SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — According to a new report from the analysts at eMarketer, a forecast of explosive growth in Snapchat’s ad revenue is coming in 2017 — the firm estimates the mobile social application will generate $366.69 million in 2016, but that figure will grow to $935.46 million by 2017.
The jump is being attributed to Snapchat’s unique and unprecedented ability to reach younger millennials, a wider ad portfolio and the overall improvement of the company’s ad targeting program.
The $366 million figure is itself higher than the internal goals set by Snapchat itself as a company, according to a report from RedCode. According to RedCode’s own sources, Snapchat was targeting between $300 million and $350 million in revenue this year, up 6 to 7 times from the $50 million it projected last year.
However, the $1 billion estimate lines up with details found in Snapchat’s leaked presentation deck, which predicted revenues between $500 million and as much as $1 billion for 2017.
Because of new products like Snapchat Partners, the company has significantly grown its business model in the past year. Its advertising API allowed Snapchat ads to be sold by third parties. eMarketer also cited a broader portfolio with a wider array of video ads, as well as more sponsored geofilters and sponsored lenses.
Snapchat’s Discover feature currently represents he largest share of the ad revenues (43%) in the U.S., says eMarketer, but it expects Stories to overtake Discover next year, to generate 37.8% of Snapchat’s U.S. ad business. The U.S. also represents a critical demographic for Snapchat’s business, accounting for roughly 95 percent of all ad revenues. But eMarketer estimates that a quarter of its ad revenues will come from outside the U.S. by 2018.
The company is also able to reach a coveted, younger demographic, the report says, which is why it’s poised for growth.
“Advertisers are attracted to Snapchat for its broad reach among young millennials and those in Generation Z, which are valuable demographic groups for many businesses,” eMarketer principal analyst Cathy Boyle says.
