As Hooters makes its debut on Snapchat, more quick-service restaurants are turning to mobile-optimized videos to serve snackable ads to millennials and boost sales.

Fans of Hooters can add the brand on Snapchat, via its ?hootersLIVE? username, and watch exclusive footage from the 2015 Miss Hooters International Swim Suit Pageant, held in Las Vegas. Food and beverage marketers are attempting to leverage video on social platforms to foster more long-term relationships with customers and insert additional brand influence into their lifestyles.

?Consistently releasing quality content builds up a dedicated fan base, which is cheapest and best way to distribute content,? said Shuli Lowy, marketing director at Ping Mobile, New York. ?Dedicated fans who like a video are more likely to share it; that share not only gives the videos additional visibility but also makes the message more powerful as it?s coming from other consumers instead of the QSR itself.

?Marketers can also include extra incentives or pushes to drive consumers to watch something,? she said. ?Hooter?s push to engage fans through Snapchat creates a limited time window.

?Adding immediacy to a campaign drives wavering consumers to jump on board and act.?

Visible content
According to survey from comScore, 87 percent of consumers in the United States watch digital videos each month. This number is set to grow even higher with the increased market saturation of mobile devices and tablets, since consumers are able to watch and consume content while on-the-go.

Research from BrightRoll shows that individuals who visit QSR restaurants at least once a month watch more digital videos than the rest of the population, leaving a wide opportunity to use social media to promote brands via creative, short videos.

Video ads can also be locally-targeted to consumers in the vicinity of bricks-and-mortar restaurants. The visible nature of mobile-optimized video means users can share the content easily across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, easily ramping up outreach.

However, the lengths of ads must be taken into consideration when launching a new campaign.

?Marketers need to focus on the length of the video,? Ms. Lowy said. ?Any videos which are released via social media will be viewed primarily on mobile devices.

?Mobile videos perform best when they are 30 seconds or less. If you take a look at videos released by QSRs on Facebook, you?ll see that videos that are over 30 seconds usually generate substantially fewer views.?

Ms. Lowy tapped McDonald?s as a marketer to watch in this respect. The brand has been transforming many of its several-minute-long mobile videos to ones that are 30 seconds or less.

Meanwhile, KFC?s new campaign celebrating the comeback of brand ambassador Colonel Sanders also features a plethora of short video clips, proving that snackable content wins on mobile.

A quick fix
Location-based advertising lends itself well to mobile videos, particularly when aimed at the three key audiences BrightRoll identifies as QSRs? top consumers: young adults, mothers and Hispanics.

An optimal strategy for a fast-food chain looking to boost sales would be to send a targeted mobile video to consumers in the vicinity, and offer an incentive for clicking a ?share? button to distribute across the user?s social media applications, such as free fries with any order placed in the next hour.

?With the use of video through the highly trafficked social sites today, QSRs are much more likely to gain customers on-the-go through a marketing campaign strategically placed within highly viewed content,? said Marci Troutman, CEO of Siteminis, Atlanta. ?QSRs compete with each other to become the 'quick fix' for immediate hunger, and typically there are several to choose from at any given intersection while traveling. 

?Video marketing that offers a special, has enticing imagery, creates humor, or offers a contest can quickly sway a decision on 'which QSR to choose from'. Quick hit, in-the-moment marketing geared toward hungry passersby is a great way for QSRs to pull in more customers.?

There are a myriad of opportunities to share branded content on mobile

BrightRoll?s research also displays that 45 percent of frequent QSR visitors use a smartphone as their primary video-streaming device. If a food and beverage marketer teams up with another popular brand to effectively leverage this wide demographic, sales could grow exponentially.

?Partnerships also play a big role in broadening visibility,? Ms. Lowy said. ?For example, Red Robin is currently running a campaign with the Terminator that allows fans to use their phones to access a virtual lunch video clip with the Terminator.

?That partnership encourages Terminator fans to latch onto the Red Robin content?giving the video additional tentacles with which to reach people,? she said.

?Marketers mix that with an outflow of mobile advertising to get their content out at the right time to the right people. Brands such as McDonald?s have worked on placing engaging ads that leverage geo-data, timing, context, and good creatives to connect with consumers and get them into restaurant.?

Final Take
Alex Samuely is an editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York