Are you aware of your Snap Map location?

With the Snap Map, you can now view snaps of breaking news, sporting events, celebrations and more from all over the world - all of which is indicated by heat maps.To access Snap Map, open SnapChat and then pinch the screen inwards and you will be taken to Snap Map where you can see your location.Here is a trailer for how the new feature works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvl82FfnUvwNote: You’ll need to enable location services to use the Snap Map! Just go into your device’s settings, open up the options for Snapchat, and make sure that the ‘Location’ option is on! You have the option to choose who sees your location, and you can easily turn on 'Ghost Mode' so that your location is never shown in your settings section in snapchat, BUT you can see theirs - AKA stalker mode. You will automatically be turned on ‘Ghost mode’ if you have been inactive on the app for a couple of hours.Snapchat has really recently launched a new featured called 'Snap Map' - this lets the app's 166 million users share their locations with each other. So if you are always watching your friends orfamilies snapchats and wishing you could be there... well now you can, just show upThis update was created as a result of Snapchat’s secret acquisition of social map app Zenly for $250 million to $350 million. Zenly is a social mapping startup which makes ‘it fun and easy to know what your friends and family are up to’ and will be run independently of Snapchat even after the acquisition.By adding snaps to Our Story, you will be submitting your snaps to the map. If you tap on anywhere on the map you can then view the snaps that have been added from various profiles. Use the heat map to follow where the action is - a red heat map at a location will show that there are lots and of snaps being addd. You only need to look at Wimbledon this week on the heat map to see that there are plenty of people taking snaps whilst watching the tennis!We can see this being quite powerful for destination marketing and events to show via the heat map where the places to be are. Having an event with plenty of snaps of people enjoying the event provides the ideal live content. However, the content of those snaps can't be controlled so there could be an issue around what could be classed as inappropriate. There is the the facility to report any content on the Snap Map ( Go to the snap you want to report, press and hold and then tap the flag that appears in the bottom left corner).This is definitely an app to watch and to see how destinations, attractions and brands utilise the location sharing for marketing.Sharing location can be a risky thing to do. Here's The Marketing Collective's top 3 tips for using the app and staying safe:

• Share your location only with people you know. Never share your location with strangers.
• You can select who see's your location. If you have children or family members, make sure they are aware of the new app and how to restrict their location.
• Don’t add contacts to Snapchat if you don’t actually know them!
• Regularly review your settings and take an active decision about whether you want people to know your location - think about where you’re sharing your location - Snap Maps can lead people to your house.

If you would like to find out more and talk to our team about Social Media Channels contact info@themarketing-collective.com