Snapchat Successfully Earning Money From Paid Features

Snapchat is successfully earn money with paid features. (photo: doc. pixabay)

JAKARTA - Snap found early success with its paid subscription service Snapchat Plus. The company says it has amassed 1 million paid users since launching Snapchat Plus in late June.

A Snapchat Plus subscription gives users early and exclusive access to features for $3.99 per month, including changing app icons and seeing who rewatches your stories. In July, the company rolled out Snapchat for desktop to subscribers, its first major feature for paid users. This new Snapchat Plus feature includes increased visibility when replying to Snap Stars.

Snapchat also introduced a new set of features today for its more than 1 million Plus subscribers. Among the updates is priority story replies, which make Plus customer feedback more visible when replying to Snap Stars (public figures and other content creators with a verified Snapchat presence).

Other features are cosmetic, such as custom backgrounds for users' Bitmoji characters and new app icon designs. Customers can also add emojis that are shown to friends after they view a Snap.

A screenshot of the Snapchat app shows two screens: one with an emoji grid to choose from, and the other showing a Snap from a friend with an emoji indicator.

Snap introduced its paid tier in an effort to build an additional source of revenue. It is one of many companies affected by changes to Apple's privacy settings introduced last year, which caused its advertising business to fail — Snap's main way of making money.

Early success with the Plus came at a time when Snap was showing dissatisfaction with its performance. In addition to the hit for advertising, the company is juggling broader economic problems, slowing growth at the company, and plans to lay off employees — and the message, at least for investors, is that Snap is working to turn things around.