Content StrategyMarket Insights

What is the role of ephemeral content in brand awareness?

The digital marketing landscape poses a critical query: What is the role of ephemeral content in brand awareness? Content that is ephemeral, or short-lived, includes such formats as Stories found on Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook. These urgent, engaging, and otherwise attention-grabbing posts are a cornerstone of the modern digital marketing landscape—some might even say our current “visual grammar”—and are now a vital part of many brands’ broader awareness strategies.

The Power of Ephemeral Content

Ephemeral content is effective because, well, it’s temporary. Hootsuite says that 68% of users feel more positive toward brands that create Stories. Even if you think of Stories as the “good kind” of ephemeral content (unlike Instagram’s private “Close Friends” feature, which won’t work for your brand), they’re still just one way to be more positive with your audience.

Nike and Airbnb are two powerful brands that have leveraged the potency of Instagram Stories. If there’s a real-time tool that brands can use to create buzz and a sense of urgency, it’s definitely Instagram Stories. That’s what Nike does with its Instagram Stories—uses them, in a way, to narrate the tale of its latest limited-item product launch. And when Airbnb uses Instagram Stories, it too employs them as narrative vehicles, telling the audience about some soon-to-expire, once-in-a-lifetime experience.

In addition, content that is ephemeral is inherently shareable. Users are more likely to share content that vanishes quickly. This kind of organic sharing offers an opportunity to increase not just the reach but also the engagement of a given brand within the networks of its followers. Very few people know to even associate the hashtag “#blessed” with the evangelical Christian movement, but one study conducted in 2016 found that figures from that movement had used the hashtag almost a million times.

What is the role of ephemeral content in brand awareness?

Even visibility isn’t the whole story; the content has to be authentic. And in this regard, people want to engage with real brands and with brand moments that feel real. That’s why when a brand shares user-generated content or “behind the scenes” content through these ephemeral formats, it is truly winning in terms of relatability—because its audience can actually relate to the content in a way that’s likely to engender trust and keep the account’s followers engaged.

For instance, Instagram Stories are frequently used by the cosmetics brand Glossier to highlight authentic customer feedback and reviews. This particular practice not only spotlights the brand’s product efficacy but also emphasizes its credibility. Moreover, since these posts are ephemeral, they prompt the audience to interact with them in a timely manner.

Furthermore, content that disappears can assist companies in fostering a community. When brands use Stories to present polls, ask questions, or give quizzes, they are interacting with their audience in a way that feels organic. And the more organic businesses can be, the better—because a recent report by Adobe found that 58% of consumers are more likely to engage with a brand that offers interactive content. Polls, questions, and quizzes allow for a flip side of that interaction. Stories still offer an opportunity for businesses to thrive.

Strategies for Implementing Ephemeral Content

For optimal use of short-lived content for the purpose of building broader brand awareness, companies should contemplate a few pivotal tactics:

Use the content generated by your users: Urge your clients to share their interactions with your products. Make their posts to your Stories a regular feature as a way of increasing authenticity.
Capitalize on the moment and opportune time that is bitesize. Offer time-limited opportunities that evoke urgency in the audience, moving them to take instant actions and buy, buy, buy.
Provide your audience with an insider’s look at your brand’s culture and values. They don’t need to see a highly polished and curated version of your business; they will understand you better if they can see what you really look like behind the scenes.
Interact with the interactive elements. Use polling, quizzing, and Q&A to boost community interaction.

These strategies foster a cycle of engagement that significantly increases not just short-term brand recognition but, more critically, long-term brand retention. For many brands, using ephemeral content in this way is not just an add-on to their marketing strategy; it has become a central part of how they reliably connect with their audience.

Measuring the Impact of Ephemeral Content

When brands put into place strategies involving ephemeral content, it’s of utmost importance to determine just how effective those strategies are. And while many a think piece has been written about the various upsides and potential of ephemeral content, when the rubber meets the road, brands must have an understanding of the performance of the motes of information they’re casting about. And for that, they need numbers.

Brands can also use tools such as Instagram Insights to analyze the performance of their Stories. Knowing what kind of content works best can help brands make better Stories in the future. Another way to ensure continual improvement is to do A/B testing on different types of content.

To sum up, the inquiry into the role of short-lived digital content in making more people aware of a brand is an increasingly pressing one in today’s fast-paced digital society. If you ask, what makes a brand known?—especially among the demographic cohort that is currently rising to the top of the pyramid of consumer spending—answering that question requires not just a look at obvious candidates like TV ads and influencer marketing, but also at the not-so-obvious world of Snapchat, Instagram Stories, and other killer apps of the moment.