First, Snapchat enabled users to attach Tweets directly to their Snaps back in 2020. Now, it looks to add yet another sharing option, with users able to share YouTube videos with their closest connections directly from the Snap-Cam.
Snap-Tube
Snapchatters can now tap the Snapchat icon when sharing from YouTube, which then adds a YouTube link as a story sticker in their Stories. As Snap explains:
“With this new integration, we’re making it easier than ever for viewers to send their favorite clips and videos right where they are already talking with their friends on Snapchat. This is the first time that YouTube links can be shared visually to Snapchat Stories and one-on-one Snaps, while still accessing the Camera and full suite of Snapchat Creative Tools for self-expression.”
While it sounds simple, this adds a new range of creative options for sharing YouTube links, which benefits both YouTube and Snapchat by generating additional referral traffic and by enhancing your options for Snap engagement and expression. It’s a good way to encourage more active sharing, with the new link stickers providing a more direct, integrated sharing process, as opposed to sticking to the old ‘paste the link and send as a Snap message’ method.
It can also benefit brands by helping facilitate new ways in which they can help drive traffic to longer YouTube videos, while also allowing you to share tutorials, product overviews, and more through your Snaps. On this note, you can see the immediate promotional value that these stickers have, creating a direct connection between your Snapchat and YouTube accounts, leading to good opportunities for tie-ins or cross-platform marketing.
What’s most interesting to see here is the fact that YouTube and Snapchat are working together. Perhaps one of the reasons why this unexpected tandem is working well is because there’s really no competition between them – Snapchat focuses on AR experiences, while YouTube has its videos. Still, elements like ‘Snap Discover’ do, in some capacity, bring up certain challenges for YouTube, so this partnership might still see a conflict point somewhere down the line, but let’s not hope for that.
The Wrap
Considering who among the two gets more on receiving end of these links, it’s clear that YouTube is the one that benefits more from the push. Either way, what’s showcased is Snap’s fairly logical evolution of its Snap links, which still helps it stay relevant amid the shifting space of broader online commerce.
Follow these instructions if you want to share a YouTube clip on Snap:
- Open the YouTube app and select a video to watch
- Tap “Share,” and then tap the “Snapchat” icon to automatically jump to the Snapchat Camera
- From there, create an original Snap with the automated YouTube sticker, and layer on using any of our creative tools
- All friends need to do is tap the YouTube Sticker to view the video in their YouTube app or default mobile browser
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