Snapchat Advertising Options
Snapchat for Advertisers
Snapchat has been the talk of the tech news this week with several announcements following the release of their latest quarterly results this week in which the company’s shares have fallen 17%.
Despite this Snapchat have been fighting back strong and announced updates to its ad platform to increase monetisation which makes good timing for advertisers to plan their Q4 budgets.
Historically Snapchat advertising was very expensive and could only be purchased through Snap’s sales teams or third-party ad tool. The good news is this has now changed due to Snap Inc’s new self-service ad manager which is open to anyone and any sized budgets.
So why should advertisers now be looking at Snapchat as a social media marketing channel and what benefits can be sought?
It’s still a bit of a mystery to most non-Snapchat users, so we’ve reviewed the main ad types available and benefits of each as the platform now opens its doors to small business advertising:
What ad types are available?
There are three main types of ads are available through the Snapchat app:
Snap Ads
Snap Ads are the newest and most available ad type which are mobile video ads that run for up to ten seconds. These ads are shown with original shows, stories, media companies stories and publicly posted stories. Snap Ads can be purchased through the sales team, advertising API and now through the Snapchat self-serve ad platform. This ad type is the lowest cost available with campaigns starting from $3,000 per month.
Sponsored Lenses
You’ve probably played around with lenses which are the most popular type of ads on Snapchat. This is a great, fun way of getting your brand out there and customers engaging with it.
Some companies have seen great success, despite the heavy cost investment of this ad type. Taco Bell had a huge campaign for ‘Cinco de Mayo’ that was viewed 224 million times!
Lenses can only be purchased directly from Snapchat’s sales team and are one of the most expensive ad type coming in at a minimum whopping $450,000 per day!
Sponsored Geofilters
Geofilters are an illustrated overlay capturing a photo of you and what you are doing that can be publicly shared in posts and stories. When you purchase these directly from the Snapchat sales team, you can add a Smart Geofilter to connect to specific audience locations.
Geofilters are estimated to cost around a fifth of that of the lenses so still unaffordable for most advertisers.
How do I purchase Snapchat advertising features?
Although lenses and geofilters need to be purchased directly from Snap’s sales team the latter option of Snap Ads opens up the platform to smaller advertisers with lower advertising budgets.
Snap Ads can be purchased through the self-serve ad platform and are priced at CPM or ‘pay per goal (CPA).
Another recent addition to geofilter ads are the ‘Sponsored Local Geofilters’. These ads are the cheapest of all the ad types and can be purchased from as little as $5. This is a great option for both small and large businesses alike who constantly want a presence on Snapchat.
Snap Advertising benefits
Geographic targeting
Using geofilters as an example, companies that can afford this large-scale brand awareness will benefit from increasing sales and conversions in concentrated regions and cities. This also helps customers into store for offline conversions.
Traffic, Awareness and Branding
The new ad platform targets by traffic, awareness, video views or app installs. This is quite similar to Facebooks advertising objectives.
Extensive audience targeting by geographical area, demographics, audiences, placements and devices is available through the new platform. This gives advertisers lots of options to target their core audiences. With the ad formats being very visual and friendly in video format, high engagement is a definite benefit.
Increasing app installs
There is a snap ad app install attachment available with Snap Ads, enabling users to swipe up on the add and download the app. This is a perfect option for new apps in the market trying to gain traction in such a saturated app world.
Signing up to Snap’s new ad manager is completely free and easy to set up. The targeting capabilities show similarities to Facebook although it is focused at a younger demographic of 18-24 year olds.
Ad formats are still quite complex to build creative for and will need the support of a creative team or agency to help with design. The cost of the advertising is now more affordable with minimum budgets of $3,000 (£2.3k) estimated for a Snap Ads self-serve campaign.
We are looking forward to giving Snap Ads a try and learning how the new ad tool could be a game changer for clients who are looking to reach a younger, tech savvy demographic.