Screenshot marketing = the ultimate curiosity hook 🪝

Peeking into the WhatsApp and iMessage of others is a powerful marketing tool

Hello everyone!

Still on my honeymoon.

I’m writing this week’s newsletter from our villa at Four Seasons Koh Samui, where HBO just finished filming season 3 of The White Lotus (for real).

Okay, enough about me. Let’s talk about one of my favorite marketing ideas. 👇

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Based on my experience, there are 3 types of graphics that, when shown, immediately make people stop scrolling their feeds:

1. Nostalgic content 

2. Oddly satisfying visuals 

3. Private chats (i.e. iMessage / Whatsapp screenshots) 

Today, we dive into private chats—and our mad curiosity to peek into the personal conversations of others.

The “Screenshot Marketing” Trend 🔥

People are naturally nosy.

When a leaked DM or group chat screenshot appears on our social media feed, we stop and read.

In 2017, this poster mimicking an iMessage chat between a designer and a producer went viral with 12,000 retweets:

And when Wiz researchers discovered a huge data leak from a Microsoft AI team, we shared a (censored) private chat from the leak.

Result? Our most viral tweet ever.

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Chat Screenshot Marketing: A Tactical Guide 📸

As a rule of thumb:

Whenever you have an ethical chance to publish a real screenshot from iMessage/Teams/Slack/WhatsApp—you should.

Don’t have a genuine opportunity? Consider staging the perfect chat:

1. Behind-the-Scenes Employee Discussions 👂

New products, insider secrets. Bring your audience into your world. Create a fake conversation between 2 employees about an upcoming product launch or event.

2. Customer Testimonials 💌

Happy customers speaking with your CSMs? Their words = your win! (Get permission)

3. FAQs in Action 🙋🏻

Answer commonly asked questions in a chat screenshot format. Much more engaging & personal than the usual web page with collapsable bulks of text.

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For example, here are some ideas for chats you can stage:

• A CEO telling an exec about some company-level news for the first time;

• A real customer talking about something cool they did with the product;

• A marketing manager getting excited about an upcoming webinar;

• A designer asking for details about an upcoming booth at a conference.

Heck yeah—even your screenshots of chats with AI chatbots could work!

P.S. Peeking into private calendars is also a nice hook. Check out this KitKat campaign that utilizes it:

Curiosity is a powerful motivator, and personal conversations can be your secret weapon.

See you next week ✌️

Tom

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