Snap is shelling out millions to creators as it tries to chase TikTok in the booming short-form video space.
In the six months since launching Snapchat Spotlight, a new section of the app that lets users share and watch TikTok-like user-created video clips, the company has paid out more than $130 million in total to a group of more than 5,400 creators. It made the announcement at Snap Partner Summit 2021 on Thursday.
“Snapchatters are continually rewarded for their creations, and anyone can earn from the millions per month we offer to those who make top videos,” said Reesha Sodha, head of product marketing for creator platform.
Snap is continuing to invest in Spotlight, all before the social media company throws on the monetization switch for the new section (with plans to test out ads in Spotlight later in 2021).
When it launched Spotlight, Snapchat said it would pay out more than $1 million per day to creators, based on engagement with their content (noting that “only a small percentage of creators” will receive payments). As of June 1, Snap is no longer committing to $1 million daily payouts; instead, the company said, it will pay “millions” of dollars per month.
Meanwhile, at the partner event, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel touted a new metric: He said Snapchat reaches over 500 million monthly active users globally and that the app reaches nearly 50% of all U.S. smartphone users. The company historically has reported only daily active users (which averaged 280 million in Q1). Roughly 40% of Snapchatters are now located outside of North America and Europe.
Spiegel also announced a new generation of Spectacles, Snap’s first smart glasses designed for augmented reality. And the Snap CEO announced a partnership with Disney to feature location-based AR Lenses in the Snapchat app for Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla. — letting visitors take selfies with Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse (who can even give you a hug) as well as virtually transform Cinderella Castle with a mosaic of moments shared by guests to celebrate the park’s 50th anniversary.
As part of doubling down on Snapchat Spotlight, the company launched a web destination for the feature at snapchat/spotlight. The new website lets creators who work on desktops and use advanced software tools like Final Cut Pro upload video into Spotlight directly from Chrome or Safari. It also opens up Spotlight videos for anyone on the internet, even if they don’t have a Snapchat account, to see the top-trending videos in the section.
Snap also announced Story Studio, a new standalone app designed to give creators a suite of editing tools — that are more powerful than in the baseline Snapchat app — to make professional-grade mobile content. Story Studio will allow users to see analytics insights, like what’s trending across Snapchat’s Sounds, #Topics, and Lenses, and share videos to Snapchat and other platforms. (Watch a intro video to Story Studio at this link.)
In reporting Q1 results, Snap said Spotlight reached over 125 million active users in the month of March while the number of viewers watching Spotlight for at least 10 minutes per day grew by over 70% during the first quarter of 2021 and daily video submissions increased by over 40%.
Snap also announced new monetization program for creators: Gifting, which will let users purchase tokens to buy digital “gifts” to send directly to Snap Stars (popular creators who have been certified).
Snap Stars will earn a share of the revenue from the gifts (the company declined to detail what the split will be), which are received through Story Replies and purchased via Snap Tokens. The Gifting feature will start to roll out to Snap Stars later this year on Android and iOS.
