Changes like this, the discovery brand change are critical to developing better quality one on one marketing to users," Ms. Troutman said. "It is exciting that these large software companies, Facebook and Snapchat, are pushing these one on one brand marketing efforts.  

"Ultimately this will lead to a better user experience with the brands individuals relate to," she said. 

Final take
Brielle Jaekel is editorial assistant at Mobile Marketer