The Story
Snapchat, an app that once prided itself on its unique appeal to millennials, is quickly becoming (dare we say it) obsolete as Instagram continues to close the gap in differences between the two app’s offerings. Both apps feature 24-hour disappearing “stories” and, thanks to Instagram’s latest update, both apps now have a variety of face filters to utilize. With Instagram and Snapchat offering practically identical features, it can be tricky to decide which platform your brand should utilize. Ultimately, this decision rests on your target audience and engagement goals.
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Audience
Instagram stories reach a far larger audience than Snapchat stories, allowing your brand to spread more awareness. While Snapchat has 158 million daily users, Instagram boasts 400 million daily active users of whom 200 million are daily story viewers. Instagram’s scale surpasses Snapchats by far; however, brands with niche content catered to a younger audience should still consider Snapchat for a more tailored approach.
Aside from sheer numbers, audience demographic is another key factor in determining which platform best fits your brand. The average snapchat user is a female between 18 and 24 years old and lives outside the United States. Instagram’s average user age spans from 18 to 29 years old, reaching a much larger audience than Snapchat. If your brand is looking to reach a diverse audience in a short amount of time, Instagram offers the perfect opportunity.
Engagement & Reach
A major part of understanding each platform’s audience is having awareness of the pool of viewers that each app holds and how this affects engagement. Snapchat has a younger audience who is likely to engage with niche brands and “add” that brand to their contact list. However, the drawback of Snapchat is that engagement ends there. As soon as a viewer finishes watching a story, there is no way to comment, like, or show other viewers the story. The benefit of using Instagram for posting stories is that more people have the chance to see them thanks to the “discover” page which curates posts based on one’s likes and followers. After watching a story, Instagram users can follow the account’s page, like and comment on content and share the account with friends, creating a ripple effect that boosts followers and engagement.
Lastly, it is important that your brand considers cost when choosing an advertising or engagement platform if you are looking to utilize formal story ads. Ad Age reports that, in a campaign study, 4.5% of Instagram users watched the story ad until the end, as opposed to 3.5% of Snapchat users. Though your brand may not choose to peruse traditional advertising on either platform, these statistics are still important to consider because every story you post on either app is a form of personal advertisement for your brand (regardless of whether it was strategically developed and posted). No matter what content you post in your story, the goal is to have users watch it in its entirety.
The Bottom Line
Since the features on both Snapchat and Instagram are nearly the same, your brand should consider both its personal identity and its goals for customer engagement when choosing a platform. While Snapchat offers a more targeted audience and casual environment, Instagram stories reach a larger, more diverse audience that can propel your brand forward and engage new customers. In our opinion, Instagram offers the superior platform for posting stories that will reach a wide audience and help grow your brand. With either platform, your stories are sure to catch the eye of customers and keep them engaged.
To find out how LMS can help you grow your social media and stories, click here!