Most reports stop short of saying that but a number of analytics by several providers as well as social media talent managers agree that there has been a huge decline in preference for Snapchat ever since Instagram Stories was launched.
Snapchat was doing really well in early 2016, but began experiencing a massive drop in growth after the launch of Instagram Stories, a direct competitor which now appears to be running away with the largest part of the market. In fact the drop in Snapchat’s growth is over 80% which is very close to complete stagnation and these stats seem to be hurting Snapchat even as its IPO (Initial Public Offering) hits the market.
Using the technological leverage of parent company, Facebook, Instagram will now allow users to replay live videos on the site, which will not disappear immediately after the livestream. This follows the strategy of Facebook where users are allowed to tune in even after the broadcaster has tuned out. Instagram had first announced Live Stories way back in the beginning of the year and by March, began allowing users to save their own live videos. However, Snapchat is not done and dusted yet and far from that, might want to bypass the negative perception around its inability to scale up as it was doing when it had a monopoly.
Snapchat still has some remarkable analytics to show that this decline in the number of its users is not really the end of the story. In fact, it’s already talking about the deep engagement it enjoys with its users in the stats it shared in its IPO filing which focused on just how much its users liked to open the Snapchat app. The stats mention that the average daily user opens the app around 18 times every day and stays on for up to 30 minutes. Snapchat also informed that 60% of the users create Snaps and use the chat feature every day. This kind of engagement along with vibrant full-screen ads is where all the monetization opportunities lay although Snapchat would have to work harder to convince Wall Street about it.