Snapchat Video Traffic is Solid Gold to Advertisers
Lucas Fulks
Snapchat has reached “Facebook Status” in terms of daily video views.
This is not only impressive but almost unbelievable and very important to advertisers. While this achievement is obviously a big deal, this story didn’t get near the attention it deserves. The aim of this blog is to put it into perspective.
Before the big reveal, however, let’s address a concern many have expressed, that this is a comparison of apples and oranges. The main argument is, “ Snapchat is made for videos and pictures, while Facebook is primarily a platform comprised of text with videos and pictures as an afterthought. Why is this a big deal?” While this was certainly the case at one point, it no longer applies.
In fact, to dispel this misplaced skepticism, I’ll check my Facebook. Of the first 10 updates on my newsfeed, 4 are videos and the other 6 contain user-generated photos. That certainly sounds like apples and apples to me. Furthermore, a simple comparison of three things should convince any nonbeliever that this milestone commands more attention, especially that of advertisers.
Snapchatters do it Daily
If Snapchat’s daily video traffic reaching that of Facebook isn’t impressive enough for you, then consider the fact that Snapchat did this with about 10% of the number of daily active users. Don’t worry, you’re not going crazy, I actually did just say 10%.
According to the most recent, credible statistics, Facebook has 1.04 billion daily active users whereas Snapchat has around 100 million. It’s also worth noting that the 8 billion video views from Facebook come from only 500 million of its users, but even then Snapchat is still outmatched 5 to 1 in terms of users who are watching videos. To sum it up, Snapchat users consume at least 5 times the video content of Facebook users.
A View by any Other Name…
When comparing the number of video views on two different platforms it is important to understand how a view is defined by each platform.
Facebook defines a view as any video that runs for 3 or more seconds. As users scroll through their news feed if a video auto-plays for more than 3 seconds then it counts as a view. Because of this auto-run feature, videos may run all the way through without ever catching the eye of the user. Facebook users could be racking up video views without even knowing a video is playing.
Snapchat counts any video rendering as a video view. It may seem like Snapchat is padding its numbers by not having a minimum runtime to qualify as a video view, but that’s simply not the case. Even if the user decides to skip the video by tapping the screen, they have physically seen that first second of the video. Every single Snapchat video view corresponds to a user seeing some or all of the respective video content.
Snapchat Videos are TARGETED
On one hand there’s Facebook, a platform optimized for videos (user-generated and otherwise) to be discovered, shared, and distributed as much as possible. Here videos exist indefinitely. Facebook’s views could come from dated, 3rd party uploaded videos reaching a large, untargeted audience.
On the other hand is Snapchat, where all videos are user-generated and are practically undiscoverable with the exception of a select few. Snapchat videos cease to exist after 24 hours. Simply put, Snapchat’s 8 billion daily video views are entirely comprised of user-generated content created for, targeted at, and consumed by a very intentional audience all within a 24 hour period. Bullseye!
Why Advertisers Should Care
Collectively, all of this suggests that Snapchat is an untapped goldmine for advertisers. Snapchat has reached the same number of daily video views as Facebook with a tenth of the daily active users. This shows that the average Snapchat users are consuming far more media than Facebook’s average user.
Snapchat’s confirmed views, as opposed to Facebook’s ambiguous 3-second runtime view, means they actually correlate to an impression.
Most impressively, Snapchat’s views are from a targeted and intentional viewer meaning at scale advertisers have the ability to target hyper-niche audiences.
Also, as the number of Snapchat users grows, advertisers can expect an exponential amount of ROI on their campaigns.
As always, only time will tell which platform will win the video war. But, if I had to bet, my money would be on Snapchat.
Previously Posted: www.blog.gnackapp.com
