At the end of 2018, Twitter, Facebook, and Snap (the parent company of Snapchat), reported revenue earnings and other company data. The released data offer some insights into how the platforms are being used by fellow digital communication specialists and the individuals we’re trying to reach. Here are our key takeaways:

1. Use videos in Twitter ads
2. Start using stories on Facebook
3. Understand if your audience is on Snapchat

Read on for more details about the insights.

Twitter

• The site has 126 million daily active users worldwide. A daily active user is defined as individuals “who log into their account at least once per day from Twitter applications that are able to show ads.” This is the first time Twitter has released data on daily active users, which is of high interest to marketers.
• Video remained Twitter’s fast-growing ad format, with an estimated 55% of its total ad revenues coming from video. The site also hinted that more ad formats would be coming soon.
• To help boost engagement among its users, Twitter is considering adding more chat features to the site, and described their intentions to “make conversations happen faster and put the ability to follow interests in the forefront of a user’s experience.”

The takeaway for HIV communicators: if you use paid ads on Twitter, consider including short videos clips to increase engagement with your audience.

Read the full article on Twitter’s Q4 earnings reportExit Disclaimer.

Facebook

• Users of Facebook’s “family of apps,” which includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp, continues to grow, with 2.7 billion people using at least one of the apps each month. The biggest gains appear to be from Asia-Pacific and Europe.
• The stories feature is becoming popular among marketers, with 2 million advertisers using them across Facebook, Instagram and Messenger last year. This trend is predicted to continue into 2019, as stories become even more popular among users.
• Facebook plans to “integrate the underlying infrastructure of its three messaging apps” (Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp), in order to “improve the user experience by enabling seamless communication across its different properties.”

The takeaway for HIV communicators: Since the Stories feature is growing in popularity among users, now is a good time to begin using them more regularly in your content. Read the full article on Facebook’s Q4 earnings reportExit Disclaimer.

Snap

• Snapchat’s worldwide daily active user base remains flat, and Snap thinks that’s a good sign. This data point decreased in early 2018 quarterly reports.
• Snap hopes a new Android app, which is still in development, will lead to increased user growth.
• Total revenue for 2018 was $1.18 billion, which was a 43% increase from the previous year. Nearly all revenue currently comes from paid ads on the site with an estimated 62% of all ad revenue coming from the U.S.

The takeaway for HIV communicators: Because user growth isn’t currently growing, it’s important to understand if your target audience is currently using the platform and whether or not it’s worth an investment of limited time and resources.

Read the full article on Snap’s Q4 earnings reportExit Disclaimer.