While Snapchat has been around for a number of years, Snapchat advertising is a relatively new phenomenon that has caught fire as of recent. According to The Drum, “Snapchat is successfully reaching 90% of all 19-24 year-olds and 75% of all 25-34 year-olds in the USA.” The age range of Snapchat users has also increased as many parents get to grips with the online channel, and join Snapchat.
This spiralling trend has spread across the world with Snapchat now being used by more than 190 million people around the globe multiple times everyday. Snapchat users are more engaged than on any other platform and the number of people contributing content on Snapchat is currently higher than on any other social media platform. In addition, Snapchat ads are very unique as they work to speak to the younger generation through their fun and creative advertising tactics. Additionally through our experience it has been seen that Snapchat’s ads and cost per click is usually lower than other platforms as well.
So how can your business capitalise on this new trend?
How can your business work to send your message to as many people as possible?
Below is an overview of the advertising services that Snapchat currently offers.
Advertising Formats
Snapchat offers several ad formats that are tailored to reach target audiences in an array of unique ways:
Story Ads
Story Ads are paired with the Discover feature on the Snapchat Discover page to bring ads to the user based on likes and preferences. The ads on this page also give the user the option to learn more about the product or service being advertised. The Discover page is a key way of engaging users with longer content that Snapchat offers.
Collection Ads
Collection Ads showcase several products or services in a series of snaps that is tappable by the user. This feature basically allows the user to pick and choose the ads they want to see and learn more about the product or service they choose.
Snap Ads
Snap Ads are the most popular and simple form of advertising and is geared to drive the user to a business’s app, video, AR lens, or website for more information about the products and services they offer.
AR Lenses
AR Lenses are a more fun and interactive form of advertising that Snapchat has implemented. The user can transform themselves into their favorite superhero, animal, or anything the mind can imagine with the tap of a button. According to Snapchat, AR Lenses “Encourages fun, engagement, and discovery.”
Filters
Filters are a great way to let consumers be creative whilst advertising for companies. Filters are able to be worked into any photo and provide a great overlay for any photo or video the user sends or shares. Filters are a great way to reach as many users as possible as they can be sent and seen by everyone in a user’s friends list.
Commercials
Commercials on Snapchat are a great way to inform users and make them aware of a company’s business or service. These can be worked into the Discovery page as well and are non skippable.
Targeting
Snapchat targets its users using several methods to make sure the advertisements that they see and interact with are relevant to their own lives. This targeting method in turn drives more viewers to learn about a company, as businesses can ensure that the right people are viewing their ads. Snapchat does this by directing ads to their users through interests & behaviors, demographics, and locations. Additionally, Snapchat uses the features of custom audiences and lookalikes to drive advertisements. Custom audiences are those that have seen or interacted with a business’s ads before, and lookalikes are current Snapchat users that Snapchat thinks would like a business’s product or service based on previous interactions with similar ads on Snapchat.
Measurement
This is the current weak spot in the Snapchat offering. However, recently, Snapchat introduced a tool to measure the attention advertisements are generating using the online platform. This ‘Google Analytic’ like tool measures campaign performance, web conversions, and app conversions to make sure businesses are getting the most out of their Snapchat advertisements as well as reaching their goals in an efficient and timely manner. Snapchat has over 20 partners to provide measurement tools for businesses to ensure their ads are best tailored to the consumers they’re trying to reach. It is however wise to be wary of this feature as Snapchat has stated that the biggest problem with their measurement tool is measuring the advertising effectiveness due to the way the social media channel opens websites in their own browser.
Native Commerce
Recently Snapchat released a new update to its platform that has to do with engaging with several social media influencers through native commerce. This comes as Snapchat is trying to break into the shopping and commerce world.
According to an article written by Adweek, “On June 6, Kylie Jenner, Kim Kardashian West, Shay Mitchell, Spencer Pratt and Bhad Bhabie received a small update to their profiles: a shop button that lets users buy items from their respective brands (Kylie Cosmetics, KKW Beauty, Béis, Pratt Daddy Crystals and BHAD Goods). The native commerce feature is powered by Shopify.” The article went on to say, “If the native checkout experience is successful, this has a chance to be the big change in momentum Snapchat is wishing for… this also leaves room for Snapchat to grow its ecommerce advertising market.” Omni Online has been fortunate to be one of the trial digital agencies working with one of our clients on this feature. As for now this is just a very small feature of Snapchat’s growing platform, if it works out for them it will have big implications to the world of ecommerce. It will be interesting to see what Snapchat does with this feature down the road and if they will extend it if deemed a success.
Advertising of the Future
In short, the sky’s the limit for Snapchat advertising as there are countless ways to get creative to advertise your business. Advertising via Snapchat is just another way to help grow and bring relevance to your business in this fast moving and ever-changing digital world. Getting ahead and keeping up with trends is key, and that’s exactly what Snapchat ads do. Snapchat advertising serves as a platform to show your business to more people that ever before. With various creative ways to advertise such as through stories and filters, Snapchat ensures you will always be ahead of the competition and will successfully achieve your business’ goals.
Visit: Snapchat Advertising Official Page for more information and to get started advertising on Snapchat!
Downside
For now, the biggest hurdle for advertisers is the poor analytics that Snapchat offers. Because Snapchat opens a website in its own native browser, Google Analytics has a hard time recognising the data from the Snapchat browser correctly. As a result, many of Snapchat’s analytic features are still a work in progress. We know that there is a significant amount of resources being thrown at this problem, and we are expecting Snapchat to improve on this issue over the coming period.