SNAP Interactive CEO Outlines Plans For Growth In Letter To Shareholders

SNAP Interactive has this week revealed its plans for growth in 2016, in a letter sent to its shareholders.

Yesterday, SNAP Interactive’s CEO Alex Harrington addressed shareholders in a letter posted on its site, reflecting on the company’s success in 2015, and outlining its business strategy for the next 12 months.

The letter begins by looking back at SNAP Interactive’s developments over the last year, which included the appointment of Harrington as CEO, and Cliff Lerner’s move to the newly-created role of President of The Grade.

Harrington proceeds to shed light on how the company looks to expand its portfolio in 2016, revealing its intentions to grow through a combination of in-house expansion and acquisitions.

He explains the reasons for this, saying: “On the acquisitions front, we expect to build most of our portfolio products in-house in the near term, but we believe that acquisitions represent an important long-term growth opportunity for us as well.

“The interactive dating industry is incredibly fragmented, with some 8,000 competitors according to some estimates. Industry leaders have emerged, in part, through acquisitions.

“As an example, Match Group’s growth is due, in part, to acquisitions of companies such as PlentyOfFish.

“However, while most of the sizeable acquisition targets that would meaningfully grow a company the scale of Match Group have already been acquired, there are many smaller companies that would be good candidates for SNAP to acquire.”

In terms of in-house growth, Harrington refers to the company’s flagship brand, dating site AYI.com, and its new mobile product, The Grade.

According to the CEO, SNAP is working to rebrand AYI, in an effort to “recapture” a large number of inactive users within its database.

Speaking about the rebrand, he said: “This relaunch includes a new brand with a refreshed look and feel, and some modest functional improvements coupled with an aggressive win- back strategy.

“We also anticipate that the new brand will lower our cost of acquisition for new users as well. This rebrand is already substantially completed and we expect the relaunched AYI to go live in the first quarter of 2016.”

In 2016, the company will also continue work building up The Grade’s profile, and improving its user experience, which Harrington says will help the app “seize the unclaimed number two position in the market to Tinder”.

Read the full letter here.