Millennials love social
media, and two of their
favorite platforms right now are Instagram and, to a lesser extent,
Snapchat, both of which feature expiring content with a time limit.
Both
platforms have upped the ante with the introduction of “Stories,” which
are 10-second videos and pictures that tell complete stories that
disappear within 24 hours. Although Snapchat Stories debuted first,
Instagram Stories has already surpassed Snapchat’s popularity, with an
estimated 200 million daily users, in comparison to 160 million daily
users for Snapchat Stories.
What's driving both of these social
media innovations is the appeal of creating content that makes an
impression and then simply disappears. So, how can your business use
this intriguing concept as a viable marketing strategy that can boost
your bottom line and help improve the overall quality of the content
you offer to your target audience?
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Offer
Exclusive Content For
A Limited Time |
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Infomercials
are effective at creating urgency in buyers by offering discounts and
deals for a limited time. The “order now and we’ll send you two for the
price of one” clarion call is a less-than-subtle means of generating
enough motivation for buyers to make that call or to click "submit" on
a computer or mobile device.
This is a savvy type of expiring
content because it will vanish within a prescribed time limit and can
create a sense of panic in people who fear they will miss out on a
great deal.
You can take advantage of that same urgency by
creating marketing campaigns with an expiration date. Pacific Northwest
(PN) Wonderland did just that with an Instagram Stories campaign in
which they offered customers a freebie if they acted within a
prescribed time limit. PN Wonderland made sure that the freebie was
only available with a purchase, and by creating a specific window of
time for customers to get the deal, it triggered a sense of urgency
that likely generated more purchases.
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| Create More Provocative Content | | | One
of the more thrilling aspects of expiring content is that it provides a
certain amount of freedom for brands to be bolder with what they
create. That’s because expiring content has a very short shelf life, so
viewers will not constantly judge it after the brief period it exists.
Yes,
people certainly can take screenshots of your content within the
seconds or hours that it exists, but the greater freedom of being able
to distribute videos and pictures that push the envelope can create the
kind of buzz and engagement that isn’t available with static content.
And most people are not overly concerned about what content brands
posted in the past unless it was something so offensive that it
deserves the attention.
This is especially true for
millennials, as they are much more of a "what have you done for me
lately?" kind of crowd, an attitude that perfectly meshes with expiring
content because the videos and pics are always changing. |
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Make People Feel As If
They Are Missing Out | | | One
of the oldest marketing tricks in the book is to make people feel that
they are missing out on something wonderful if they don’t act
immediately. That’s why using expiring content can be so effective as a
marketing strategy — it taps into that fear by placing artificial time
restrictions on your products and services.
But expiring content
is also useful as a way to engage people with edgy, intriguing videos
and pictures that reveal more about your brand. Whether that means
giving viewers a raw, unfiltered, behind-the-scenes peek at your
company or creating an "About Us" campaign that allows the diverse
personalities of your team to shine through, expiring content can
engage viewers in a more compelling way than standard videos and
pictures.
Used sparingly, but always with the intent of
communicating to your audience why your company exists, expiring
content can become another powerful tool in your marketing arsenal.
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