Do you think that the number of shares via direct message, which is currently so important on various platforms, is a more meaningful metric for the relevance of content than likes?
Snapchat is a visual messenger that connects people with their friends and invites them to share real life moments. When I share a story or a creator spotlight with my closest friends, it’s usually because I can relate to the situation – whether it’s funny, interesting or inspiring. That’s certainly a factor in how relevant or engaging the content is to the community. Because when do we share content? When it’s real, authentic and relatable. And that’s exactly what Snapchat is all about.
Creators are often told not to focus on specific metrics, but to try to build and grow a strong community (sometimes with the goal of making money). Are there certain measurable aspects they should focus on, such as chat interactions related to their content?
A strong community is the foundation for creator success. On Snapchat, creators have super fans, which means they are genuinely interested in them and love getting unfiltered behind-the-scenes insights. When creators show their true selves, it leads to more and genuine engagement. It feels like a personal connection. Then, when creators recommend something, it’s like a friend is recommending it, which is extremely valuable for brands.
For example, how can creators get more engagement on Snapchat?
The community loves real, imperfect content on Snapchat. Accordingly, we see that creators have the greatest success with content that is not perfectly staged. At the same time, it remains important to hold the community’s attention. The first second has to catch and only with consistent storytelling will fans stay on the ball – for example, when creators think of stories in chapters. Using Snapchat’s editing and creative tools, such as our AR Lenses, can also enrich the content.
Why is Snapchat such an important platform for those who don’t want to bow to the pressure of likes and such metrics?
Snapchat was designed to be different from other platforms – it’s about real friendships, not perfection. The things you hold back on traditional social networks because they can’t be perfect enough are exactly the things people love on Snapchat. With self-deleting messages by default, limited public comments (only on Spotlight and optional depending on creator preference), no public likes, and no unmoderated news feed, the pressure is much lower and sharing with the community is ultimately more fun.
Snapchat is one of the few platforms that doesn’t focus on the feed, making it easier to give less importance to metrics like likes. How do you think creators should measure their success on the platform, and how do they actually do it?
Creators have access to their audience insights and analytics to better understand what content resonates with their followers. Again, strong community engagement is key to success. In addition, we offer a range of tools and programs for both established and emerging creators to grow their community and monetize their content. Our new Stories Revenue Share program, for example, is a sustainable way to empower creators to build a business on the platform.
Snapchat offers a very unique platform experience. But what do you think is your biggest advantage?
The design of our app is very different from that of traditional social media platforms. Snapchat opens directly with the camera, which makes creating and sharing content on the go very quick and easy. With the invention of the story format in 2013, Snapchat is THE place for creators to build and maintain relationships with their communities by letting their fans accompany them in their everyday lives and by being able to show themselves authentically.
Snapchat was indeed „developed as an antidote to social media,” was part of the wording in a campaign earlier this year. How would you describe the app/platform in this context?
When our founders created Snapchat, it was a direct response to their dislike of social media and the feelings associated with it. From the beginning, they designed Snapchat to be a place where people could share their real selves with their real friends and have a fast, fun, and private way to communicate with them — without the need for digital validation. Our campaign wants to show the world what Snapchat isn’t and what it’s like. To some, we may look like social media, but Snapchatters know we’re not. Snapchat is a place for real relationships and the people who make you happy. And studies back us up: Snapchatters are happier using the app than on other platforms.
Ads on Snapchat are very focused on creator creativity. Creator collab campaigns, sponsored AR filters, and options like these combine creative input with marketing moments. But what basic metrics do companies use to decide where to show their ads?
First things first: We call them AR Lenses, not filters [der Snapchat Blog verkündete im März 2024 auch die Einführung von AR-Filtern, Anmerkung der Redaktion]But, to answer the question: That depends on the goals that brands want to achieve with their activities. Whether they want to create awareness, initiate more app downloads or generate more leads: different parameters prove to be the right KPIs.
Can we expect new advertising opportunities soon, perhaps even related to generative AI?
We are convinced that we can only be successful in the tech industry in the long term if we continuously innovate our products and differentiate them from others. That is exactly what we are currently focusing on.
AI has always been at the core of our technologies and with our chatbot My AI we bring generative AI directly to our community. For advertisers, for example, we have partnered with Microsoft Advertising to embed sponsored links in My AI and connect our community with partners relevant to their conversation.
As user preferences and technological capabilities continue to change, we continue to evolve our offerings to ensure we continue to deliver a great experience for Snapchatters while creating compelling options for creators and brands.
Is Snapchat also interested in limiting app and screen time for users and/or creators? People in Germany opened the app an average of 30 times a day last year.
Our app doesn’t open up to an endless content feed where people tend to passively consume. Snapchat’s most important use case is (and always has been) connecting with friends. Because the well-being of our community is our top priority, we listen to their feedback and focus on supporting the valuable relationships our users have.
What kind of content would you like to see more of on Snapchat?
I’m excited to watch our growing community of creators give Snapchatters a behind-the-scenes look at their exciting lives, sharing their everyday experiences, and always sharing their real and unfiltered perspective. Heidi Klum is a great example of this, as she shares many exclusive snaps from her personal and business life on Snapchat – it’s worth following her!
We would like to thank Ardawan Okhovat very much for the insights in the written interview.
