In a recent article by The Daily Dot, Selena Larson (@selenalarson) discusses Snapchat, a popular app used across the globe, through which its users can take photos, record videos, add text and drawings, and send them to a specified list of contacts. Recently, Snapchat introduced its discover tab, an area for brands and organizations to share photos and videos. The discovery tab was Snapchat’s entrance into advertising. The results: no beuno.

“I talked to a number of teens about their daily Snapchat habits, leading off with the question, ‘What do you use the Discover tab for?’ Every single one said they never look at it. And the same goes for most branded stories. Like any other social site, teenagers are looking for content relevant to their interests, and it’s easy to ignore things that take a physical act of tapping a screen to view....So what are teenagers looking at? Mostly content from friends, celebrities, and content creators like Jerome Jarre, who have gained millions of fans simply by sharing photos that disappear.”

So, how does this relate to your business? Advertising is a hit or miss. Either the viewer is interested in the product or service you’re offering, or they are not. We believe everyone can learn from Snapchat’s experience by adapting to the idea of customization and direct advertising. Instead of creating a mass campaign to a broad group of people, consider a way for users to customize their likes and interests, then follow a distribution of ads in accordance to these personal preferences. Personalization in ads leads to a deeper connection between your business and your customers, thus leading to a higher click rate, and viewability rate.