Social Throwback 2021: Snapchat shines under Spotlight in the Indian market

From rolling out a localised campaign to launching several new lenses, Snapchat spent 2021 spreading its roots deeper in India.

A pioneer in integrating AR into daily social media usage in unique ways, Snapchat is a platform like none other. It's known for its lenses — something the platform never misses an opportunity to leverage. Rolling out the 'Kholo Snapchat' campaign, Snapchat upped its game to familiarise Indian users with their best products through 2021. They expanded opportunities for creators to monetise their content on the platform. They also introduced new lenses to make it fun for people in India to learn new languages — in an attempt to make inroads into their hearts and lives.

Snapchat Kholo

Snapchat has released the Indian version of the &ab_channel=Snapchat" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">'Open Your Snapchat' earlier this year. Aimed at showcasing the power of Snap's camera with a pinch of contextually-relevant local humour, the 'Snapchat Kholo' campaign featured a range of quirky and immersive lens experiences for Snapchatters in the country. Previously, the campaign had been rolled out across the US, UK and Mexico.

Under The Spotlight

Designed to entertain the Snapchat community, Spotlight brings together the best of Snaps, tailored to the user's preferences and favourites. Snaps submitted to Spotlight must follow the platform's guidelines for further distribution. The content is moderated and doesn't allow public comments. Spotlight is essentially an entertainment platform for user-generated content within Snapchat. It was rolled out in India, Mexico, and Brazil this year — after being launched in 11 countries earlier.

Public Profiles For Brands

Snapchat introduced public profiles for businesses this year, enabling brands to create content and engage with fans with ease. A public profile gives an account the ability to have an organic presence on the app and house all their unique content in a discoverable place. They can also showcase Lens AR experiences and share shoppable products. Brands would also get access to mobile and web management tools through Business Manager to collaborate with team members, manage content and review additional analytics such as story views, views from subscribers v/s non-subscribers, subscribers gained, and engagement.

Learn A Language

To make it fun and easy for users to learn Indian languages such as Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi, Telugu, and Kannada, Snapchat launched 'Learn Language' lenses this year. Created by Atit Kharel, these lenses combine augmented reality and machine learning to recognise over 1000 objects and translate their name to the language one is trying to learn in real-time. It was a part of Snapchat's efforts to engage meaningfully with India's digital-savvy youth. Previously, Snapchat has released several lenses, filters, and stickers during festivals and IPL.

Trends & Monetisation

Snapchat had announced Spotlight Challenges this year as a new way to reward its creators. It offered them a chance to win cash prizes for creating top-performing Spotlight Snaps using specific lenses, sounds, and trending topics. For each trending challenge, the top 50 eligible, relevant and highest viewed submissions were judged for creativity, originality, innovative use of creative tools, unique point of view and entertainment value.

Snapchat 2021

Here’s a quick look at the key updates by Snapchat this year:

• Global Partner Solutions program is launched for advertisers
• Public View counts are introduced for Spotlight
• Snapchat launches resources to help advertisers deal with iOS 14 privacy updates
• Spotlight, an in-app entertainment platform, is rolled out in India
• Creator Marketplace's launch is announced
• Mental Health awareness initiatives are announced
• Snapchat DAU in India grows over 100% y-o-y in each of the last five quarters
• Public Profiles are announced for Business Accounts
• Learn Language Lenses are launched for 6 Indian languages
• Snapchat expands Creative Kit into Spotlight
• Certification program is launched for marketers
• Snapchat partners with Universal Music Group to expand music library
• My Places for recommendations are introduced in Snap Map
• Campaign Lab is introduced in Ads Manager
• ‘Open Your Snapchat’ campaign comes to India with a localized CTA
• Mini is launched to celebrate birthdays
• Monetisation option is introduced for creators
• AR Studio is launched for branded creative reality
• Snapchat partners with Sony Music Entertainment for use of licensed music
• Measurement ad solutions are updated for iOS 14