Recently, you might have comes across social media post criticizing the new changes made by Snapchat. In fact, tricks were offered on how to go back to old design. However, company kept assuring that the new design is aimed to make the App easier, more powerful and engaging. And, that's exactly seems to be happening on the actual front as Snapchat has surpassed Instagram in overall downloads and active users. It is leading the 18-24 age bracket, accounting for 40% of their audience.
According to website intelligence firm SimilarWeb, they compared Snapchat's app metrics to Instagram's, and discovered that Snapchat has made a radical advancements surpassing Instagram in overall downloads and active users. Snapchat is leading the 18-24 age bracket, accounting for 40% of their audience, while Instagram reigns control on the 35-44 bracket.
SimilarWeb said for a long period of time, Instagram was the go-to player in the space, dominating not only overall downloads, but engagement as well. They were in more phones, being used by more people on a more regular basis. As a result, they possess a huge lead in Current Installs, a metric that measures the percentage of Android devices in a given region with the app installed.
“Yet, in recent months the tide seems to be turning, and Snapchat‘s overall Downloads and Active App User numbers have both surpassed Instagram's. The much talked about redesign and the ongoing focus on product innovation seem to be taking hold and more new users are coming while existing users come back to use it even more,” said Liron Hakim Bobrov, Marketing Insights Manager at SimilarWeb.
The battle for engagement between the two comes as they both separate themselves from the wider social media sector. Analyzing usage time between the two on Twitter shows similar trends. Twitter‘s usage time grew 19% over the last 12 months, but this was dwarfed by Instagram's 61% rise and Snapchat's 94% ascent, said web intelligence firm.
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According to SimilarWeb, the current tug of war between the two messaging giants is certainly interesting. The differences are stark as Instagram owns a clear lead with older age groups with 31.4% of their used base coming from users aged 35 and above. On the other end, Snapchat sees only 21.7% of their user base from this range. Instead Snapchat is finding their area of strength in users aged 18-24 with over 40% of their users coming from this audience, as opposed to just over 31% for Instagram, said SimilarWeb.
“With the two brands seeing nearly identical usage from the 25-34 age bracket, the difference in the younger group becomes all the more significant. First, it shows a potential audience that will only grow more valuable over time from an advertising perspective. Second, it means that Snapchat's primary audience is still the youngest, and if they can keep this group involved and engaged, they have a unique advantage moving forward,” said Liron.
