Dive Brief:
- About 38% of 25-34-year-old U.S. mobile users and 14% of those 35 and up are using Snapchat, according to the latest data from comScore.
- Those numbers have grown from 5% and 2%, respectively, over the last three years.
- About 68% of U.S. mobile users aged 18-24 use the application. Snapchat counts 150 million daily active users, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Dive Insight:
Snapchat's audience is getting older. The latest data from comScore reveals that Snapchat is making considerable gains outside of its 14-25-year-old core user base, with spikes in usage from older demographics in 2016 in particular.
The changing demographics come with a potential trade-off: While the uptick in older users will help Snapchat scale its audience, it could annoy or even alienate its coveted base of teens.
As the Journal points out, the trend mirrors Facebook's growth. Facebook started as a social network for college students but eventually evolved into a platform for all ages with well over 1 billion monthly active users.
“In order to really get true growth that can be monetized, you’ve got to be appealing to more age groups which can kind of alienate the teens,” Gene Munster, analyst at Piper Jaffray, told the Journal.
The news comes as Snapchat has made inroads with advertisers and marketers. The addition of tracking and measurement tools, along with an API and ad partners program, indicate that Snapchat is ready to play nice with brands that want to reach its youth-heavy audience—and make a serious push toward monetizing the app.
