When Snapchat was launched in 2011, Instagram was still a spring chicken— it had only launched 9 months before in October of 2010. Both platforms had a long way to go, and between 2014 and 2016, the competition ramped up.
Instagram released their standout feature Instagram stories in 2016 to compete directly against the story format that Snapchat was monopolizing. This was a total game-changer and would transform the usage of Instagram completely.
In fact, that infamous August of 2016 instantly had an effect on Snapchat, spinning the app into a lowered growth rate of 82%. Snapchat was no longer growing at a growth rate of 7%; it reached only a 3.2% growth rate when the IG stories feature came out.
Another thing that contributed to the slowdown was the fact that Snapchat wasn’t as global as Instagram, with 80% of Instagram users outside of the US. In any case, it’s clear that Instagram packed a punch with the launch of IG stories.
Currently, there are 306 million daily active users on Snapchat worldwide. Instagram has 500 million daily active users, which goes to show that the social media giant still has quite the advantage over Snapchat.
What does that mean for marketers, and how do influencers distribute their time and energy between the two platforms?
In this article, we’re going to take a look into the behavior of 12 particular influencers based on a study done by Mediakix so that we can better understand what the implications are in the Instagram stories vs Snapchat stories conundrum.
Which platform is better for influencer marketing, and what are the actions of influencers suggesting about the future of the platforms? Here, we’ll examine it all.
Top Snapchat influencers posted 25% more on Instagram stories across 30 days
The most important thing to keep in mind about the comparison here is that the influencers needed to be active on both Instagram and Snapchat so that their posting habits could be effectively measured.
Mind you, this 30-day observation was before the rise of TikTok, which may have further impacted the way that the influencers featured here share content. Shay Mitchell, for instance, has a strong presence on Instagram with over 31m followers. On TikTok, she’s got 6.6m followers, and on Snapchat she’s got 4.2m.
For such a popular influencer, it’s clear that her audience is mostly active on Instagram, as that is where the bulk of her followers are. The lowest follower count is just 4.2 million, which could suggest that less users are active on Snapchat.
In any case, the premise of this whole investigation is to check activity for this set block of influencers over the course of 30 days. The number of stories posted on each app and then compared.
What’s the verdict?
Overwhelmingly, influencers preferred Instagram stories over Snapchat stories. Keep reading for more.
Instagram Stories vs Snapchat Stories: Where do Top Influencers Post More?
Eight out of the twelve influencers that were observed posted more on Instagram stories on 25 out of the 30 days they were observed, showing that two-thirds of the sample group cared more about using Instagram than posting to Snapchat.
In fact, if you look at the content provided by the influencers on Snapchat, it’s much less prominent than the content that they create and share on Instagram. There’s a larger quantity of it and a much more diverse offering because of the features that Instagram provides.
On average, influencers posted 6.6 stories to Instagram daily with roughly 5.3 stories to Snapchat.
Key Takeaways in the Instagram Stories vs Snapchat Stories Duel
- The Instagram stories feature has been 2x more popular than Snapchat stories since it’s launch in 2016.
- Influencers posted more on Instagram stories than Snapchat stories on 25 out of the 30 days observed.
- Influencers use Instagram stories 25% more daily than Snapchat stories.
- 8 of 12 influencers post more IG stories than Snapchat stories.
This is a great introductory observation to the habits and platforms preferred by influencers; while it only offered a very small data pool, the same results are likely to be amplified if examined on a greater scale.
Now, with the introduction of TikTok, based on the numbers of influencer follower counts and TikTok active users, it’s clear that Snapchat isn’t even the second-most popular platform for influencer marketing.
List of Snapchat Influencers also Active on Instagram
The following 12 influencers are the ones that were monitored over the course of the 30-day observation. Here we’ll show how many Snapchat subscribers they have vs. how many Instagram followers:
- Alex Lange: 261k subscribers / 1.8m followers
- Alexis Ren: 1.2m subscribers / 15.3m followers
- Amanda Cerny: 4m subscribers / 24.3m followers
- Arielle Vandenberg: 308k subscribers / 1.4m followers
- Curtis Lepore: 359k subscribers / 3.3m followers
- Eh Bee Family: 607k subscribers / 1.7m followers
- Hannah Stocking: undisclosed subscribers / 20.2m followers
- King Bach: 1.8m subscribers / 21.5m followers
- Lele Pons: undisclosed subscribers / 46.6m followers
- Logan Paul: 3.6m subscribers / 21.5m followers
- Matt Cutshall: 169k subscribers / 1m followers
- Shay Mitchell: 4.2m subscribers / 31.6m followers
It’s clear that Instagram offers a much more fruitful platform for even the top influencers. Where on Snapchat a user may have only hundreds of thousands of followers, Instagram offers millions.
This is important for marketers as well because understanding the reach that your ad campaigns will have through the influencer is vital to your success and ROI.
Take Amanda Cerny for example. She has one of the highest number of Snapchat followers out of any on the list; on Instagram she has 6x the amount, and actively posts partner campaigns on her Instagram. On Snapchat, she doesn’t.
Instagram continues to be the most popular platform for influencer marketing, with 93% of marketers surveyed by Linquia planning to use it. The second spot has been snagged by TikTok, with interest in using the platform increasing by 325% since 2020.
Let’s look at Amanda Cerny and see how she fares on TikTok: 9.6 million followers. She also posted the same partner video on her TikTok that she did on Instagram. It’s clear— Instagram and TikTok take precedence over Snapchat for influencer marketing.
Why are Influencers Leaving Snapchat?
So, what’s the deal with Snapchat and why are influencers looking to other platforms for their promotional efforts?
Snapchat doesn’t offer the interface nor the features that Instagram and TikTok do for marketing and promotions. With Instagram, you have the story feed, Instagram feed, as well as other content types such as reels, IGTV, live, and more. Instagram has it all.
TikTok also offers a lot of screen real estate and with the monthly active users now surpassing one billion, we can understand that TikTok has become Instagram’s biggest competition.
Snapchat is good for social sharing between groups of friends, and while they do have the “discover” page and offer verified badges for prominent users, it’s nowhere near the level that the other platforms offer.
The Future of Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing isn’t going anywhere— it’s only getting more popular. It’s one of the most natural and organic ways to reach your target audience; in fact, 49% of consumers trust influencers and depend on their recommendations, and 86% of women look to influencers for advice on purchasing decisions.
It’s not surprising, then, that the majority of marketers are satisfied with their influencer campaigns, as 94% using the strategy agree that their campaigns are successful.
78% of marketers choose Instagram as the most effective option, and Instagram stories was second, with 73% usage. YouTube came in with the third spot for video marketing with 56%, and Instagram was back for video marketing in 4th place with 54%.
The statistics may not have been updated to reference TikTok and its current position in influencer marketing, but time will tell how things play out. As for now, if you’re looking to dip into influencer marketing, Instagram is without a doubt the chosen platform by both influencers and marketers alike.
If you’re looking for the right influencer, check out the best influencer marketing tools to help get you started!
