When we think about social media platforms, Snapchat always makes the top list as it has been one of the most popular platforms since its inception. The company is valued at more than one billion dollars right now.
That was possible because of their loyal customer base, highly skilled employees, positive brand image, and unique idea. But, in recent days, the market has been getting more competitive, with giant tech companies trying to capture the market.
We will get to know more in this Snapchat SWOT analysis.
Snap Inc: Company Overview
| Company | Snap Inc. |
| Industry | Social Media |
| Founded | 16 September, 2011 |
| Founder | Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, Reggie Brown |
| CEO | Evan Spiegel |
| Headquarter | Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| No. of Employees | 5,661+ |
| Annual Revenue | $4.12 billion (FY 2021) |
| Website | snapchat.com |
There were 34 failed business ideas before Snapchat in 2011 by the founders Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Frank Reginald Brown. And at first, Snapchat wasn’t even the actual name; it was Picaboo.
At that time, there were already tons of messaging apps, but Snapchat’s idea was unique and different. Because of that, Snapchat is now one of the most used and popular social media platforms around the globe, with 363 M daily users.
With $4.12 B of revenue and a loyal customer base, Snapchat is continuously coming up with new and innovative ideas to disrupt the market. Although there are always some controversies around the company and it’s hampering the image.
Product & Services of Snap Inc.
Snapchat | Spectacles | Bitmoji
Snapchat Competitors
Facebook | Instagram | Tiktok | Twitter | WhatsApp | WeChat | Wickr | Telegram
Did You Know?
Snapchat was this close to being halted from launching. A month ago, the co-founders had a falling out at the launching event, and they cut off communication.
Strengths – Snapchat SWOT Analysis
Unique Market Offerings: Snapchat’s core product, which is its unique idea, have disrupted the market. It’s not just a multi-media messaging chat idea or app out of the box, but it also comes with a new type of social culture that represents the target market or this specific generation. Because of that, they were able to capture the market swiftly.
Excellent User Interface (UI): These days, users want convenience and an easy-to-go interface. Its interface and mobile-friendliness were significant reasons behind adopting the idea. And, as their target customer is mostly Gen Z and after that, users wanted more new and unique to play with, and they absolutely loved the interface.
Strong Privacy: Snapchat has one of the best privacy protection ever. It comes with end-to-end encryption on every type of content, such as images, videos, and everything else. It doesn’t let others take a screenshot which is another protection level. And the 2018 update made it almost unbreachable, making the app more popular for those who want more privacy in their data.
Motivated & Skilled Employees: Snapchat has one of the most rigorous and lengthy hiring processes. They ensure that the recruits are highly skilled and motivated and can bring something new. Not just that, the company also put a lot of effort into making them better with exclusive training.
Positive Brand Image: As mentioned, Snapchat is known for its strong privacy protection, which is one of the significant factors behind its being one of the most popular social platforms. It has a positive image for its users and employees, which makes it possible for them to scale the business more.
Loyal User Base: Snapchat has one of the most extensive users ever. And it has been increasing since. In 2022, the daily user of Snapchat was 363 M, an 18% increase, making it one of the most used apps globally. Users prefer using it because of its unique feature and strong privacy.
Weaknesses – Snapchat SWOT Analysis
Less Diversified Services: Snapchat is limited to a few services and failed to move from its core area of expertise. A couple of years back, and time and time again, they tried to come up with different services, which seemed like a complete disaster, thus not being able to diversify the business.
Weak Financial Planning: If we look at their overall finance, they are heavily unorganized and over-dependent on a single revenue model. They attempted several times to diversify their business model, and the investments were a total loss and proved that their overall financial planning needed to be stronger.
Low Professionalism: Tech companies these days are filled with youngsters and people who want to go against the world’s rules. But, from a societal point of view, overall mannerism needs to be in the company to maintain its reputation. In that case, Snapchat still needs to prove to be a severe company in terms of professionalism.
Several Controversies: From the company’s inception, controversies have become another synonym. As most users are teenagers, the parents don’t feel safe. Besides, as it has strong privacy, it has become a heaven for scammers and hackers. Snapchat is facing a lawsuit where users purchased illegal drugs through the app and died.
Low Diversified Revenue: Snapchat’s primary revenue source comes from only one category: advertisement. In 2022, their total revenue was $1.128 B, and more than 90% was from this single sector, making it over-dependent on a single revenue model.
Opportunities – Snapchat SWOT Analysis
New Features: In a competitive market like technology, innovation is part of another name to survive. And, with the brain and consistent out-of-the-box ideas, keeping up with the trend is and always will be a survival factor. Besides, they are always bringing something new to the market.
Expand Target Market: Snapchat launched and captured the market when the generation was perfect and ready to adopt something like this. But, in the upcoming days, they need to expand the target market and grow the daily users to survive in the long run.
Efficient Scalability: In 2022, the average daily users of Snapchat was around 363 M, whereas the total number of social media users was 4.74B. The statistics show enough opportunities to scale the business in other target markets.
More Engagement: Even though the number of users on Snapchat is pretty high, in reality, the number of users has decreased, and so has the average engagement. So they can develop more modern and innovative features to get more engagement in the app.
Threats – Snapchat SWOT Analysis
Competitive Market: There are tons of other giant tech companies and social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, and other sites, that have almost similar products. It’s challenging to stay relevant and trendy and develop new ideas in a competitive market like this.
Policy Restrictions: Snapchat continuously faces lawsuits and hundreds of legal restrictions. Many governments have restricted, introduced new laws and regulations, and even banned Snapchat in those countries. And it has become one of the significant threats to expanding the market.
Changing Mindset: Customers always want something new. As Snapchat has disrupted the market with its unique ideas, there are enough possibilities that if someone comes up with new ideas, customers will shift to that and will prefer and change their mindset. We can see Whatsapp and Telegram as an example.
Negative Feedback: With the growing rate of data hacks and privacy breaches, there is always enough negative feedback against Snapchat. Facing cyberbullying on Snapchat has become a common concern they can’t control. Besides, the increasing rate of vulgar content and purchasing illegal drugs has become a major issue.
[Bonus Infographic] SWOT Analysis of Snapchat
Recommendations for Snapchat
The reason behind the SWOT analysis is to observe the internal and external factors and develop recommendations for the company to survive in the market. And here they are;
- They should focus on making more organized financial planning.
- Having skilled employees is great, but professionalism is a must in the business world, which they should work on.
- Snapchat should address the controversies and try to clear them out.
- The revenue model should be more diversified.
- They should work on building more engagement campaigns to increase the rate.
- They should focus on diversifying the target market and developing new ideas to engage them.
- Always trying to keep up with the trend is a must for social media platforms.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can We Use Snapchat on Chrome?
Yes, you can use Snapchat on Chrome. Most browsers are compatible with Snapchat.
Can You Use Snapchat Without a Phone Number?
Yes, you can use Snapchat without a phone number. You can sign into the app with your email credentials.
Final Words on Snapchat SWOT Analysis
In the upcoming years, Snapchat is going to face a lot of difficulties. But, with a loyal customer base, consistent innovation, and motivated and skilled employees, hopefully, they will keep coming up with new ideas. And as a result, we will continue to notice new and innovative ideas and heavy battling among the social media platform.
References
- Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Snap Inc. Wikipedia.
- Snap Statistics – Snapchat Market Share, Facts, Stats, & Trends (2023). (n.d.). WallStreetZen.
- Privacy Policy – Data Policy. (n.d.). Snapchat.
- What is the hiring process at Snap? (2022, July 28). Zippia.
- Dixon, S. (2022b, November 25). Leading countries based on Snapchat audience size as of April 2022. Statista.
- Dixon, S. (2022a, October 24). Number of daily active Snapchat users from 1st quarter 2014 to 3rd quarter 2022. Statista.
- Owens, S. (2017, May 31). Snap is not doing enough to diversify its business. Medium.
- Conklin, A. (2023, January 14). Snapchat lawsuit alleges 8 fentanyl deaths across 6 states resulted from pills purchased through app. Yahoo.
- Snap Revenue 2016-2022 | SNAP. (n.d.). MacroTrends.
- Snapchat looks back at the top augmented reality campaigns of 2022. (2022, December 19). Mediaweek.
- Global Social Media Statistics. (n.d.). DataReportal.
- Harper, S. (2022, May 24). Snapchat Is Facing a Class Action Lawsuit in 2022 –– Here Are the Details. Distractify.
- Bennett, W. (2019, October 23). Teens Share Snapchat Bullying Stories. Teen Vogue.
