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Eric Fulwiler is a sought-after expert, contributor, and speaker on key developments in- and on the future of social media and communications. He is Vice President, Account Strategy at NYC-based VaynerMedia - a social media-first digital agency. Fulwiler was also an official speaker at Native Advertising DAYS 2017.
What is the state of affairs regarding native advertising and Snapchat?
Snapchat continues to be a platform with heavily underpriced attention. Even with some of the ground, Instagram has made up by replicating some of Snapchat's functionality, the truth is Snapchat is still a top 5 app for millions of people. Every publisher and brand should be thinking through whether a Snapchat strategy is right for them, but it's important to make sure you understand the native context of how content is consumed, how and why people use the app, and what ad offerings exist.
You need to understand each platform natively.
What are brands and publishers missing out on when it comes to Snapchat and marketing?
Not executing well enough. Too many people are reading headlines and only have a very basic, high-level understanding of the platform and how it works. Brands and publishers need to get their hands dirty and build a first-hand, practitioner-level perspective on the functionality and capabilities. You can't treat social as one channel with one creative or media approach - you need to understand each platform natively.
The somewhat disappointing Snapchat IPO was a prove to some observers that the company's value is overrated - how do you view that?
I'm not a financial markets expert by any means - but I do know that Snapchat continues to be a staple of social and mobile life for so many people. That cannot be ignored. Now, I think it's safe to say Snapchat is in a very different spot now compared to 4-6 months ago... Facebook and Instagram have offered similar functionality and experience, which seems to have slowed some of Snapchat's momentum. So now it's all about how they'll react to the challenge and the competition. It will be interesting to see where Evan Spiegel and his team take the company and brand in the next couple years and how they try to differentiate from Facebook and Instagram.
Get your hands dirty
What's your best advice for publishers and advertisers when it comes to native advertising?
Understand the platform on a practitioner level. Get your hands dirty and spend time playing with, using, consuming and engaging within the apps and channels you want to be marketing on.
DOWNLOAD: Native Advertising Trends 2017 - The Magazine Industry
