by Colin Kirkland
Source: www.mediapost.com, September 2024
Among a plethora of updates Snap announced at its 2024 Partner Summit on Tuesday — including its next generation of AR glasses and a generative AI video-creation tool — the social-media company is especially focused on building out its advertising business with a “new and simplified” version of the app that declutters the original home page.
Snap says its updated user interface (UI) — “Simple Snapchat” — seeks to simplify users’ engagement options in the app, moving stories posted by friends to the top of a user’s inbox, with alerts that indicate new content.
“We’ve been working on unifying Stories and Spotlight for some time,” the company stated in a blog post, adding that this new UI aims to promote a more “personal and relevant viewing experience.”
In its simplified form, when users swipe right from the camera, Snapchat will open a full-screen feed of recommended stories and Spotlight video clips — which, like TikTok’s now-famous short-form video feed, is powered by AI recommendations based on the user’s interests.
Users will also be able to access the Snap Map via a new shortcut button in the lower middle of the screen.
In general, the simplified redesign is aiming to redefine Snapchat as a place to watch the type of videos users would typically watch on TikTok or Instagram, while also working to expand business opportunities for creators who share over a billion pieces of content in the app every month.
Snap CEO Evan Spiegel told The Verge that he hopes the app redesign will make it easier for creators to grow their Stories audience and then monetize those videos through Snap’s revenue-share program.
“This update also has the potential to help our creators and publisher partners find new audiences across new surfaces, and support our advertising business over the long-term,” the company says.
By prioritizing a full-screen For You feed similar to TikTok’s, Snap is merging content from publishers, creators and Stories from users’ friends lists, which could lead to greater viewability of branded content. However, it is unclear if videos from Snap’s Discover section — a space allocated to brands serving short-form videos — will be included in the new simplified feed.
The company’s decision to wedge Stories between users’ private messages comes soon after Spiegel announced the addition of new sponsored ad placements in the app’s chat inbox, which he says he thinks will allow advertisers to engage prospective customers all the way down the funnel in a single ad unit.
Spiegel says the ad unit is designed to help advertisers “raise awareness with broad reach in the chat inbox,” while also driving conversion with an in-message call-to-action.
