Here's one sign that Snapchat is dominating Facebook and Google when it comes to instant messaging
In the UK, Snapchat accounts for 75% of all instant messaging data, according to the CEO of mobile carrier Vodafone. We first spotted the stat on Digital Trends.
Here's what Vodafone chief Vittorio Colao said on the company's most recent earnings call last week:
I couldn't believe my eyes when I heard the statistics from the UK. In the UK, if you take all the messaging apps, so Facebook, WhatsApp, whatever, Google, whatever, 75% of the traffic today is Snapchat which means that the upload and the different way of communicating is actually stimulating a lot of usage. Which is why we're convinced that this - our strategy was right in going into bundling mobile and video.
It could be that Snapchat users are using so much data compared with its competitors because the app is designed to send data-heavy videos and photos. While you can send and view videos and photos on other messaging apps, it's not a pre-requisite of their services. Nevertheless, it is another usage metric to measure Snapchat's success versus messaging rivals. Snapchat may only have around 200 million users to Facebook Messenger's 600 million and WhatsApp's 800 million (also owned by Facebook,) but it looks like Snapchat users might be a lot more active.
In January, Snapchat launched its "Discover" section, where media partners such as Vice and Comedy Central share videos and photos designed to be on the app for 24 hours before disappearing. TechCrunch reported in March that Snapchat users' average smartphone data use skyrocketed from around 100 to 150 megabytes per week pre-Discover launch to nearly 400 megabytes per week afterwards.
Vodafone's says Snapchat data consumption has grown 260% in the past six months. While, initially, heavy data usage from customers costs mobile carriers to invest in the infrastructure to support it, over the long-term it can drive up the average revenue they receive from each customer.
And with mobile video usage continuing to grow, Vodafone will be hoping it will be able to upgrade more customers to faster, more expensive 4G data plans. A cohort analysis, which Vodafone used in its presentation to investors during its earnings call last week, shows the value of data to the company. 4G is adding at least £1 ($1.54) in revenue per user.
The majority of Snapchat users are aged between 18 and 34-years-old and, if Vodafone's data is anything to go by, they are heavy users of the app: An ideal medium on which to sell advertising.
