Snapchat has posted its Q1 2022 performance update, showing steady increases in both users and revenue as the platform continues to solidify its niche in the social media landscape.
First off, on users – Snap added 13 million more daily actives in Q1 2022, taking it up to 332 million.
As you can see, the vast majority of that growth has come from the ‘Rest of the World’ category, with India, in particular, seeing solid ongoing take-up of Snap as mobile adoption continues to rise in the nation.
That’s become an increasingly important focus for Snap, and indeed, all social media platforms, with India’s massive population offering big opportunity for reach and growth, especially as the region’s digital evolution continues.
Though that doesn’t offer as much help on the revenue side, with the majority of Snapchat’s intake still coming from North American users.
Snap still has some work to do on this front, and that’s an ongoing concern with developing markets – expanding reach is one thing, but generating revenue is a longer-term prospect, that will likely require region-specific focus and products. Still, Snap’s numbers are steadily rising, and with more and more users to show ads to, that can only help to entice more ad partners to come on board, enhancing its prospects in this respect.
In terms of usage trends, Snap says that it‘s continued to see rising interest in its AR tools, with over 250 million Snapchatters now engaging with its AR elements every day. Over 250,000 creators have also now built more than 2.5 million Lenses via its Lens Studio and other creation initiatives, while Snap also notes that users ‘played with Lenses created by our community more than twice as much this quarter when compared to Q1 2021’.
The increasing interest in community created AR tools helps to expand Snap’s creative elements, and keep it on top of the latest trends, while the focus on AR will also help Snap evolve into the next stage of digital connection, and keep up with the bigger players in the space.
Which is really where Snap can win out – while Apple and Meta have far more resources at their disposal, Snap has repeatedly shown that it’s far better than them at staying in touch with key trends, and building AR features that appeal to its user base. Most of the viral AR trends over time have stemmed from Snapchat, and if it can maintain that nous, in line with the advancement of its AR creation tools, that will help to ensure that Snap remains a key leader in the AR space, even if Meta launches its own AR glasses sooner, in an effort to dominate the space.
Snap’s also working to develop more innovative AR, and potentially VR tools via its Bitmoji avatars – and it’s worth noting that Snap’s leadership team has used 3D Bitmoji characters as their profile pics in its Q1 report within this context.
Read more: socialmediatoday.com
