Is Snapchat relevant anymore?
A couple of years ago, Snapchat was THE Hot App. It was where young millennials and Gen Zs poured in to share videos that disappeared after 24 hours, or after a single view. It felt a little dangerous and sexy, with the unspoken implication being that you could send provocative images somewhat safely if you were daring enough to take that risk.
However, the feature that really drew people in, especially among older millennials, was the face filters. Millennials who had led the charge on perfecting perfection on Instagram often couldn’t grasp the point of investing time on Snapchat videos that would expire - how can you possibly build followers on this app? But a feature that could automatically add lashes, contouring and flower crowns? An instant draw for that crowd.
But then Instagram added their own stories feature and quickly improved their face filters and Snapchat slowly lost its relevance again, at least for older Millennials. They retreated back to their Instagram comfort zone.
One of M.T. Deco’s clients, Mariel Darling, a 19-year-old singer, songwriter, and influencer brought us back to Snapchat recently [or are we supposed to call it Snap now?]. She and her friends use it regularly, she gets tons of views on her content, and she was interested in ways to make money on the app. Similar to the TikTok creator fund and the upcoming YouTube Shorts creator fund, Snapchat also has a creator fund called Spotlight . Snap literally doles out $1 million a day to incentivize creators to produce on the platform.
M.T. Deco’s general philosophy on digital and social platforms is to not write any of them off. There can be opportunities to zig when others are zagging. So if, for example, as it pertains to TikTok versus Snapchat, TikTok gets a lot of media coverage. But depending on your digital strategy goals, it might be better to be a big fish in a small pond, especially if there is money to be made.
This recent Vox article “How Snpachat became the forgotten platform” by Terry Nguyen put all our Snapchat thoughts into one cohesive article. The piece opens with Caren Babaknia, a 24-year-old aspiring content creator who has made roughly $100,000 since January from a handful of viral clips on Snapchat. His friends don’t believe him, even though one clip of him and his friends at an In-N-Out earned him $15,000. If his friends do post, they quickly lose steam.
So if cash isn’t the incentive, what is? Short answer, fame. As the article states, “Snap might be the cash cow, but the downside is its lack of cultural relevance. ‘On Snapchat, you’re almost anonymous,’ Babaknia said, explaining that the platform, despite the cash, doesn’t raise a creator’s profile. ‘People want to grow an audience.’” Ah yes, that old millennial mindset creeping back in.
Snapchat’s cultural decline started with its controversial redesign in 2017 that “siloed celebrities, influencers, and brands onto the Discover page, away from users’ actual friends.” In 2018, a tweet from Kylie Jenner and an outcry from Rihanna lambasting the company for hosting an ad that prompted users to either “slap Rihanna” or “punch Chris Brown,” further tanked its stock price.
However, Snapchat persists and at the Snap Partner Summit in May, the company announced that 500 million people use the app monthly, with about 280 million checking it daily. Snap brought in about $2.5 billion in 2020 and $770 million in the first quarter of 2021, with most of its revenue generated through advertising. Talk about a comeback. According to Nguyen, “Snap is reportedly on about half of all American smartphones and reaches 90 percent of Americans ages 13 to 24. The monthly audience for its Discover feature is greater than Netflix’s (although that might be an irrelevant comparison, based on the type and length of content).” Snapchat is definitely an opportunity for the right creators.
But it seems that even Snapchat doesn’t know where it’s heading. It considers itself a camera company with it’s future likely in AR capabilities [like Snap Kit and Lens Studio] and some investors see this being at the “forefront of the Metaverse.” As Nguyen states “Snap, as it proved in 2018, doesn’t really need traditional influencers or content creators, though — not in the way TikTok or Instagram does. And perhaps that’s where it falls flat.”
Our pov? Don’t rule Snapchat out, but - as with any platform - don’t put all your eggs into one basket. Here are some considerations to weigh if you’re trying to decide if it’s worth your time:
Who is your target audience? [and does it align with the Snapchat audience?] If you are trying to sell to and build awareness + affinity among a Gen Z target audience, then yes, you should absolutely consider Snapchat as part of your overall digital strategy.
Are you established on Snap at all? If you are already on the app and have an audience [and this audience aligns with your business goals], work Snapchat into your larger content strategy and track analytics to see if you can move the needle there. Remember the audience will tell you if what you’re doing is working.
How comfortable are you with producing video? Please don’t consider this app if you haven’t downloaded it and tried playing around with it yourself. It’s best suited for those who are content creators and passionate about innovating + playing with new tools and features on social platforms.
Are you looking for a revenue stream? While the app isn’t as effective in growing a following as other apps like Instagram and TikTok [and to be fair, that’s not what it’s built for], there’s a real opportunity to make money from their creator fund with your content. So, content creators, get on there and get posting to help actually fund your overall endeavors.
And as for our client Mariel’s strategy, we have encouraged her to stick with Snapchat and to continue sharing her singing, in particular, on the Spotlight platform. We’ve had a handful of hits and a bunch of misses as far as her videos getting posted to Spotlight. We are currently in the process of fine-tuning the most effective way to produce content and actually get it spotlighted, and we are still honing our strategy within the app's current features.
So, do you think Snapchat is worth your time and effort? Let us know in the comments.