How Discord aids brands’ quest to engage fans around ’emergent culture’

Marketing Dive says that Chipotle, Hot Topic, and Jack in the Box are among the marketers that have established a foothold on the group chat platform.

Social media apps continually push marketers to find the latest usage trends. Chat app Discord in the past year surged in popularity as people sought ways to meet with friends online. Jesse Nicely is vice president and group strategy director at Cashmere Agency:

“Discord’s fast-paced nature makes it fertile ground for emergent culture and trends and allows brands the opportunity to constantly engage with consumers on interesting topics. At the same time, users can curate more intimate spaces for themselves and their friends while also scaling to larger communities, if desired.”

Discord allows people to have live conversations by voice, video, and text, both in private chats and groups called servers that are mostly invite-only. Discord’s roots are in communities of gamers, but the platform’s users also create servers to talk about other topics with people who share interests. Nicely says that offers marketers an opportunity:

“Brands can authentically engage with consumers on Discord by leveraging what is already appealing about Discord to consumers — forming relationships around common interests and having discussions in real time. It also helps to have specific perks or surprises for the consumer that are exclusive and unique to Discord.”

Discord makes money from subscriptions to its Nitro service. Nitro members receive perks like bigger file uploads, special emoji, and better video quality. Discord provides a forum for interactions in real time, so it’s well suited for virtual events. Community engagement on the platform has a variety of other applications, as seen with Chipotle’s virtual job fair on the platform. Nicely says that makes Discord stand out from a host of other social media options:

“Discord feels different from other social media platforms in the way its functionality and structure enable a channel to build highly engaged communities while simultaneously allowing users to maintain a level of intimacy and anonymity. Discord represents a shift in what we see as ‘normal’ social media platforms. The people really create an intimate community to discuss and be a part of something specific, and not just focus on growing their specific followers.”