Snapchat Case Study

Brief Intro

Snapchat is an instant messaging app and service developed by Snap Inc., originally Snapchat Inc. One of the principal features of Snapchat is that pictures and messages are usually only available for a short time before they become inaccessible to their recipients.

Brilliant Idea

There was a fundamental dispute about the start of Snapchat. But, the central scene shows three students at Stanford University, Reggie Brown, Evan Spiegel, and Bobby Murphy, that transformed their wish to send images that disappeared after a little while into a multi-billion app. At first, the app was named Picaboo, but in September 2011, Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy renamed it Snapchat. The self – disappearing photos and videos provided two main advantages. Firstly, the limited lifetime of those snaps encouraged users to try the app, and secondly, it removed the concerns of Snapchat’s owners about storing, archiving, and managing those creatives. 

So now let’s see what exactly determined Snapchat’s trajectory point by point.

How did Snapchat do it?

Numerous growth hacks that work are noticed in Snapchat’s strategy.

Word Of Mouth

It’s incredible how effective word-of-mouth can be. In 2011, a few months after its release, Snapchat had only around 100 users. However, a funny tale goes that one of the co-founders’ cousins shared the app with his classmates, which quickly became a sensation among teens worldwide. Because they were curious, many users downloaded the app and were delighted to learn that silly photographs sent at a silly moment disappear forever after the receiver opens the message.

Emojis And Filters

Because most Snapchat users are young, the app owners needed to think about a strategy that would bring Emojis to Snapchat for the joy of their customers. This is why Snapchat spent $100 million last year buying Bitstrips, an Emoji app to adapt the bitmojis to suit the Snapchat style.

Personalization

For Snapchat, everything is different. From the core function of the app to the way users connect with their contacts, everything reveals a personal and human aspect. These characteristics transformed Snapchat into a go-to app for customers who want to impress their friends and brands looking to bring their products in front of their clients. 

The impermanence of snaps and the opportunity offered for its users to share their stories represent the key factors that explain the fast growth of this app. 

As you can see, the least important reason for users to prefer Snapchat is to connect with their friends, maybe because many other apps focus on this primary goal.

The entire complex of user acquisition and retention

The owners of Snapchat soon realised they needed to do more than simply offer a fascinating app because they didn’t do anything particularly noteworthy when they debuted the app. Everything got on the right track just after they started spreading the word about it. The next move was to enhance the app to impress more and more users. Constantly adding improvements and innovative features help them to keep their users addicted to the platform.

Advertising platform

Observing the vast potential represented by the marketing section of the app, the team behind Snapchat managed to create an incredible platform that not only helps brands to promote their products but also finds new ways to transform ads into a playful experience.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Snapchat has proved that focusing your attention on offering your users the product they want before they even realize what they need is the proper way to start your business. In most cases, that is what many app owners dream of accomplishing.