Snapchat's Evan Spiegel has a message for investors: the app is growing quickly, and young people love it.
People using the application for disappearing photos view 8 billion videos a day, the same number that Facebook reports, the CEO told an audience at the Morgan Stanley technology conference on Monday, according to people who saw the presentation. Video views are up more than five times from a year earlier, Spiegel told the gathering of bankers and investors, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. Snapchat's app has more than 100 million daily users who spend an average of 25 to 30 minutes on the app each day, Spiegel told the audience.
It was his first keynote presentation in front of public-market investors. Spiegel, whose company lastRAISED FUNDS at a $16 billion valuation, is making sure bankers understand Snapchat's growth trajectory as it builds out an advertising business before an eventual initial public offering.
Snapchat's appeal lies in its popularity in a young demographic addicted to their mobile phones, and the app reaches 41 percent of the 18- to 34-year-olds in the U.S. each day, Spiegel said.
Snapchat has a small sales team and a lot of rules for advertisers to follow—for example, it only accepts vertical video clips. The company is also seeking to make it easier for marketers to track its impact and buy ads. Last week, Snapchat said Nielsen Holdings, the TV ratings tracker, will provide the standard audience count for Snapchat’s ads. The company has also inked a deal with Viacom to help it sell ads.
Courtesy: Bloomberg Business