Hootsuite Acquires Naritiv's Snapchat Analytics Solution
Hootsuite, the social media management platform, announced the acquisition of the Snapchat analytics solution created by Naritiv to enable its customers to integrate Snapchat into their digital marketing campaigns. This deal marked the third acquisition that Hootsuite has made in less than two months. In February, the Vancouver, British Columbia-based company acquired LiftMetrix, a New York-based social analytics firm, and AdEspresso, which specializes in providing agencies and brands ways to create and optimize their Facebook ads through a subscription service.
CMS-Connected reached out to Richard Hungerford, Sr. Director, Business & Corporate 
Development at Hootsuite, who also was heavily involved in the AdEspresso acquisition, to inquire about what the recent acquisition means for Hootsuite users. “With the acquisition of Naritiv, Hootsuite continues to help marketers get more from emerging social and video networks like SnapChat. We know that our 15-million+ users are adopting video-based platforms like Snapchat more than ever, and acquiring Naritiv is a step in ensuring that our customers will have the technology they need to better leverage these platforms in the future.”
Ryan Holmes, CEO of Hootsuite, picked a unique way to announce the details of the acquisition as he posted this hilarious video where he used one of the infamous Snapchat filters on Hootsuite’s YouTube channel:
Naritiv: The First Snapchat Network
Naritiv launched out of the Disney Accelerator, powered by TechStars in 2014. Its platform helps organizations monitor and maximize the return-on-investment of their digital campaigns on Snapchat. How exactly does a platform help to do so, you may ask. Well, the Los Angeles-based startup, recognized by Fast Company as one of the top ten most innovative video companies, has been developing an influencer network by making connections between creators and brands on the platform to build out Snapchat campaigns for various brands, complete with analytics and reporting tools.
The challenge for the platform is waiting for that influencer network to grow and maintain it as a steady supply of influencers. The primary roadblock behind this objective is the difficulty of finding Snapchat stars, as unlike other social media platforms like Instagram, and YouTube, the platform doesn’t provide a discovery tool for popular users such as ‘Popular’ or ‘Trending’ pages. Naritiv bills itself the "first" Snapchat network.
The platform doesn’t only connect brands and advertisers with influencers on Snapchat but also compiles the data from those campaigns to demonstrate what exactly works and what doesn’t so that marketers can decide whether or not they should make tweaks to their digital campaigns.
The deal with Naritiv fits in the concept of Hootsuite’s recent acquisition spree as the social media management platform has been expanding its focus to include social advertising operations through its last acquisitions. However, unlike the acquisitions of AdEspresso and LiftMetrix, the main goal behind this deal is the planting the seeds for Snapchat, more than the current opportunities as Hootsuite believes that helping brands create content for apps and understanding which elements within the campaigns can be improved will be an even more critical and competitive advantage for social media management platforms. With Naritiv's technology, Hootsuite now will enable its customers to take advantage of Snapchat's unprecedented growth as an emerging, brand-building video network.
“We felt our Snapchat solution was complementary to the innovative marketing solutions that Hootsuite offers to brands and agencies,” Naritiv co-founder Dan Altmann said in the press release. “Hootsuite is a market leader for social media management across both paid and organic channels and we’re excited to see Hootsuite take our technology to the next level."
Is Snapchat Really the New TV?
“Brands are turning to video-centric networks like Snapchat to engage with their audiences,” said Ryan Holmes, CEO of Hootsuite. “Naritiv has been at the forefront of connecting brands and agencies with Snapchat influencers and their audiences. We’re thrilled to integrate Snapchat functionality into the Hootsuite platform to help our customers take full advantage of this dynamic video network. Snapchat is the new TV.”
By the end of 2016, Snapchat boasted over 156 million users worldwide and 10 billion daily 
video views. As Snapchat's IPO filing disclosed, 60 million daily active users (DAUs) are from the United States and Canada. However, while the platform is game on for B2C, the marriage of B2B marketing and Snapchat hasn’t become mainstream yet. Well, behind every B, there is a C so B2B brands can definitely cash in on Snapchat to grow brand affinity and audience engagement.
Given its monthly growth rate of 33%, Snapchat is expected to surpass 18 billion daily video views by May 2017. According to Re/code, Snapchat Ads are seen anywhere between 500,000 to a million times per day. According to Snapchat's S-1 filing, over 60% of Snap Ads are viewed with audio and for several CPG brands running Snap Ads, over 90% saw positive in-store sales lift.
The unique thing about Snapchat is the authenticity the platform offers, which is the exact reason why video content has become so compelling. When you really think about it, even large companies with a tremendous ad budget do not hire rock stars or use highly polished videos for advertising anymore. Making headway on Snapchat as a B2B marketer can be a challenge, but like any other platform, it takes planning, strategy, and lots of experiments. Platforms like Naritiv is already out there to connect advertisers and influencers for marketers who would like to test the waters before hopping on the Snapchat bandwagon with a branded account.
Many B2B brands have already started using Snapchat to serve as both a marketing and a recruiting channel but, if you think your product is not sexy enough to generate buzz even on Snapchat, you might be wrong. Don’t take it from me, take it from the 'most exciting boring brand' General Electric. They use it in a series in which they answer users' questions by explaining scientific concepts in a concise and fun way. They also motivate their Snapchat followers to interact directly with them. GE's global director of innovation Sam Olstein said about Snapchat, "The disappearing nature of its content encourages repeat usage and provides us with a unique way to celebrate invention with an expanding community of young fans."
My POV
Hootsuite has been making years-long effort to fit its platform for the enterprise, and today the platform has 15 million users in total, with “hundreds of thousands” using the paid tier of service. In my opinion, Snapchat, on the other hand, is still in its early stages when it comes to B2B marketing but that’s where the opportunity lies. Before it gets so cluttered and crowded just like other social media channels, it may be a wise idea to develop and experiment a strategy. When you really think about it, YouTube started as an entertainment platform with a young audience, and today it has become the second largest search engine. Therefore, I find Hootsuite’s acquisition is not only timely but also innovative because now that they have the technology to mine the data from Snapchat, Hootsuite can then leverage it to expand the analytics products for other channels and break the mold in the social media management platform space.
Venus Tamturk
Venus is the Media Reporter for CMS-Connected, with one of her tasks to write thorough articles by creating the most up-to-date and engaging content using B2B digital marketing. She enjoys increasing brand equity and conversion through the strategic use of social media channels and integrated media marketing plans.