Is It Time to Reconsider Snapchat Ads?

Whether or not TikTok gets shut down in the U.S., there’s a new (old) alternative that should be getting your attention right now: Snapchat.

Yes, all advertising channels are catching a bit of a rising tide right now according to Q1 earnings, but Snapchat is on a particularly big roll: daily active users grew to 422 million and revenue increased 21% this past quarter, and the channel has rolled out upgrades and features over the past year to improve ad targeting and user ad engagement.

So what do advertisers (even those who might have tried it and ditched it in the past) need to know about testing Snapchat today?

Snapchat has the youth market

Snapchat is built to be fun, engaging, and unique – and younger users love it. Any consumer-based brands with a young target audience should already be on the platform – and, if not, it’s time to get moving.

That said, don’t just roll Meta and TikTok content over to Snapchat; it won’t work as well. Advertisers need to get creative to make ads that are more exciting and engaging to truly leverage the platform.

Snapchat makes AI fun

You hear all about AI in bidding, SGE, etc. for other platforms, but Snapchat has been leaning into AI and AR for years – in a user-friendly, engaging way. Snap has spent recent years developing interactive experiences; they were one of the first platforms to really tap into that functionality and continue to double down. (Remember Snap Spectacles? Way ahead of their time.)

Overall, Snapchat has been great at creating features that users interact with (as opposed to featuring scroll-through content), which is a huge reason their users are so engaged. This gives them a big edge with brands in makeup, jewelry, eye-wear, etc. that can leverage features like AR “try-ons” and Lenses.

Their new features, like Snap Sports Network (for unique and different way to watch sports) and Snap Nation Public Profile (a way to stream exclusive behind-the-scenes content from concerts), also create fresh, unique, and engaging ways for users to consume content and spend more time on the platform. This presents a huge opportunity for advertisers looking to connect with users in younger demographics.

It’s time to test - and Snap reps are actually helpful

As the “helpfulness” of advertising reps has eroded in other platforms (ahem, Google), Snap’s reps continue to be surprisingly helpful and informative, which is a big boost for advertisers getting serious about testing.

As I said, Snap is worth testing no matter what happens with TikTok, but if you’re heavily invested in TikTok campaigns, you really don’t want to be caught flat-footed if that option goes away. Start diving into Snap now, and you’ll be ahead of the game in media mix planning and will have a head start on a solid Snap strategy.

We’ve been standing up a bunch of new Snap campaigns recently, and we’re happy to share some tips to help you get traction. Drop us a line if you’d like to start a conversation!