Ephemeral Content: How it Can Help Your Business

Written by Shelby Stone

June 18, 2020

What is Ephemeral Content?

Ephemeral content has become a popular way for businesses to share content with their audience. This form of content includes pieces such as photos, videos, and live streams that are shared through social media. However, this content exists for a short time before disappearing. Often, ephemeral content is available for viewing for 24 hours, then the content is no longer available. We are seeing an increase in popular social platforms providing places for such content. Currently, Snapchat, Facebook Stories, and Instagram Stories are the most popular platforms! The growing popularity of ephemeral content means more social media platforms are offering users the ability to post ephemeral content pieces. With this new style of content becoming more widespread across social platforms, we see a drastic change in content marketing style. Businesses are seeing the success of other forms of content marketing and moving away from the traditional “evergreen” content. The term “evergreen” simply refers to content that never loses its relevancy. Using ephemeral content is providing brands with the perfect way to share time-sensitive material in a way that is appealing to their audience. From short videos, product promotions, and even trending content, there is an endless supply of content that brands can now share. Additionally, this style of content has minimal impact on the brand’s identity since it is available for short periods. With the human brain processing visual information 60,000 times faster than text-based information, Ephemeral content is the perfect way of sharing extensive amounts of data in a way that is quickly processed.

Importance of Ephemeral Content

The growing popularity of ephemeral content has established itself as an essential piece in the content marketing puzzle. With this content only being available for a limited time, content creators are now unlimited with the amount of content they can now build and post when paired with popular social platforms, the desire for this content increases. Using ephemeral content is also a great way of promoting user-generated content that your brand can share, as they highlight your brand on a personal level and will eventually expire, which means low risk for your brand image. The best part about ephemeral content is that unlike other forms of content you may share, ephemeral content doesn’t always have to be perfect. Even something as simple as a video a part of the production process or a picture of your product can provide the perfect piece for you to share. The possibilities are endless of what you can create, and they don’t always have to be perfectly polished. Using ephemeral content is the perfect way to create vibrant and exciting content to share with your audience at any moment of the day!

Fear of Missing Out

As humans, we all possess the fear of missing out on fun and excitement. The introduction of social media has only increased this fear. People everywhere now share every moment of excitement they may have in their daily routines. Many have also developed addictions to social media. One attribute to social media addiction is “the fear of missing out” (FOMO). This is essentially a form of social anxiety stemming from a desire to stay continually connected with what others are doing. Ephemeral content can take advantage of FOMO to help leverage your social media campaigns. Research shows that approximately 69% of millennials experience FOMO or are driven to action based on the fear of missing out, with roughly 60% making impulse buying decisions because they feel they may miss out. FOMO is not something that only millennials suffer from; however, approximately 56% of social media users have experienced FOMO. This vast audience provides the perfect opportunity for you to utilize ephemeral content and FOMO to help boost your sales!

Audience Engagement

With users so concerned about not missing any of the action, using ephemeral content can drastically increase audience engagement. By posting pictures and videos that will disappear, your audience will have to check in often to ensure they do not miss anything. People’s desire to be involved with whatever is trending and well-liked, and ephemeral content’s short lifespan, means that your audience is likely to watch and react as soon as they can. By doing this and continually keeping up with what is posted, you can share more content than average and keep your audience coming back without getting annoyed by seeing your content. By only being available for a short time, ephemeral content can generate immediate action from your audience and keep them coming back to ensure they don’t miss anything.

How Can Ephemeral Content Help?

Increase Audience Potential

In the third quarter of 2019, Snapchat tallied 210 million active daily users and was one of the first social platforms to use ephemeral content as its primary source of content. There are also more than 200 million using Instagram stories each month as well. The audience potential for ephemeral content is astounding. With the growing popularity of social media, this content is going to become a more integral part of content marketing. When posting ephemeral content on your social pages, you will be able to reach your audience. Then they will often act off of FOMO, sharing your content with their audience, and so on. Using popular hashtags and geo-filters can also help you reach wider audiences without needing paid advertising! Because people can continue to share your content on their socials, the potential for how many people will see your content is substantial. You may not be able to see the exact reach or engagements outside of your own social. However, shares have equal reach, which means your audience is increasing with every share your post receives!

Increase Brand Loyalty and Authenticity

With ephemeral content only being available for a short period, you can create a variety of different content pieces. Each can help increase brand loyalty with your audience without excessively filling up their feeds. Using such content is the perfect way of sharing behind-the-scenes and fun content with your audience. Sharing your processes, employees, and company culture is an excellent way of humanizing your brand and giving your audience something relatable. The modern consumer demands transparency and authentic relationships, and ephemeral content can help you share more personal experiences with your customers. Simon Sinek says the people don’t buy WHAT you do; they buy WHY you do it. This style of content allows you to share your WHY with your audience. Showing them what your business is all about, behind selling whatever product you specialize in. Ephemeral content can help build an identity for your brand while not directly involving your products. Ephemeral content can be spontaneous and raw footage. This helps make your brand more authentic and relatable to your customers!

Keep Audience Active and Drive Traffic

Ephemeral content has a limited lifespan and we naturally have FOMO. This means this content can help you keep your audience active and returning to your social pages. Brands use social media and marketing to help drive traffic and increase sales. With features available within popular platforms, it only requires one click to funnel customers into a sale. Using ephemeral content is an easy way to help drive traffic. By linking posts to other material or product pages, people are more likely to click. When it appears in their feed, they must act out of fear they won’t have that chance again. According to CNBC, 80% of shoppers make impulse purchases online. This is excellent for ephemeral content because it targets impulsiveness and immediate actions. It also provides a simplified shopping experience for your customers! This limited-time content makes your audience immediately take action, whether that be sharing, visiting, or buying. Using this content is an efficient way to generate traffic and keep your audience active!

Don’t Miss Your Chance

Ephemeral content is an ever-growing trend. We are seeing more and more social platforms offering space for it. By using human nature and our fear of missing out on the next big thing. Using this content can help grow your audience, increase authenticity, brand loyalty, and help drive traffic to your website. Above all, popular platforms such as Facebook and Instagram allow easy access to posting this content and increase your audience engagement. It doesn’t have to be perfect! It’s easy to get out your phone, film a video, and share it with your audience! Start using ephemeral content today to make sure that you won’t miss this growing trend! If you’re ready to start posting amazing ephemeral content on your social feeds, we would be happy to help you get started!