On Wednesday, during a Facebook corporate earnings call, COO Sheryl Sandberg revealed that Facebook Stories has accrued over 500 million daily active users. …Gulp… that’s a large and impressive number, for a feature that launched less than 24 months ago. Mark Zuckerberg said that Instagram and WhatsApp each also command more than 500 million users of Stories. Combined, that’s a whopping 1.5 billion users or viewers of Facebook Stories.
Are You Missing Out on Facebook Stories?
Remarkably similar to Snapchat Stories, Facebook Stories are short videos or photos posted as updates that are automatically unposted after 24 hours. Shortly after launching the feature on Facebook, the company also added it to Instagram and WhatsApp–platforms also owned by Facebook, Inc. As you may recall, in 2013, Facebook reportedly attempted to purchase Snapchat for $3 billion. When the offer was declined, Facebook launched its own version of Stories.
Snapchat instantly took a hit, and for a time, Snapchat shares dropped below their IPO price of $17 a share. But, as we reported earlier today on our Facebook account @SeychellMedia, “Snapchat’s Gen Z users aren’t going anywhere.” Snapchat reports that it now reaches 90 percent of all 13- to 24-year-olds and 75 percent of all 13- to 34-year-olds in the US. According to Yahoo Finance,
Snap’s annual ARPU (average revenue per user) growth continued to accelerate, indicating that it was offsetting its slower DAU (daily active user) growth by squeezing out more revenues per user:
| Snapchat | Q1 2018 | Q2 2018 | Q3 2018 | Q4 2018 | Q1 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARPU | $1.21 | $1.40 | $1.60 | $2.09 | $1.68 |
| Annual growth | 34% | 34% | 37% | 37% | 39% |
Source: Snap quarterly reports.
The Real Story
Even with Snapchat clearly holding its own amongst select demographics, the bottom line eyeopener ? is clear: One-third of Facebook’s collective platform of active daily users are also watching or posting Facebook Stories every single day. With no signs of Facebook Stories tapering off, Facebook is even adding its nifty 3D photo feature to Stories.
…but that’s a whole other story, that we promise to share with you soon here on the Digital Advertising Authority.
