An Elaborated SWOT Analysis of Snapchat- One of the World’s Fastest-Growing Messaging App

Products of Snapchat

            (Snapchat App Store Application, Source: ABC)

• Bitmoji
• Snapchat
• Spectacles
• Looksery

Competitors of Snapchat

Snapchat competes on a global level with many other top social media apps. The top 5 competitors of Snapchat are:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Whatsapp
• Twitter
• Linkedin Premium

Now that we understand the company’s core business, let’s delve into the SWOT analysis of Snapchat.

SWOT Analysis of Snapchat

SWOT analysis of Snapchat will determine the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and hence it is of immense importance for any company to work. It is a tried and true management paradigm that allows companies to compare their business and performance to competitors and the industry as a whole.

Let’s first start by analyzing the strength of Snapchat from the SWOT analysis of Snapchat.

Strengths of Snapchat

• Strong User Base: Over 166 million users are on Snapchat with a growth rate of 36% per year and this data is expected to double in the upcoming years.
• Unique Software: Snapchat has its unique feature of self deletion of messages which makes it different and unique from its competitors. Because of this feature initially, it faced a lot of criticism but later it emerged as one of its biggest plus points.
• Robust Mobile Phone Interface: Many researchers have indicated that the mobile interface of Snapchat is much more user friendly, secure and strong in comparison to its competitors. This has attracted more and more customers over years.
• More Privacy: Snapchat ensures more privacy to its users through the self deletion feature and thus for its target audience which is millennials this serves as a huge advantage. The short life of messages has ensured greater privacy and has reduced the risk of later being misused.
• Higher Customer Engagement: Snapchat uses more visual aids than most of its competitors. Visual stimuli are stronger than text messages and are found to be more engaging.
• The Inclination of the Younger Generation: Snapchat mainly targets the younger generation as its unique features like sharing snaps, making streaks, trying different lenses and filters are more relatable to the young section of the society.

Weaknesses of Snapchat

• Contents Cannot be Shared Outside the Platform: One of the most negative features of Snapchat is that content is not easily shared outside the platform, unlike other social media apps. And the features are such that they may confuse a beginner at first.
• Diversifying: Snapchat made attempts to diversify itself in several areas which ultimately proved to be unsuccessful and made the company lose a lot of money. One of the features of Snapchat that is Snapchat Spectacles proved to be a great failure.
• Declining Users: Snapchat has a limited audience base which consists mainly of the millennials and more than half of the elderly population are still not very well acquainted with it.

Opportunities for Snapchat

• Increase Usage of Smartphones: Smartphones are simple and easy to use in tandem with Snapchat since it helps the user to quickly take pictures and share them easily.
• Improved Scalability: As the technology has advanced the usage of smartphones and other technologies have eventually increased, and as a result apps have started becoming more common and borders non-existent.
• Growing Demand for Privacy: Any Social Media app cannot be a success until and unless it provides great security to its users. And Snapchat has proved to be a loyal social media partner as everything is under the surveillance of the user. Snapchat ensures greater privacy to its users.
• New Features: Over time Snapchat has come up with various new features which have turned out to be attractive for many users. Continue introducing new features can be a magical turning point for the company.
• Customer Engagement: With more people coming on Snapchat it will lead to the growth of the company and can turn out as the biggest opportunity for Snapchat.

Threats to Snapchat

• Competition: As Snapchat is emerging into the field of social media it has threats from both experienced and new competitors, some of them namely Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp, Tango and Talk free.
• Technological Advancements: As Snapchat has its unique feature of instant messaging and its messages remain for a very short duration of time hence technology related to instant messaging is having something new every single time and managing this can be a huge challenge.
• Restrictions: Snapchat has faced several legal challenges since 2011 and so many countries have banned the app which is ultimately affecting the accountability of Snapchat among users.
• Negative Feedback: A lot of users have raised voices over the vulgar content shared through Snapchat which even includes cyberbullying and harassment. These threats should be solved so that it doesn’t become fatal.
• Customer Behaviour: With changing time customers mindsets change too. What is new for today, may lose its glamour tomorrow and this is very true in cyberspace. Customers change their priorities and mindset within the glimpse of an eye and move to something else. So Snapchat should work smartly in a way so that its users don’t lose interest in it.

This ends our elaborated SWOT analysis of Snapchat. Let us conclude our learning below.