Whether you’re an avid user of Snapchat, consistent uploader to Instagram story or starting to get your head around Messenger’s new featured content, you’re probably familiar with the concept of ephemeral content. Ephemeral means lasting for a very short time and is used to describe posts on social media sites that are accessible for up to 24 hours before disappearing.
Snapchat is one such example of social media that effectively uses ephemeral content. Image sourced from: Pixabay
This kind of content has fast become very popular among online users due to greater importance being placed on being able to share a moment quickly and easily over the desire to store that memory to a device. A survey conducted by Shutterfly highlights this change in attitude with data showing that more than half of the survey respondents leave new photos abandoned on drives and devices after they are taken.
So what does this change in attitude mean for developers and marketers?
It should be noted that ephemeral contents biggest weakness is its greatest strength and brands can tap into this. As posts disappear after 24 hours, there’s a sense of exclusivity in viewing them and app users are more inclined to regularly view such content so they can keep up to date. Brands should therefore ensure they provide content that’s interesting, funny or unique in some aspect to ensure they keep a presence within their audience members daily routines (such examples are highlighted in Coffee Corner’s video below).
As pointed out by an article on Full Blast Creative, ephemeral content has the highest engagement ratings online. The limited time to view the content demands attention and brands with effective content strategy allocate more time and resources to video formats to share the brand story with the most engaged online audience (Snapchat reports 10 billion views per day while Facebook reports 8 billion).
On the other hand though, some brands may hold back from utilising ephemeral content due to its non permanence. Is it worth allocating time, money and effort to create powerful and persuasive content that cannot be shared again in the future?
What are your thoughts on ephemeral content? Is it worth brands devoting resources into content that expires quickly and cannot be saved? Click ‘leave a comment’ to express your thoughts.
The Lach Blog 
I think it can be worth it for companies to give it a try, if their content is really unique. Because you have to leave a lasting impression on people if you want them to remember you. However, I think specifically for smaller companies, it can be harder to invest in this kind of advertising. You have to put many resources into it, and the content you create is not really reusable on another platform.
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True, its probably best for smaller companies to first create content that online users can return to at anytime before devoting more resources to ephemeral content. I’d say ideally companies should be finding a balance in content creation and successfully identify what kind of content is suited for non-permanent mediums (eg behind the scenes footage).
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I think this idea is really great considering we know that people don’t have a lot of patience anymore for things such as advertisements. This type of strategy would be very useful for companies that are mainly trying to target the millennial generation as they are the ones lease likely to view a long video.
I think this could work well for maybe even promotion codes that they only had that short period of time to use it before it was gone. By having the timer next to it as well, when it is down to its final few hours may mean more people might rush to buy the product because it is a limited time deal.
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I definitely think this kind of content is suited for younger generations, which ties in with a post I did about generation Z a few weeks ago. Ultimately content that is quick to the point is better suited in competing for the attention of younger online users, who are consistently sifting through various brand messages each day. I could also see methods being used in creating limited time offerings, which is likely to keep consumers engaged with mediums of ephemeral content (anticipating a potential exclusive deal been offered).
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Interesting post! I think that if the company has plenty of money and time to invest in ephemeral content marketing then go for it. However, in order to make a great impact amongst its target audience they need to be relevant and interesting otherwise it could be a waste of an investment. Also, if you are a small to medium company that is not particularly popular in the market, I do think that this form of marketing will be the most effective as it is difficult to develop a strong presence through implementing ephemeral content marketing.
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Agreed, ultimately it will depend on the size and budget of a company in determining how much they will devote to ephemeral content. Smaller companies will probably be less inclined to devote much resources to it but could potential utilise it in giving their consumers a peek in what happens behind the scenes at the company. Bigger and more established companies would probably have the budget to be creating content thats more tailored to effectively engage their consumers with.
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i dont think Ephemeral marketing needs to be expensive. Simply showing the behind the scenes of a company of getting en exclusive look into other aspects can engage audiences in a different way and increase brand loyalty. It would be interesting to see a brand run a major advertising campaign on insta stories or snap stories.
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I think so too and it can be an engaging way for a brand to keep their customers up to date with whats happening at HQ
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For me i see ephemeral marketing as a waste of time as marketing and just general content that i enjoy i will come back to it repeatedly days or weeks after my first viewing. So i think that there is too large of an audience missed due to the short amount of time it is up for and that unless you have a large following that religiously looks at your content everyday much of the value of the marketing is missed
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True, there is always going to be a significant portion that misses certain updates, so ideally major announcements should not be only communicated through ephemeral content but also on a range of other platforms as well. The level of daily engaged viewers on Snapchat however is higher than the amount of daily Facebook views (10 billion to 8 billion) so this suggests that the content can be quite consistent in keeping viewers hooked.
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