About 238 million people use Snapchat every day, sending over 4 billion snaps. And of those users, over 80% are under 35 years old.
Given that so many Millennials use the app, Snapchat is a lagoon of leads for businesses who want to put their products in front of a predominantly young demographic, while appearing to be modern and chic.
And like most social media platforms, Snapchat has paid advertising – snap ads – that has worked fantastically well for some of the biggest names across multiple industries.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a Snapchat greenhorn. In this article, we’ll look at what Snapchat Ads are and how you can use them to bolster your bottom line.
However, if you’re feeling a little overwhelmed and you’d like someone to help you figure out how best to appeal to Snapchat’s younger audience, book a call with us today. Our professional team can evaluate your strategy and provide powerful, actionable insights you can use right now.
First, some basics
A snap ad – officially a Snapchat Ad – is visual content that pops up between different types of user content.
Snap ads can take many forms. They can be photos, GIFs, and most commonly, videos. Regardless of their format, snap ads are usually full screen and they always provide an option for the snapchatter (Snapchat user) to take further action.
When the ad pops up, the user can swipe up to read an article, watch a longer video, install an app, or visit a website. In every case, there is an option to ‘do more’.
Although video snap ads can be up to three minutes long, the majority of publishers set a maximum of ten seconds, with the optimal duration at three to five seconds.
A snapshot of what is possible with Snapchat: the benefits
Although Snapchat is far behind social media giants like Facebook and Instagram, it is still one of the top 15 most used social media platforms in the world and is particularly popular with Millenials.
Let’s look at some of the biggest advantages you can expect from advertising on the app.
Sell to a younger demographic
Statistics from Hootsuite make the case for using snap ads to reach a younger audience, showing that 84% of all Snapchat users are under 35 years old. Of those, Americans between 13 and 24 are the most dependent on the app, with an astounding 90% using it.
More importantly, Snapchat’s audience is unique and you may not be able to reach them on other platforms. More than one third of Snapchat users aren’t on Instagram, for example.
With many young people opening the app more than 18 times and spending an average of 30 minutes daily on Snapchat, you also have an engaged audience, many of whom will buy from you if your branding is spot on.
Increased user interaction
On the bottom right of the Snapchat app is the ‘Chat’ button, which allows users to connect with their friends. But on the bottom left is the ‘Discover’ button, which has stories from publishers, creators, “Snap Stars” and the community.
And with 35% more snapchatters spending increased time in the ‘Discover’ section, the pendulum swings in your favour if you use your ad real estate creatively and effectively.
Also, consider that snap ads are shown full screen. Unlike most other types of social media ad, they’re not easily ignored in a sidebar or simply scrolled past on a Facebook wall: they demand the user’s attention, even if it’s only for a few seconds. This invariably equates to increased engagement
Show off your brand’s playful side
To be fair, Snapchat advertising isn’t for everybody. A serious company with older target customers like Rolex would likely feel out of place, while Taco Bell is perfectly at home using the platform to reach their audience.
That’s because the overall vibe in Snapchat is one of playfulness, which gives you the opportunity to show your target audience that you’re human and gives them a chance to connect with your business on a personal level.
People have an innate desire to make genuine connections and this translates into marketing. Snapchat calls itself the app for #RealFriends, and clever advertising can turn your business into your customers’ friend.
The app has options such as Sponsored Creative Tools (such as lenses and geofilters) and snap ads with attachments that allow users to take further action without leaving.
Many of Snapchat’s intrinsic features are playful and encourage the user to be lighthearted, creative, and sometimes downright sassy.
If you wanted to be goofy and show off your brand’s playful side, a
Snapchat-based marketing strategy may be the right tool to do that.
Better organic reach
Unlike much older platforms (think Facebook), whose algorithms tend to push business posts further down the feed or make them completely invisible (or at least easy to ignore), younger platforms like Snapchat have much more organic reach.
According to Gary Vaynerchuk, “If you have 1,000 followers on Snapchat, 900 of them will watch your story.”
This is the kind of reach that you won’t get with any other advertising – even email marketing has open rates that are at best around 25%.
More diversity, more relevance
Unlike Facebook, which forces businesses in the direction of paid ads, Snapchat’s algorithms aren’t moving in that direction. Yet.
Nevertheless, many brands still use the paid option to increase their reach and brand awareness.
Snapchat even declares that their “advertising delivery framework is designed to optimize relevance across the entire platform, decreasing the number of wasted impressions and improving the advertising shown to our community.”
Now, that’s a brand that takes relevance seriously!
Types of Snapchat ad and how to use them
Snap ads can be used to achieve different results, so you must choose the best type based on your campaign goals and what format works best to reach and engage your audience.
Here are some of the different types of snap ad, along with insights into which situations they suit best.
Snapchat Ads
Basic snap ads are Snapchat’s most common ad type.
They are usually a single image or video which appears full screen and can be used to drive virtually any business objective, ranging from app installs to increased brand awareness.
Snap ads can also be GIFs, cinemagraphs, or photos. Try it all out and see what sticks. See what your audience really loves and responds to!
These ads appear between content such as user stories, Publishers, Creators, and Our Stories. And according to Snapchat, they make an instant impact.
There are three main ways you can leverage snap ads: web viewing, app installs, and long-form video.
A simple swipe up can launch a visit to your website. And using the Autofill feature, you can use this ad type to collect new leads – a fun, easy way to grow your email list.
That same swipe up can kick off downloading your own app without leaving Snapchat, right from the ad. And Snapchat has technology to reduce conversion friction that makes it easy for users to, well, convert.
Finally, that swipe up can drive traffic to longer video content. It’s most commonly used by big franchises to promote movie trailers, though it can work equally well for how-to videos and more.
Dynamic ads
Remember when we talked about Snapchat having good organic reach? Dynamic ads are one way to put your ad right in front of the most interested people.
The whole idea behind dynamic ads is to pull all the germane information – color, price, image, and so on – from your product catalog in real time.
By leveraging your catalog, the Snap Pixel, and Mobile Measurement Partner while optimizing towards actions that are most important to your bottom line, Snapchat creates and shows dynamic ads to the right people while driving the results you want, such as online or in-app purchases.
As you can tell, dynamic ads are ideal for companies looking to automate ad creation. You can create your catalog by manual upload, a scheduled data feed, or directly from Shopify.
Snapchat says dynamic ads:
- Show snapchatters ads, built directly from your product catalog, that are tailored to them based on their actions taken on your site or in your app.
- Cast a wider net on Snapchat and find prospective customers by serving them relevant products built directly from your product catalog.
Michael Skehill, Senior Manager at Tinuiti, says that dynamic ads give you “the ability to dynamically retarget users based on their on-site behavior which increases relevance and drives up conversion rates. Snapchat is now a channel that can drive full-funnel growth from Brand Awareness down to conversions and revenue.”
Snapchat commercials
Just like YouTube ads, Snapchat commercials are intrusive videos that users can’t skip for the first three to six seconds. Extended-play videos can last for up to three minutes, and appear between Snapchat’s curated content and games.
You should use Snapchat commercials when you want to grab users’ attention with short, digestible content. They are particularly effective for building awareness for an event or a new product, especially if the entire commercial fits into the initial unskippable period. Users have no option but to watch.
Story ads
With the story ad variant, you can reach Snapchatters directly in the Discovery section via a branded tile that opens up into 3-20 images or videos.
The reason story ads can increase your conversions is that they have lots of intent behind them. Users choose to click on a tile before the ad is shown, which means they’re already interested.
Lenses and filters
Sponsored Creative Tools are arguably one of Snapchat’s most popular features. And although they’re different to the standard ad types, they have some similarities.
Lenses are an augmented reality feature that places objects and animated characters in snaps as if they’re really there. We’ve all seen the fancy sunglasses, puppy ears, halloween masks, and other things that move around with the user’s face; those are lenses.
A great example of a sponsored lens is Taco Bell’s custom design that turned the user’s head into a giant taco shell. In one day, it was viewed an incredible 224 million times and snapchatters engaged with the lens for an average of 24 seconds before sharing it with their friends. (That’s over 170 years of viewing time in one day!)
Another example was the Super Bowl lens sponsored by Gatorade that gathered 165 million views.
Filters, on the other hand, are artistic overlays that appear when you take a snap and then swipe left or right. They may contain stylized text or images that convey something about where the snap was taken – in a particular city, or near a certain shop or restaurant, for example.
If you attended a basketball game, for instance, you’ll probably find a sponsored filter for that game.
Filters should represent your brand in a fun, colorful way. Make sure your filters are relevant to your audience: as always, it’s important for your branding to stay relevant.
Filters work really well for bricks-and-mortar businesses as well as companies with the specific intention of increasing brand awareness.
It can be easier!
Snap ads don’t have to be complicated.
If you’re paying attention to your audience and you’re creating content specifically for them, you can be sure you’ll elicit a response.
This post has covered some of the basic things you need to know about Snapchat advertising. If you’re still in over your head and need more help, we’d be happy to help! Book a call today and our team of professional marketers can partner up for a winning strategy!
