Dive Brief:

• Twitter has launched a new sticker feature, according to a company blog post.
• Users can now add stickers to their photos. When someone clicks on a photo including a sticker, they will be taken to a page with more images featuring the same sticker.
• Twitter described its sticker feature as a "new, visual spin on the hashtag."

Coming soon! Unleash your creativity by adding fun #Stickers to your photos on Twitter: https://t.co/Ph92Oivyhy pic.twitter.com/NZoM6nHenD

— Twitter (@twitter) June 27, 2016

Dive Insight:

After Snapchat popularized adding stickers and other cartoonish visual elements to photos and videos, Twitter is bringing its own version of stickers to its platform. Stickers are popular, particularly with younger demographics, but like emojis, they represent a new element for marketers to understand.

Marketers whose target audience uses stickers will want to run tests to see if adding stickers to their images can increase engagement. Because Twitter sends its users to pages featuring photos with the same sticker, taking advantage of popular stickers might be a way to create brand awareness in a process similar to using a popular hashtag to get noticed.

The feature will begin rolling out for iOS and Android users in the coming weeks, according to Twitter. “After you Tweet a photo with stickers on it, your photo becomes searchable in a new, visual spin on the hashtag," Sasank Reddy, senior product manager, explained the feature in the post. "Tapping on a sticker in a Tweet takes you to a new timeline, where you can see how people all over the world use that sticker in different ways.”

Twitter has struggled to attract new users and advertising dollars in recent quarters, increasing pressure from investors. In an effort to turn around the company's performance, Twitter has been active in announcing new features after bringing Jack Dorsey back as CEO last year. This year, it has made a strong push into live video in an effort to keep pace with Snapchat, Facebook Live and YouTube.

Connect your photos to the world with a visual spin on hashtags: tap #Stickers to peel back a fun new way to search. pic.twitter.com/YVy7r53Nja

— Twitter (@twitter) June 27, 2016