Popular for ephemeral messages, Snapchat is introducing a feature that takes user experience to the next level.
Calling it 'Context Cards', they are added into Snapchat's suite of in-app tools to allow users to find out more information about any Snap that has been shared by users.
The Cards have information packets taken and pulled from several partner companies (including Foursquare, Tripadvisor, Uber, Lyft, OpenTable, and Michelin, among others) to give potential customers as much data as possible.
This enables users to have access to things like like reservation, restaurant reviews, menus, directions, hours of operation, contact information, Uber and Lyft ride hailing, and more including additional Snaps from the same area submitted by other Snapchat users.
The Cards are essentially adverts, which are designed to display information about businesses, venues and places, and make it easier for users to visit or make a booking with them.
This is where Snapchat has a chance to turn its user engagement into a real-world discovery and marketing platform that could potentially rival Yelp, and driving marketing value for restaurants, venues and destinations starting from a place of true interest, rather than approaching it from the perspective of providing a resource only to people already seeking that kind of information.
Because of this reason, it works similar to how Snapchat’s marketing tools work for existing paid campaigns, which can do things like offer up links to stories for publishers when users swipe up in their stories.
Users will see the same 'More' link at the bottom of stories they're watching, but when they swipe up, they'll see information automatically populated from Snap's partners on Context Cards.
The Context Cards won't be appearing in every Snap. However, if users are worried that Snapchat is turning every post on its platform into a marketing tool, Snapchat is including those that have been tagged, with the company's venue-specific Geofilters, or with any Snap that has been submitted to the public ‘Our Story’ feed and that appears in Snap Map or Search.
Context Cards appear in a feed-like waterfall, with the first providing basic information including the name and category, as well as ratings sourced from partners. Other cards include more detailed information.
Snapchat’s Context Cards are bound to be a big deal for the company and the platform as they could completely change the way people use the app - they're a new way for Snap to appeal businesses with plenty of potential to grow in future.
While Snap, the company behind Snapchat, has positioned itself as a camera company in the past, this feature turns its camera into a visual-first contextual marketing platform that is similar to Google's contextual search-based advertising but for the visual world.
If talking how successful this feature can be, will depend on Snap's ability to grow its platform and deepen this product without distracting too much from the appeal of its core products to users.