After a few years of disappointing growth, Snapchat is finally acquiring new users at a good pace.
Snapchat has grown every quarter in 2019, and is expected to grow to 293.01 million users by the end of this year. That’s a 14.2% increase from last year, which was a rough one for Snapchat because of their unsuccessful redesign in the first quarter of 2018.
The redesign condensed Stories and Snaps onto one page and made them look nearly identical. They were no longer ordered in chronological order, either, making the whole page very difficult to use and navigate.
A Change.org petition asking Snapchat to revert to their old design got nearly 1.2 million signatures from frustrated users. Even celebrities like Kylie Jenner and Chrissy Teigen spoke up about their dissatisfaction with the confusing new design.
Snapchat tweaked the app in response to user complaints, but the damage was already done. The redesign caused their stock to drop and their user count to shrink for the first time ever.
In the months following this design disaster, they struggled to recover. But now things are looking much brighter for Snapchat.
Growth has been steady this year and is projected to continue into 2020 and beyond according to Search Engine Journal.
Here’s a breakdown of the growth Snapchat has experienced this year and the growth you can expect to see in years to come.
Snapchat’s growth by the numbers
Many teenagers returned to the platform this year
After the redesign, teenagers were quick to leave Snapchat behind and find better alternatives. According to eMarketer, over a million users aged 12 to 17 abandoned the app in 2018, but this year they’re returning in droves.
In 2019, Snapchat will more than replace the million teenage users who left last year, which is great news for the app.
Massive growth in the 35 to 64 age category
Snapchat hasn’t only gained younger users this year. They’ve also added a significant number of new users ages 35 to 64.
Users in this age category grew by 37.5% in 2019. They still make up just 15.4 million of Snapchat’s 80.2 million user base, but the growth is pretty remarkable.
We’re excited to see how this age category will continue to grow heading into 2020 and beyond.
Over 350 million users by 2023
Snapchat grew over 14% this year, and is expected to continue expanding through 2023.
In 2020, Snapchat is expected to grow 7.4% and have a user base of 293 million by the end of the year.
In 2021, Snapchat is projected to grow by 5.3%, and in 2022, the app will expand by 4.1%. By the end of 2023, Snapchat is expected to have a user base of 356.3 million as a result of all the growth in the coming years.
With these numbers, you definitely can’t call Snapchat a niche app anymore. It’s going to mount a real challenge to Instagram in 2020 as they continue to compete for users and digital ad spending.