Should your organization use Instagram or Snapchat?

Snapchat and Instagram have become popular social media platforms to not only connect with others but for organizations to promote themselves. Though they are both great platforms for organizations to use, they have different capabilities. So, when should your organization use them? What’s the difference between Snapchat and Instagram?

Benefits of Instagram

Instagram is a place for visuals and aesthetics. It’s a fun platform to use if you want to post pictures of animals, food, hiking trips, selfies, friends, or family. However, businesses and organizations have begun using it as an opportunity to promote themselves, their services, and their products. Because Instagram has a visual reputation, it’s best to use it for exactly that—sharing pictures, videos, and stories with your followers.

Some of Instagram’s benefits include:

• Millions of people use Instagram daily, which means there is a higher chance of you reaching a larger audience.
• You can use hashtags, which allow Instagram users you’re not already connected with to find your posts.
• It’s a lot easier to gain a following because of hashtags, and users typically use the search icon to find posts they’re interested in, which could potentially bring more people to your page.
• It’s visually pleasing, and you can absolutely use that to your advantage. Get creative!
• You can post stories to your Instagram page to show that you aren’t just a faceless organization. It gives insight and builds credibility.

Benefits of Snapchat

Snapchat is a fun way to engage with your audience by posting stories to your account. People post pictures, videos, and links to their stories for both entertainment and business.

Snapchat has many benefits, including:

• It’s an entertaining way to promote your business because it’s visual.
• You can post direct links to your website on your Snapchat story.
• It’s very easy to use.
• You can interact with customers using photos, videos, and the chat option. 
• It offers thousands of filter options, and you can even create your own.
• You can see how many people view your photos and videos on your stories.

Instagram vs Snapchat

For most organizations, Instagram is likely the best platform to go with because there are more ways to be creative, it reaches a larger audience faster to gain a following, it’s easier for users to find you and your content, and you can more easily engage with others.

Snapchat is great for posting videos and photos to stories, but there isn’t much more to it after that. It’s also easy to overdo it, meaning if you post too much too often, people may click right past your posts. It would be the better option if you are trying to reach teenagers and young adults.