It’s advantage brands, with ephemeral content marketing

By Radhika Nagpal

Ephemeral content has emerged as an important tactic in the  marketers’ handbook. And that is being consumed by us on a  daily basis. It’s also known as short‑lived content with a long‑lasting impact. Yet, we are unaware of it.  This kind of content is quite  popular on social media platforms and was first introduced by Snapchat in 2011. Let’s understand this concept in a better way.

What is Ephemeral Content? 

In layman’s terms, rich media that lives for a short span is known as  ephemeral content. It can either be images, videos or text.  It centres on trending news, happenings and events on social media. And many organisations are adopting this strategy to create regular customer engagement as well as enhance the brand’s equilibrium in the competitive market

Ephemeral content became widely popular initially with  the term ‘snaps’ ‑ texts, videos, or images that lasted just for a click. It was well-known for snap stories as well that existed for 24 hours. The media works as an advertisement that aids in engaging audiences with a blend  of  traditional  and  modern  features  together.  Even  memes and GIFs come under the same bracket. One of the really popular trends of this concept was  Rasode Mein Kaun Tha.

Ephemeral Content and Social media

Social media platforms are the core host for such content. This massive and fast way of communication allows users to maintain personal profiles, publicly articulate connections, and consume, produce, and  interact on the platforms. Cassie Phillips, Author at  Social  Media  Explorer, once mentioned,  “Snapchat  brings something new to the world of social media marketing, allowing brands to reach out and engage  potential customers in unique ways. It brings a new  perspective that better engages younger consumers.”

Currently, this format is being offered by several social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and even WhatsApp.  These platforms allow posting of stories and now even creation of reels is a part of this content. 

What’s driving the popularity of ephemeral content?

Fear of Missing Out or FOMO is one of the crucial aspects of marketing technique today. Oxford Dictionary defines FOMO as “anxiety  that  arouses after seeing a social post on something exciting  or  interesting happening elsewhere”. Ephemeral content works along these lines. 

Moreover, the  way  people  consume  content  today  has  changed.  At the same time, content creators these days are making posts using few words that are quite informative. This is  why content formats like stories have become popular as  they are short and engaging and can let users spend time scrolling through their feed constantly. 

Brands with an average of more than 100k followers are  posting stories  on  Instagram  almost  every two  days  as  compared  to  four  days  for  brands  having  at  least  10k  followers.  This  helps  prove that this type  of  content  is  gaining popularity every year and based on statistical data  and the rising number of active social media users  throughout the world, leveraging ephemeral content will  be quite advantageous

In addition, video content is proving to be one of the most engaging types of content on social media. 

Brands are leveraging user‑generated content and over the years, there has been an increase in this trend.  

In a nutshell, experiential or ephemeral marketing is the need of the hour that is creating unique personalised experiences for users.  Therefore, the trend reflects that this is way forward for many brands in terms of their marketing promotion.