Many of us now couldn’t live without social media or even remember what the world was like before we started documenting our daily lives to friends, family and ultimately strangers in the digital world.
It makes your brain tick even thinking about it, right? In the Middle East, especially, nearly all internet users (that’s a good 95 per cent of the region) indulge in social media in some shape or form, with around 80 per cent of us checking and using platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter on a daily basis.
Whatsapp, as well, as you can imagine, is a hub for instant messaging and communication. Snapchat – another prolific social platform in the region and specifically the UAE – is also thriving.
If you’re not aware, it is a live and quickfire messaging application that allows us to chat with friends, share stories and ‘snap each other’ through rapid picture, text and video chats that disappear after a short while.
Like much of social media now, you can document every aspect of your life through Snaps and the app works especially well with sport as users track big talking points as the action unfolds.
In March this year, Snapchat again worked with the Dubai World Cup and Meydan Racecourse to bring Dubai’s biggest sporting event to life in more ways than one through its story-telling on the day.
From lush and extravagant outfits to seeing the lightening bolt speed of World Cup-winner Arrogate, if you were there in person or not, it didn’t matter as Snapchat had your experience covered.
“It’s really amazing what we have and what we believe, with sports, the best way to consume it is by either going to an event in person, watching on a big screen with a group of your friends or messaging people about it. With Snapchat, we can aggravate all of this user-generated content using our our Stories feature,” Ben Schwerin, Snapchat’s Vice President and Head of Sports Partnerships, told Sport360° on a visit to Dubai.
“They help to really give you the sense of what it feels like to be there – even if you aren’t – so it’s very experiential. We want to capture the excitement of what sport has to offer and bring it to you in the palm of your hands.
“We were really happy with the way our stories performed at Meydan and it’s a really special event with fun and fashion that people care about. But not everyone gets the opportunity to actually be there on race day, so if we’re able to show people what it feels like to be there I think we have succeeded and we’re been really happy with the impact we’ve had.”
While nothing beats being there when it comes to a popular social occasion, numbers would suggest users are snapping away more than ever and are just as engaged, wherever they are.
Through increasing data management and monitoring of habits, Snapchat have been able to crunch some big numbers. The mobile application boasts one million daily users in the UAE, plus a whopping seven million more in Saudi Arabia.
Globally, and for that matter, incredibly, over 2.5 billion snaps are created each and every day from over 158 million daily active users.
The fact that more than half of these are from outside the United States, the place of Snapchat’s origin, goes a long way to showing how regions like the Middle East have helped its audience to climb significantly.
With this kind of reach, huge engagement numbers and detailed knowledge of user habits, Snapchat are seeking further commercial and revenue-making opportunities in the region.
Schwerin added: “The Middle East has been important to us for a long time. Since 2015, we have been working on partnerships within sports here – whether it’s been the hugely successful Saudi Professional Football League, the Qatar Stars League or the Dubai World Cup.
“I think there are a lot of opportunities here, we’ve just opened an office in the region and we’re starting to sell advertisements too. I think there is a great opportunity to create revenue for partners and think sports is going to be a big part of our content strategy here.
“We’re now able to recognise if you’re someone who watches football or NBA content and we can allow brands to show advertisements to you based on the fact you’re a fan of a certain team.
“That’s really valuable to get information on what type of content you like and that’s made our advertisement business stronger knowing what users like, read, share and consume.
“Snapchat, in Saudi for example, is a very young audience with around 85 per cent of users aged 13 to 34. There’s millions of people actively engaging with the football.
“I think we just want to do more and we’re really just getting started in terms of localising content in the region – it’s about making sure the content is tailor-made and relevant to the user. Daily creation drives and fuels everything we do, our stories only work because people are going to sports events and sharing content. We are now helping them to share and it’s really about the community experience.”
Having the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona on board – the two best supported football sides in the Middle East – are also massive draws.
Snaps have helped to bring Real and Barca alive in the Middle East to a passionate fanbase, all who get to see their heroes from a different perspective; team filters, flags, faces – you name it – are at fans’ disposal.
While Serena Williams claims she revealed her pregnancy through Snapchat accidentally – the fact her news spread around the world so quickly was ultimately good for Snapchat’s brand awareness and demonstrated the power of the social platform.
Other sporting stars, like Usain Bolt – who documented much of his Rio 2016 Olympics experience through the medium, have helped to raise the snap bar further.
Indeed, sports fans, increasingly, are relying on in-house Snapchat club content and athletes to see real behind-the-scenes content. Its exclusive, through-the-eye-of-the-athlete access, goes way beyond what traditional forms of media and journalism can offer.
As you read, Snapchat are hard at work helping top sports stars make full use of their fanbases through top tips, tricks and insights.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and one of the most followed people on social platforms in the UAE, is now searchable through the Official Stories offering – which brings with it emojis and more searchable options, proving there’s really no limit to Snapchat’s social growth.
