Snapchat users are surprisingly loyal (SNAP)

pulse

May 5, 2017 3:59 PM

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Snapchat may be faring Facebook’s copycat functionality updates better than expected, recent data from App Annie suggests.

Contrary to current sentiment, an analysis of smartphone users across the US showed that although Snapchat users were likely also Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger users, a significant number of Snapchat users aren’t accessing the rival social sites on a daily basis. For daily US Snapchat users, 35% don’t use Facebook, 46% don’t use Instagram, and 58% don’t use Messenger.

This suggests that although Facebook’s copycat antics have encroached on some of Snapchat’s user base, it’s unlikely going to become a total Snapchat replacement. Moreover, while Facebook continues to innovate its platforms’ offerings to attract more of Snapchat’s coveted millennial user base, Snapchat is taking steps to protect its business; for example, the company recently acquired the patent for ‘geofilters’ from Mobli. Owning the patent for this integral technology could help the company shore up against the threat of imitators.

Mobile-app makers and content creators are vying for consumer attention in a crowded and noisy market.

Even if an app can stand out enough to prompt a consumer to download it from among a list of millions, it then faces the challenge of enticing him or her to use it enough times to recuperate development, maintenance, and marketing costs. To make matters worse, those marketing costs have hit record-high levels over the past year as discoverability has become more challenging.

And while consumers are spending more time in apps, most of that time is spent in a few favorites. Consumers spend almost three-quarters of their total smartphone app time in just their three favorite apps, according to comScore.

But it's not all doom and gloom: There are numerous tools at a publisher's disposal to engage and re-engage consumers, and there are new products and solutions coming to market that can help alleviate some of the issues around this app engagement crisis.

Jessica Smith, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on app engagement that explores the current state of the app market, the issues around engaging consumers, and the tools at a publisher's disposal. It also identifies best practices for the implementation of some app engagement tools, and presents the pitfalls that some publishers fall into in this pursuit.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

In full, the report:

Interested in getting the full report? Here are two ways to access it:

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