Snapchat introduced story analytics in May 2018 to provide creators with insight into their Snapchat stories. Story analytics allow Snapchatters to see detailed metrics on who has viewed their stories, for how long, and more. Here’s an overview of how to access and understand Snapchat story analytics.
Where to Find Story Analytics
Snapchatters can view analytics for their stories by going to their profile page and tapping on the bar graph icon in the top right corner. This will bring up the “Story Analytics” page.
The Story Analytics page shows data for your last 10 stories over the past 7 days. You can scroll down to see metrics for older stories. Tap on any individual story to see detailed analytics.
Metrics Available in Story Analytics
For each story, Snapchat provides the following metrics:
- Total Viewers: The number of unique Snapchatters who viewed your story.
- Total Views: The total number of views your story received.
- Average % Viewed: The average percentage of your story that viewers watched.
- View Time: Total amount of time (in seconds) viewers spent watching your story.
- Screenshots: Number of screenshots viewers took of your story.
You can also see more detailed metrics by tapping into any individual story:
- Views by Country: See top countries your story was viewed in.
- Views by City: See top cities your story was viewed in.
- Views by Device: Breakdown of iOS vs Android views.
- Views by Gender: Percentage of male vs female viewers.
- Views by Age: Percentage of 13-17, 18-24, and 25+ viewers.
- Views Over Time: Graph showing number of views per hour over the 24 hour story duration.
Interpreting Snapchat Story Analytics
Here are some tips for making sense of your Snapchat story analytics data:
- Benchmark Against Past Stories: Compare metrics to previous stories to see if you’re improving reach and engagement over time.
- Watch View Completion Rate: A high average % viewed means you’re creating compelling content people want to watch til the end.
- Check View Time: Longer total view time and average view duration signal more engaging content.
- Analyze When Viewers Drop Off: Look at Views Over Time to see if there are certain points where dropoff spikes, indicating boring or confusing content.
- Review Demographics: See who your biggest audience segments are and create content tailored to them.
- See Which Stories Resonate: Stories with high engagement can give insight into your best performing content types and topics.
Tips for Improving Your Snapchat Story Analytics
Here are some tips to increase views, completion rate, view duration, and overall engagement on your Snapchat stories based on the analytics:
- Hook viewers in the first 5 seconds with an eye-catching visual, question, or statement to prevent dropoff.
- Keep stories under 3 minutes to maintain attention and completion rates.
- Use captions, annotations, polls, and other interactive elements to keep viewers engaged.
- Spread stories throughout the day and post at least 2-3 times per day to increase total views.
- Promote your Snapchat on other social platforms to drive more followers.
- Analyze viewer demographics and customize content to resonate with your target audience.
- Check when your views and engagement peak and post more consistently at those times.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does Snapchat keep your story analytics?
Snapchat provides analytics for the last 10 stories you have posted in the past 7 days. Any data beyond that time period is not available.
Who can see your Snapchat story analytics?
Only you can see the analytics for your own Snapchat stories. This data is not available to anyone else on Snapchat.
Can you see analytics for private Snapchat stories?
Yes, analytics are available for both public stories and private stories. The metrics will reflect only the views from the people you shared the private story with.
Are Snapchat story analytics accurate?
Snapchat pulls the analytics directly from their systems, so they provide accurate view counts and metrics for stories. However, sometimes views may not be counted if there are technical issues.
Can you export your Snapchat story analytics?
Unfortunately there is no way to export the full analytics from Snapchat. You can manually record metrics for analysis outside of the app.
Conclusion
Snapchat story analytics provide creators with valuable data to inform their content strategy. By diligently tracking metrics like views, completion rate, view time, demographics, and more, Snapchatters can gain insight into their best performing content and audiences. They can then optimize their stories to increase engagement over time. Checking analytics should become a regular habit for anyone creating Snapchat stories.
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
| Total Viewers | The number of unique Snapchatters who viewed your story |
| Total Views | The total number of views your story received |
| Average % Viewed | The average percentage of your story that viewers watched |
| View Time | Total amount of time (in seconds) viewers spent watching your story |
| Screenshots | Number of screenshots viewers took of your story |
Having a strong understanding of Snapchat analytics can help drive more viewers and engagement on your stories. Be sure to consult the metrics regularly as you craft content to appeal to your target demographics and keep viewers watching until the very end.
Here are some final tips for improving your Snapchat stories based on the analytics:
- Test different content formats – mix up videos, images, text, polls, etc.
- Leverage trends and hashtags where relevant
- Collaborate with other creators for cross-promotion
- Use captions to enhance videos and add context
- Drive traffic from other social platforms to your Snapchat
- Promote your Snapchat name/handle everywhere you can
- Engage with your followers – reply to messages and reactions
Optimizing your Snapchat strategy takes time, but the story analytics provide the insights you need to continually improve. Every creator should be checking their metrics frequently and implementing changes to boost engagement.
Remember that high-quality, relevant content tailored to your audience is still essential. No amount of strategic timing or promotion can make up for boring, irrelevant stories. The analytics should inform your content, not dictate it.
At the end of the day, Snapchat is about expressing yourself and getting creative. Don’t get so caught up in the numbers that you lose sight of what makes the platform so fun – sharing moments with your friends and followers.
So review those story analytics, but also trust your instincts as a creator. Put passion into your work, take some risks, and watch the audience grow. The data is meaningless without creativity. Find that perfect balance of analytics-driven optimization and heartfelt originality. Do that, and your Snapchat success will blow up faster than a Story on hot trend.
Now get out there, start Snapping, and share your personal, in-the-moment experiences with the world. Just don’t forget to check the analytics from time to time. Let the data lead you to new ideas and even greater success. Your most viewed Story is still yet to come, and Story Analytics will help you make it happen.
Snapchat has come a long way since its early days as an ephemeral photo sharing app. It has evolved into a robust platform for short-form mobile storytelling, self-expression, and visual communication. Harness its full potential by digging into the data, optimizing your approach, and above all, having fun while being creative. The future of Snapchat storytelling looks bright, engaging, and highly measurable thanks to Story Analytics.
Analytics don’t have to feel restrictive. Instead, view them as tools to open up new possibilities. The numbers will reveal hidden insights that spark your imagination. Soon you’ll be dreaming up even more amazing stories to delight your current fans and draw new ones in. So take the data and run with it. Take risks, get creative, and wow the Snapchat audience every single day. This is just the beginning of an exciting, analytics-fueled journey into the future of social storytelling.
The capacity to inform stories with data, while keeping intact their power to entertain, inspire and educate, will be a competitive advantage for years to come. Master this balance as a creator, and Snapchat success is sure to follow. But never forget that the metrics are a means to an end. The end goal is reaching people with stories that resonate emotionally and prompt action. Use data to enhance your ability to captivate the right audiences, at the right times, with the right content. But don’t let it direct your artistic vision. Analytics should inspire, not confine, your creativity.
So innovate fearlessly when dreaming up new stories, regardless of what the present numbers say. The data can reveal burgeoning trends, shifting demographics, and viewer preferences, but it cannot replace vision. Lean heavily into analytics for optimization, but lightly for inspiration. Quantify and dissect stories once they’re published, not while still formulating them. This balance enables you to maximize results, without compromising the creative process.
Never lose sight that great stories are built on passion, not algorithms. Data should enhance the ingredients, not dictate the recipe. Use it to refine your Snapchat approach, not control it. Let viewer metrics encourage you and provide ideas, but keep pioneering new narrative frontiers. Continually improve, but also reinvent. Numbers show where audiences are, creativity reveals where they could be. Master analytical and imaginative thinking alike to unlock Snapchat excellence.
But also know analytics’ limitations. Data reveals what content resonated, not why. It quantifies results, but cannot qualitatively evaluate stories’ emotional impact. Powerful narratives often resonate precisely because they defy expectations and convention that data reinforces. So take risks that seem counterintuitive, and experiment with unconventional approaches. Metrics should inform, but not confine, your artistic process.
Overall, view Snapchat’s analytical tools as indispensable yet incomplete. Let data demystify audiences and sharpen content, but not sap creative passion. Build a mindset that’s equally rigorous and imaginative, analytical and inspired, methodical and bold. Use left-brain thinking to optimize, then right-brain creativity to innovate. Blend the science and art of storytelling – that’s the key to Snapchat excellence.
The platform’s youthful spontaneity demands fun content that’s raw and refreshing. So balance data-driven precision with loose, spur-of-the-moment creativity. Take risks and embrace imperfection, characteristics that rigid analytics struggle to quantify. Avoid overthinking or over-engineering your approach. Stay loose, unfiltered and adventurous. That’s the Snapchat spirit.
Treat your content as living and breathing, not concrete and definitive. Experiment, get feedback, and continually refine. Use data to identify weaknesses and improve each story, not search for mythical perfection. No amount of analytics can reveal the objectively optimal approach – one that appeals equally to all audiences. Instead, embrace subjectivity – tell the stories you feel passionately about. Then use metrics to refine how you tell them. There are no right or wrong stories, just optimal ways to share your unique perspective.
Remember that empathy, not data, is the foundation of impactful stories. Identify with your audience’s emotions, worldview, motivations and aspirations. Analytics provide demographic details, but cannot convey psychological insights or the nuances of lived experiences. So use personal intuition and conversations to truly know your community. Quantitative and qualitative insights are both indispensable.
Avoid fixating on particular metrics in isolation, since context gives them meaning. No number is inherently good or bad. Benchmark against past performance, competitor figures, industry standards, and goals. Utilize analytics holistically to inform decisions, not as absolute performance markers. Data offers clues, not definitive conclusions. Let it guide iterative learning, not confident proclamations.
Beware conventional wisdom – universally liked content is a myth. Stories resonate because they amplify specific emotions, ideas and experiences. The general appeal that metrics convey has little additive value. Focus narrowly on reacting powerfully with target demographics instead. Statistical aggregation obscures the nuanced complexity of how content impacts individuals within groups.
Certain intangible qualities like authenticity, relatability and originality that make stories emotionally resonant cannot be quantified. So nurture them consciously, and realize data’s limitations. Avoid overly engineering or reverse engineering viral hits. Success stems from creators’ unique experiences and personalities, not replicable formulas.
Metrics showing what content and tactics work are susceptible to change quickly. Audiences and algorithms evolve rapidly. So regularly re-evaluate assumptions with fresh experiments and data. Success comes from being adaptable and keeping your finger on the pulse, not mechanically implementing what worked previously.
Achieving excellence is a gradual process requiring humility and strategic patience. Content regularly under-performs or over-performs relative to expectations. Outcomes result from countless hard-to-control variables. Focus on incremental progress by learning from each story to systematically refine your approach.
To summarize, data and analytics are invaluable feedback mechanisms, but do not replace human creativity, empathy, and intuition when crafting stories. Include metrics in the creative process, but do not let them dominate completely. Balance data-driven precision with unstructured spontaneity. Experiment relentlessly, embrace uncertainty, and focus on the journey of incremental improvement.
Snapchat’s metrics, if used judiciously, can point the way to new creative heights. But ultimately, your success will come from fearlessly charting your own course based on passion. So let data guide you, but not confine you. Listen to the numbers, but also your heart. That is the formula for breakthrough Snapchat success.
The platform is unique in its level of insight into audience engagement. Very few other media allow creators to quantify attention and response at such granular, personal levels. These analytics are revolutionizing mobile storytelling by replacing speculation with data.
But metrics cannot replace instincts and originality when creating stories. They should enhance human creativity, not substitute for it. Audiences crave authenticity and novelty that rigid formulas struggle to produce. So treat data as a compass, not a roadmap, when travelling into new creative frontiers.
Quantitative and qualitative insights are equally vital. Use metrics to sharpen instincts and structure experiments, not provide definitive answers. Blend both types of knowledge into a comprehensive creative intuition that balances analytics with imagination.
This balanced mindset, encompassing both data and inspiration, analytical and creative thinking, is the hallmark of nimble, insightful mobile storytellers. Develop it through relentless practice and self-reflection, and Snapchat excellence will follow.
But remember, even flawless methodology cannot guarantee results. Outcomes stem from factors beyond one’s control. So stay humble, take risks, and focus on the process, not outcomes. Create stories you feel passionate about, then refine relentlessly. Follow your unique creative voice. The data will then reveal how to best connect with audiences.
Snapchat provides immense analytical power. But use it judiciously to enhance, not control, your creative instincts. Let data guide you, but not confine you. Listen to numbers, but also your heart. Master this balance, and watch your audience grow.