Snap's 2017 efforts to reel in new users are starting to pay off


It's been a year since Snap Inc filed for its IPO, and all told, it's been a tepid 12 months for the company. Despite launching its own TV shows as well as those in collaboration with big-name companies like NBC, ESPN and MGM Television, Snap has struggled to win over new users, and even saw a major partner like CNN end its daily Snapchat show. But according to its fourth quarter earnings report, the company has finally managed to add new daily active users (DAU) at a record high rate of 5 percent, which represents "the highest net adds since Q3 2016." That's still measly compared to Instagram's 100 million new users in the third quarter of 2017, but at least Snap is making some progress.

At the company's last earnings call, CEO Evan Spiegel admitted that user growth had been slower than he would have liked. To encourage more people to use its service, Snap launched a big redesign, continued to add more features to its filters and brought its Stories to the web. But the company still struggled, laying off 22 employees last month and centralizing its operations in Los Angeles.

All these measures appear to have contributed to the improved user growth though. Spiegel said in prepared remarks that were released alongside today's earnings that "Our business really came together towards the end of last year." He also cited improvements to the company's Android app as part of the reason DAU numbers have risen, saying "people who try Snapchat on Android are much more likely to stick around and become Daily Active Users." According to him, the app saw "significantly more new Android users as a percentage of net additional users than any other quarter in our history."

Its iOS apps continue to dominate, as Spiegel said Bitmoji and Snapchat ended the year as the number one and number two most popular apps of 2017 in the Apple App Store, which bears out.

According to a recent leak, though, Snapchat also has a hard time getting people to use its non-chat features. Most recently, it launched an in-app store to sell plush toys, hats and apparel featuring characters from its popular stickers -- a curious decision that signals a capitalization on its brand rather than making more ill-fated Spectacles.

This story is developing...

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