Snapchat is frequently forgotten about when thinking about the media mix.
This may be because of how private a channel it is and the audience skewing towards the younger end. It’s often used for personal conversations that people don’t want a record of. A stance particularly prevalent across a younger generation that understand the risks of having remnants of thoughts and opinions littered across the internet.
It’s also rather popular in regions where personal and political freedoms are restricted.
So, is it valuable for businesses?
Well, one way to look at the value of any app is to understand how active users are. Another, that you couldn’t compare across channels as it’s still quite rare, is if a user is willing to pay for new features.
Since last summer Snapchat has been on a mission to improve revenue streams and has managed to convince 2 million users to pay $3.99 a month for premium features such as seeing who re-watched your story. 1 million of those users subscribed in the first month.
With Twitter monetising verification badges, and Instagram reportedly working on something similar, have we entered a new stage of social where channels have to prove new revenue streams for investors, and users have to pay regular fees or be left with basic versions?