Oh Snap! How Content Creators are Winning on Snapchat

As the creator economy ushers in a new era of accessible entertainment, the number of social media platforms continues to rise and their products continue to evolve. Case in point: Snapchat. Originally a disappearing image app favored by teens, Snapchat has now evolved into a monetizable video platform serving up high-quality content for every taste with its Snapchat Discover shows. 

Snapchat Discover shows offer creators another avenue to connect with their audience and find new fans. But unlike YouTube or TikTok where anyone with an email address and camera can start a channel, the barrier to entry for a Snapchat Discover show is higher because it requires Snap approval. Without that approval, it can be difficult for creators to launch and monetize a show on their own.

With more than 100 managed Snapchat Discover shows, 52 million subscribers, and 81 billion views across its catalog, Jellysmack has become a juggernaut of Snapchat productions. Starting in 2018, Jellysmack started a partnership with Snap to launch shows around its Jellysmack Originals, and then applied the learnings from their successes to onboard select creator partners whose content resonates with their audience.

Record-Breaking Summer

Things heated up for Jellysmack’s Snapchat catalog during the summer of 2022. According to internal data, Team Jellysmack hit these mind-bending benchmarks between June and August after launching 20 new shows in just 60 days:

• The full Jellysmack Snapchat portfolio had over 13.3 billion Snaps viewed between June and August 2022
• Jellysmack acquired 6.3 million new subscribers across all Jellysmack-managed shows on Snapchat Discover between June and August 2022
• Jellysmack published 1,756 videos on Snapchat between June and August 2022. That’s 19 videos per day from 11 different countries across the world.
• Jellysmack’s Snapchat shows received over 1 billion minutes of audience watch time between June and August 2022.

True Crime and Storytelling Dominate

True crime has shown to be one of the most popular genres in entertainment, dominating engagement across podcasts, TV documentaries, and social media alike. For true crime creators Bailey Sarian and Christina Randall, it’s no surprise their Snapchat shows have already garnered huge success since their recent launches.

One of Forbes’ Top 50 Creators, Bailey Sarian’s binge-worthy Murder, Mystery and Makeup Mondays series has transcended YouTube, earning a following of more than 11 million on Facebook thanks to Jellysmack’s Creator Program. As of this summer, you can now find her makeup and true crime in series form with her Snapchat Discover show. Bailey has commanded a whopping 3.2 million unique monthly viewers and 29 million minutes watched in her first 3 months on the platform.

Creator Christina Randall has been a standout amongst the true crime YouTube community for her distinct perspective as a former inmate. With the help of Jellysmack, Christina has expanded her reach to Facebook, where she now shares her content with 2.2 million followers, and most recently, to Snapchat. Since her June 2022 Snapchat launch, Christina has earned an impressive 3.6 million unique viewers a month and 145K average unique viewers per day.

But Bailey and Christina aren’t alone in the hall of hard-hitting true crime Jellysmack creator partners. A connoisseur of the “strange, dark, and mysterious” MrBallen hit 6.1 million monthly unique viewers in July alone with his Snapchat Discover show. In his 10 months on the platform, he has accumulated 587K subscribers. This is in addition to his 2.5 million followers on Facebook and 6.7 million YouTube subscribers.

The data is clear: these true crime VIPs aren’t slowing down anytime soon. 

Commentary is King

Philip DeFranco has maintained his throne as one of the commentary kings of YouTube, reporting news to nearly 6.5 million subscribers on YouTube. It’s no surprise that his foray into Snapchat has garnered over 1.3 billion views with 144 million minutes of total watch time, and nearly 500K subscribers. Fans connect with his relatable breakdowns of pop culture events like the famous Oscars altercation between Will Smith and Chris Rock, disturbing TikTok trends, and everything in between.

Try-On Darlings Take Snapchat

Fashion friendly creators Annalise Wood and HopeScope have been giving their audiences try-ons and hauls for years on YouTube (and more recently on Facebook with help from Jellysmack). Now, their Snapchat launches have garnered equally enthusiastic audiences for their approachable content. HopeScope has skyrocketed to over 500K subscribers on Snapchat in her first 6 months and earned nearly 3.5 million views in a single episode. In her first few months, Annalise Wood has broken 2 million views for her I Recreated Kylie’s Iconic Outfits episode.

From TikTok to Snapchat 

Taking creators multi-platform is the name of the game at Jellysmack, and the TikToker initiative has already shown success since its launch. For creator Sidney Raz, his relatable lifestyle content on TikTok has found a new audience on Snap. Featuring life hacks he wished he knew before his 30s, Sidney’s launch has earned him a spot in our top 25% of all shows launched on Snapchat Discover. We can’t wait to see his numbers continue to grow (and learn tons of new stuff along the way).

What’s Up Next?

Jellysmack’s Creator Program continues to bring more and more standout creators into the fold, and helping creators diversify onto additional platforms like Snapchat Discover is tantamount to their success and longevity. 

Stay tuned for more Snapchat updates and creator launches.