Snap's plan to fight Facebook is bold

Snap has long been known for his secret methods. Even after its IPO in 2017, CEO Evan Spiegel rarely divulges much information about the company, with the exception of quarterly earnings calls.

But that may be starting to change. This week, the company staged its first major public event in its history: a one-day partner summit, during which the company announced several new features intended to turn the messaging application into a flat broader form.

Snap has announced new features for the camera, a gaming platform, new development tools and a new range of original shows.

But one of the most intriguing revelations is that one finds only by reading between the lines of the news of society. Snap quietly explained to the audience how he planned to fight Facebook at a time when the social network seemed to miss nothing to completely crush Snap.

First, Snap presented a detailed strategy to get users to spend more time in the application. Second, the company intends to increase Snap's visibility elsewhere by partnering with apps such as Tinder and Houseparty to share content. Finally, Snap has announced the launch of a new ad network that will appear in other companies' applications and which ultimately will help advertisers reach a well-off audience from the Snapchat app.

It's a bold plan – and that may not give rise to the growth in the number of users that the company needs – but it gives us our clearest idea of ​​how Snap is considering its long-term future.

Although the application is only starting to add new users, Snap has proven to be effective enough to keep the attention of younger users.

The most obvious thing to remember is that she wants to double her already highly engaged teen audience to capture even more time and attention. With a new selection of original shows (with teen-friendly locales like "Two Sides", a scripted drama detailing the angst of a breakup between high school students) and a new gaming platform that includes Zynga's action Fortnite, Snap is clearly looking to attract its young users.

The same goes for camera updates, which include new features, such as the ability to solve math problems in the application. The fact that Snap is looking at the camera search may seem like a puzzle to some, but consider the implications of making Snapchat a de facto part of your math homework and it's not hard to understand.

And, if Snapchat's history is an indication, there is a good chance that all of this will produce the desired effect. Although the application is only starting to add new users, Snap has proven to be effective enough to keep the attention of younger users.

The company revealed Thursday that it reached 75% of Americans aged 13 to 34 and 90% of US aged 13 to 24 – that's more than the share reached by Facebook or Instagram, said Spiegel.

Another thing that could help Snapchat with its persistent growth problem: get more visibility outside of its application. The company has been doing this for some time now with its developer platform Snap Kit, but its new strategy with Stories is even more aggressive. By allowing Snapchat users to post stories directly into apps like Tinder or Houseparty, Snap shows that he is ready to open it in a way that would have been unthinkable.

Instagram may have stolen Snapchat's thunder on Stories, but by incorporating Snapchat Stories into other applications (and extremely popular applications), the company now has the opportunity to prove that its version is still sticky.

Finally, on the commercial front, Snap announced what could become one of its most important updates: the Snap Audience Network, a new advertising platform allowing Snap's advertisers to show their ads in other apps.

It's a move coming out of Facebook's playbook (the social network has its own Facebook audience network) and that could make Snap even more appealing to advertisers. It will not launch for some time yet, and Snap has still not revealed details about its operation but, as Recode points out, this gives the company the opportunity to earn more money. Money even if it can not develop its user base. in a significant way.

All of this put together and Snap's strategy is starting to look much more consistent than many of his critics have suggested.

Now, it's up to Snap to prove he can pull it off.