Conceived as a platform for pictures that expire within seconds, Snapchat?s founding premise back in 2011 was?quite literally?ephemeral. But five years on, with 150 million daily active users sending Snaps and content available for up to 24 hours, Snapchat is anything but, which is why brand owners that are not giving the platform serious consideration risk missing a trick.
The potential for brand owners is significant.
Snapchat is now the application of choice for younger mobile users. It reaches 41 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds in the U.S., compared with the 6 percent reached by the top 15 TV networks, Nielsen data shows. But use is growing among older users, too?one-half of new daily users in the U.S. are aged 25-plus, Snapchat vice president of content Nick Bell recently revealed at Advertising Week Europe. Its audience is active and engaged, too, with more than 65 percent of its 150 million daily Snapchatters creating photos and videos. And in just eight weeks, the number of video views on Snapchat rose from 8 billion to 10 billion between February and April.
More than one in three of these active users create Stories, video and photo snaps lasting a full day?an enhancement post-launch to make content less ephemeral. Meanwhile, dwell time is growing quickly, as people spend on average 25 to 30 minutes every day using the platform.
Snapchat enables advertisers to appeal to young mobile users in new and creative ways through three advertising formats.
Brand owners can ...