There has been a battle brewing between Instagram and Snapchat for many years now. However, with Snap, Inc. recently going public and the earlier introduction of Instagram Stories, the stakes have never been higher.

Instagram Stories launched in August of 2016 and it has quickly amassed a large user base, currently having 200 million daily users. If you take account that the Instagram app itself has over 600 million users, this rapid growth is not surprising.

What is significant, and perhaps troubling, is that Instagram Stories has already surpassed Snapchat’s number of daily users, last reported to be 166 million. These numbers are making brands reconsider their social media strategy. A central question being is Snapchat still worth it?

The digital marketing experts at our Boca Raton full-service advertising agency endeavor to answer that below.

INSTAGRAM STORIES IS WINNING

For years Facebook, Instagram’s parent company realized the high value of Snapchat as a platform. Mark Zuckerberg even tried to buy Snapchat on multiple occasions, however all his offers were turned down. In the end, Facebook settled for a very similar Stories feature, but it placed it within the already existing and hugely popular Instagram app.

Regardless of how it started, the relatively new feature on Instagram has significantly affected Snapchat. Aside from eclipsing Snapchat’s daily user count, Snapchat Stories view counts decreased by 15 to 40 percent according to a TechCrunch report, while posting on the app has also declined. Despite this, Snapchat has not gone into irrelevance.

SNAPCHAT IS YOUTHFUL AND FUN

Even though both Instagram and Snapchat have core audiences with similar characteristics, Snapchat continues to hold an advantage over the younger demographic, with 60 percent of Snapchat users under 25 years old. Another promising statistic — the average Snapchat user spends around 30 minutes on the app daily, while the average Instagram only spends 15 minutes per day.

With its wide variety of fun filters and editing options, Snapchat is great for quirky, creative, and bold brands wishing to reach the teenage and young adult markets with their social media strategy. Unlike Instagram posts and even Instagram Stories, Snapchat content doesn’t have to be as professional-looking and stylized. You can truly showcase casual and authentic sides of your brand and insight into your company culture.

Instagram versus Snapchat? Perhaps, it is too soon to ask this question. As it stands now, both platforms have their own strengths and provide their own benefits. If you would like to find out how our Boca Raton full-service advertising agency can help you elevate your social media strategy and company’s marketing overall, call Keenability today.

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