Snapchat has just started to roll out Snapchat+, a new way for customers to subscribe to the app for $3.99 per month. According to Snapchat, this subscription will “allow us to deliver new Snapchat features to some of the most passionate members of our community and allow us to provide prioritized support.” Snapchat+ will be available at launch in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. So, what does this mean for marketers?
Over 332 million people worldwide use Snapchat every day. The app, for years, has been a place that people can document their lives with 24 hour stories as well as a way to chat with friends. These stories in fact were the blueprint for Instagram, Facebook and Whatsapp to create their own way for sharing an image for 24 hours. With the option of a subscription service, marketers may worry that the fee may include a loss of advertisements to all who become a subscriber. This is a valid worry. Snapchat is a large social media platform to advertise from and although it may not be as large as Facebook and Instagram, it’s still widely used by advertisers.
Snapchat+ is Snapchat’s premium subscription that offers users access to “a collection of exclusive, experimental, and pre-release features” in the messaging app. It comes with a bunch of perks, including the option to pin a friend as a BFF, an exclusive badge, story rewatch count, and more. However, it’s worth noting that Snapchat+ subscription doesn’t remove ads on the platform! This is great news for advertisers although maybe not so good news for users.
As part of the Snapchat+ subscription, you will also get an elusive star icon next to your Snapchat profile name to indicate that you are a Snapchat+ subscriber. Others will presumably see your Snapchat+ badge when they visit your profile.
Ghost Trails on Snap Maps makes it possible to check the location history of friends for the past 24 hours. It’s worth mentioning that Ghost Trails will be visible only if your friend is sharing their location with you.
So what do you think? It doesn’t seem as if Snapchat+ is going to rock the marketing world as we will still be able to use advertising. We’ll see how consumers like Snapchat+ in the coming weeks!
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