Most social media managers snap during standard business hours on the days set by their marketing calendar. They'll give a behind-the-scenes look at their company, highlight product launches, or "reward" fans with an inside scoop at events or special occasions.
Casper set out to build real content for our users to enjoy, and ditch the conventional Snapchat spam that looks for a quick engagement hit. (Think: "Screenshot the next Snap" or "Chat us back for your chance to win $50 off!") We threw the standard promotional calendar aside knowing social media addicts like to check their phone every day, especially right when they get up and before they go to sleep. These are the times when users need something to keep them entertained the most — but, disappointingly, also the time that most brands are offline.
The goal was to provide hilarious entertainment during the hardest hours of the morning and the "why am I still awake?" hours of the night.
Casper has created a nontraditional Snapchat presence by really taking advantage of the most off hours of the day instead of shying away from them. You'll always find a new Snap story from Casper right when you wake up and at midnight.
Hit snooze. You need 5 more minutes to lay in bed scrolling through social media:
Destroying alarm clocks: The most dreaded moment of the week is when your alarm clock goes off on Monday morning. Especially when it feels like you just fell asleep. Nearly everyone wishes the weekend could just last a few minutes longer. We keep our customers from throwing their own phone at the wall by doing it for them. Every Monday morning, we obliterate our alarm clock and document the entire destruction on Snapchat. We've smashed an alarm clock with a hammer, shipped it express to Timbuktu, drowned it in a bathtub, buried it outside in the dirt, and crushed it to smithereens in a blender. Take that, Mondays.
Celebrating Waffle Crush Wednesday: We celebrate the only reason to get out of bed… breakfast. Inspired by the Woman Crush Wednesday meme, we take a weekly trek to a new corner of the US in the search of the most perfect waffle and share every picture-perfect bite on Snapchat. Each waffle receives Casper's unofficial waffle rating and a wholesome review that includes the waffle's presentation, consistency, and toppings.
It's time for a bedtime (snap) story:
Counting everything, but sheep: Can't sleep? No one actually counts sheep. Falling asleep shouldn't be arduous enough that you have to think about… sheep. Casper made bedtime the best time by reminding you that you can count the things you get the most joy from: Pizza slices, rainbows, classic movies from the '80s, Monopoly money, beach balls, and presents! Each week we grab our favorite items and count something new to send you straight to dreamland.
Boring you to bed: Some nights you just can't fall asleep — even if you have the most comfortable mattress of them all. Maybe you had too much coffee or have too many emails in your inbox. Each week at midnight, we snap the most boring things we can find to send you snoozing. From 100 seconds of wet paint drying to a leaky faucet endlessly drinking to snapping nothing (that's right, just black screens with crickets chirping), we know what you need to watch to doze off.
Creating Late Night Snap Hacks: Even the biggest social butterflies sometimes like to stay in and do nothing but order pizza and sleep on a Friday night. We made a sneaky website with snappable videos, so users can take fake Snapchat stories to make it look like they're out on the town... from bed. Your friends will think you're at a bar, club, concert, or dinner party, when really, you're hitting "next episode" at home.
Casper's Snapchat has been applauded by Fast Company as one of the best startup Snapchat accounts and Refinery29 called us "the internet's favorite mattress." We grew our Snapchat following by 500% over the course of the year. Every day we hold lengthy convos with our customers who respond to our snaps. We even get a plethora of snaps from new Casper owners documenting their unboxing of the mattress. Casper has such an engaged audience, that we've been able to use Snapchat as another channel for customer service, helping with product questions and bed making tips. It's easier to show a customer how to put on a sheet than tell.
Late Night Snap Hacks was used and praised by celebrities like the Lonely Island and Ashton Kutcher, and featured in Mashable, Teen Vogue, Billboard, The Next Web, and The Daily Dot. Not to mention: It was also featured front and center on Mashable's Snapchat Discover feed. The site saw more than hundreds of thousands of site views within the first few days of launch.
