Picture messaging platform Snapchat has been facing some difficult times of late with the determination of Facebook and Instagram to overhaul the app appearing to be finally paying dividends. However, despite this, there is some hope for the future of the app.
Recent data published by BTIG Research’s internet and media analyst, Rich Greenfield, shows that users are spending more and more time on Snapchat.
The user base of the platform has not been growing as quickly as anticipated due to a number of factors, with the main reason being the threat of Facebook and Instagram. Ever since Facebook tried to purchase Snapchat unsuccessfully back in 2013, it has been determined to overhaul it and has been relentless in its mission to achieve that goal. It now seems to have the upper hand by cloning all of its features and putting them on popular photo-sharing platform Instagram, which has a larger user base than Snapchat.
This seems to have slowed the growth of the platform, but Greenfield’s research shows that in spite of this, time spent on the app has grown by around 20% in the last six months. Snapchat users spent an average of 32.8 minutes a day on the app, which is up from the 30.3 minutes a day from Q1 of 2017 and the 27.5 minutes of Q4 in 2016, meaning that since the end of the year, it has seen this metric increase by 20% at a time when Instagram offered its own version of Snapchat’s main feature – Stories.
Furthermore, the research shows that Snapchat users under the age of 25 spend an average of 42 minutes each day on the platform, which is also an increase on the 33.4-minute spend in Q4 2016 – this equates to a rise of around 26%. These statistics are also better than those of main rival Instagram, where it was found that users under the age of 25 spend “more than 32 minutes a day.” This supports recent studies that suggest that Snapchat continues to be more popular than Instagram among millennials aged 18-24.
Snapchat also shared some of these statistics, along with others, in its latest financial reports, but these were not as thorough or specific.
According to Greenfield, Snapchat has taken these punches from Instagram well and is still growing at a steady rate in terms of user engagement. He also highlights that it would have performed better without the tough competition from Instagram and that the two versions of the Stories feature appear to be able to coexist.
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