Social Throwback: Snapchat Updates 2019 in a glance

As a part of our recap series, Social Throwback, we take a look at Snapchat Updates 2019 – all the innovations, campaigns, and expansion plans that came to life.

Even since its debut, Snapchat has been innovating the way phone cameras can be put to use by people. Snapchat Updates 2019 mirror the same.

From an India perspective, the platform has shown a serious commitment to increasing its footprint in the region. May it be opening an office in Mumbai or localising features and services in four Indian languages — Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, and Punjabi. Partnering with IPL teams and giving people the lens options to customise snaps of local landmarks was a part of the mix.

For publishers, brands, and influencers, Snapchat is continuously working on creating better lenses, ad sections, and shoppable buttons. 2019 was an interesting year for the platform as well as users.

2019 at a glance

January 2019

Snapchat kick-started the year by introducing an end to end encryption for Snaps being shared on the platform.

February 2019

Lego launched a limited edition adult clothing line exclusively on Snapchat. The products were available for users in the US, UK, Germany, and France.

March 2019

The platform's Explore section was updated with new advertising tools and insights in March 2019. From a hyperlocal perspective, what worked well for Snapchat was that they teamed up with Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings, and Kolkata Knight Riders for an IPL season.

April 2019

Snapchat localized into 4 Indian languages – Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, and Punjabi this year, along with polling information and creative tools being launched for Indian voters.

A revamped Android app came into being and a Snap Partner Summit was held where partnership announcements with Photomath, Giphy and introduced AR Bar and Landmarkers were made.

May 2019

JioSaavn & Snapchat announced a content integration partnership, in May 2019. Using Snap Kit, JioSaavn designed and built custom-branded Stickers, Filters, Links, and more. These could be shared from the JioSaavn app right into the Snap Camera, becoming a part of Snapchatters’ conversations.

June 2019

In-App options to shop from influencers launched in June 2019. These were first made available to Kylie Jenner and four more accounts. The feature included a shop button for influencer profiles, powered by Shopify.

July 2019

Snapchat rolled out its first global campaign, Real Friends in July 2019. As a part of the campaign, Snapchat connected with various friend-duos from 13 countries, each with a unique tale of their friendship journey. Reportedly, the number of DAUs grew to 203 million around the same time.

August 2019

Snap Inc opened up its first office in India this year. The team in India will focus on expanding strategic partnerships, building an engaged community of creators and users, and servicing local advertisers.

Instant Create for advertisers was launched, facilitating them to create ads in three simple steps and opt-in ads were added to Snap Games.

September 2019

3D Snaps were launched, allowing users to rotate and wiggle their handset, bringing their Snap to life in a way that’s one step closer to the real thing, and so can the people they send it to. Long-format ads up to three minutes long were also introduced.

October 2019

Snapchat Dynamic Ads have been introduced on the platform to aid performance marketers in creating mobile ads at scale. Bringing automated personalization to the platform, the feature lets marketers on the platform sketch a brand’s identity through mobile-native templates.

November 2019

Snapchat announces Daily Active Users to have increased by 13% year-over-year to 210 million. The platform rolled out a Mix and Match option for Bitmoji on Android and iOS that lets the users customize their virtual persona’s clothing on a piece-by-piece basis.

December 2019

To end the year on a good note, Snapchat introduced a feature that lets users edit their faces into short, looping video templates that can be sent to friends in Chat.

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