What Marketers Need to Know Ahead of Snapchat’s Earnings

As you’re probably aware, social-focused messaging app Snapchat became a public company in March 2017. Since then, the question that everyone, including investors, marketers, and creators, has been asking is “how are they doing?” Starting on May 10, we may get an answer. With Facebook’s Instagram doing all they can to copy the nascent company’s most popular features, and millions of ad dollars riding on Snap’s performance, it promises to be a revealing moment for the world of advertising and influencer marketing. Here are a few key topics to pay attention to when the earnings news breaks on May 10th:

1. Are Snapchat’s “daily average users” growing? One of the big stories in the months leading up to Snapchat’s debut as a public company was the rapid rise in the number of users returning to its app each day. But thanks to a concerted push by Instagram to replicate many of Snapchat’s most popular features, like its “Stories” tool, there are concerns that Snapchat’s growth has leveled off. May 10th will offer a good indication of whether the high-flying company is seeing more users, or if it’s still having problems growing.
2. What are the next steps for product innovation? While it’s not always a given that a company will release news of new products during an earnings call, any product news that breaks during the event would certainly be newsworthy. Snapchat kept no secret of its plans for continued product innovation in its investor prospectus, and the company will need to utilize emerging tools like its successful Spectacles product and new ideas augmented reality to ensure it stays at the front of the pack both with consumers and the ever-important creators’ community.
3. What do creators think about Snapchat? It’s not likely Snapchat will say anything about the creators during its call with investors, but it’s a hot topic on many marketers minds. Indeed, there have been signs in 2017 that some creators have tapped out in trying to reach their followers on Snapchat. Instead, many are turning to Instagram or YouTube. If Snapchat turns in mediocre user stats during its earnings report, it may add further weight to the move of creators away from the platform.

It’s still very early days for Snapchat’s time as a public company. But in today’s cutthroat media environment, the fast-growing social company may not have the luxury of waiting too long to find its “groove.” With advertisers, competitors, and creators all anxiously awaiting the company’s next move, the time for bold action is now. Want to gain a better understanding of today’s social media and influencer landscape? Get in touch with the team at Captiv8 today.