Select creators on Snapchat are getting access to analytics data about their audience. This includes insights such as story views, engagement, and demographics.
Only those who are part of Snapchat’s Official Stories program are getting access to this data. Being in the program is like having a verified profile on Instagram, and is limited to creators who have “cultivated a large audience.”
Snapchat previously offered little in the way of analytics data. The only way for a creator to get any kind of data was to look at their own story before it expired and see how many views it received.
Now, not only will story views be logged, but creators can dig deep into the data to see where the views are coming from, how old the viewers are, a breakdown of men and women, and so on.
Creators that are serious about making money and growing their brand on Snapchat should spend some time studying their audience insights. The more that creators know about their audience, the better they can tailor content to those who are most engaged.
Many within the industry are speculating whether this will be enough to lure top creators away from Instagram and back to Snapchat. Instagram became fiercely competitive with Snapchat after mimicking the popular Stories feature. The number of daily active users publishing stories on Instagram has actually exceeded Snapchat’s entire daily active user base.
More and more influencers are opting to share their stories on Instagram, rather than continuously feeding two platforms with content. However, Instagram doesn’t offer a robust analytics service like the one Snapchat is rolling out.
With this move Snapchat is clearly fighting to remain competitive, especially among top influencers. While Snapchat may not be seeing meteoric growth, it’s no slouch either. Snapchat recently gained 10 million new daily active users in Q4 2017, raising the total from 178 million to 187 million. During the same period the company’s revenue grew 72 percent to $285.7 million.
Time will tell if audience insights will drive more top creators to Snapchat and encourage them to spend on advertising. The next quarterly report should answer a lot of questions.
