Snapchat adds new features for ‘passionate’ users as Snapchat will offer an optional subscription called Snapchat Plus that unlocks exclusive and early-access features.
Costing $3.99 a month, the subscription has been targeted at “the people who spend most of their time communicating with their closest friends on Snapchat,” the business SVP of Product, Jacob Andreou.
Termed Snapchat Plus, it is going to be Snapchat’s first-ever genuine attempt to make money apart from advertising, though Andreou says there aren’t any expectations for Plus to become a “material new revenue source.”
At least, Snapchat Plus is primarily a cosmetic upgrade. The most prominent features include the ability to change the style of the app’s icon, for example, anyone who has rewatched a story can pin one of your friends to the top of your chat history as a “BFF.”
Going forward, Andreou says that “single-playerish” features like the BFF pin will likely remain devoted to Plus subscribers, while features that depend on interactions with others will finally be released to the whole user base.
By introducing a paid level, it’s natural to wonder if Snapchat plans to let people pay to turn off ads in the app. Andreou de-emphasizes the chance, saying that “ads are going to be at the core of our business model for the long term.”
Even though, it’s obvious that Snapchat sees an opportunity to expand its business. Its hardware business hasn’t and likely won’t be meaningful for the foreseeable future, so subscriptions are an obvious area to explore.
Snapchat isn’t the only social app that has introduced a paid tier recently: both Twitter and Telegram have rolled out their own subscriptions aimed at pro users, and Discord has made money for years through its optional Nitro subscription.
Andreou also mentions informal conversations he had with people who work at paid streaming services — many of which have added ad-supported tiers or are in the process of doing so.
“Those tiers where they are monetizing less but are able to inject ads actually end up being by far their most lucrative and most beneficial tiers,” he says.
Andreou palliates the timing of the announcement, which comes just a month after Snapchat warned of stalling revenue growth. He says his team has been thinking about a paid offering for at least 5 years.
The company termed Snapchat Plus an “early” internal test after it was discovered in the app’s code just two weeks ago. Snapchat adds new features for ‘passionate’ users.
Now it’s being released quickly in Snapchat’s top markets: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
