Why you need to advertise on Snapchat
Snapchat is a great way to make your head look like a piece of broccoli, or find out what life would be like if you and your dog switched faces. And honestly? There are worse ways to spend ten seconds of your time. But what if I told you you could also use Snapchat to access a whole slew of untapped marketing opportunities?
It’s true, you can. So sit back, relax, and please allow me to tell you why you should definitely, absolutely, one hundo percent be advertising on Snapchat!
Reason #1: People. Use. Snapchat
If Snapchat were a country song, it would be this one:
Nevermind why I know that song, the point is, Snapchat is USED. A lot. It’s one of the most used camera apps in the world. 229 million people around the world use Snapchat every day, and they aren’t just opening it for a quick second, either. The average user spends 30 minutes on Snapchat every day, and collectively Snapchatters create an average of over four BILLION Snaps a day. More and more people are showing a desire to communicate visually with their friends, and they are largely turning to Snapchat to do it.
And that 229 million figure? That’s not a stagnant number. The Snapchat community is growing. In fact, the daily active user (DAU) growth has accelerated by 20 percent year-over-year.
Globally: DAUs were 229 million in Q1 2020, an increase of 20% (or 39 million) YoY.
Regionally: DAUs increased sequentially and YoY in North America, Europe, and Rest of World.
Across Devices: DAUs increased sequentially and YoY on both iOS and Android platforms.
And while I’m sure you admit that 229 million daily active users is nothing to sniff at, maybe you’re thinking those particular 229 million people are irrelevant to your business model. Think again.
Your customers are on Snapchat
OK so maybe 13-year-olds who want to spend the day face-swapping are not your target audience. Before you write off Snapchat altogether, here are some stats for you to consider:
Unless you sell dentures or subscriptions to the AARP newsletter, I’m guessing you’ll want to get your ads in front of people aged 18 to 34+.
Also keep in mind that many Snapchat users don’t actually use Facebook. These are new audiences that, figuratively speaking, can only be reached via Snapchat.
Furthermore, not only does your target audience use Snapchat, but you can use Snapchat to gain insights about them. Insights that—short of hacking into their therapists case files (not recommended)—you can’t gain anywhere else.
Here are the demographics of all Snapchat users in the USA.
If you’re just relying on Facebook to get an understanding of your customers and what makes them tick, you’re missing out. Snapchat’s Audience Insights will help you optimize your ads and unlock targetable segments to grow your reach. Thanks to new rules and regulations, your ability to do this with Facebook is much, much more limited than it used to be.
https://businesshelp.snapchat.com/en-US/a/audience-size-tool
You can reach people on Snapchat you can’t reach anywhere else
Every advertiser understands the importance of diversifying media spend across several advertising channels. It’s essential to reach existing customers and build loyalty, as well as find brand new customers who will provide strong lifetime value.
Snapchatters are a unique, valuable and extremely diverse group. If Snapchat isn’t part of your media mix, you miss reaching your full audience.
Don’t be fooled into thinking you can reach the same people on other channels or networks. In the U.S. alone more than 30% of people on Snapchat are not active on Instagram or Facebook.
Adding Snapchat to your marketing strategy helps you find new customers, build loyalty with existing customers, and reach Millennials and Gen Z—whose value we’ll get to below—at scale.
Reason #2: Snapchatters are primed to convert
The Snapchat audience is a marketer’s dream. They’ve got all the essential ingredients you’re looking for in potential leads: They’re engaged. They’ve got loads of spending power. And, lastly and SUPER IMPORTANTLY, they aren’t afraid to put that spending power to use.
Snapchatters are an active audience
Marketers are kind of like teachers. You have to educate your potential customers about your product in order to get them to buy it, right? The good news for you—and stick with me here, I’m almost done with this metaphor I swear—is that Snapchatters make excellent students. They’re the ones sitting in the front row. The ones who throw their hands in the air and say, “Ooh! Oh! Me!” Snapchatters are engaged. More than 60% of daily active users create Snaps every day. That means they’re accustomed to taking action on the platform, not just mindlessly scrolling. So when Snapchatters engage with your content, they’re genuinely curious and primed to act.
Snapchatters have spending power
Millennials make up the largest generation in U.S. history, and on a global scale Gen Z is even bigger. Now, we all know about Millennials and their (OK, full disclosure, our) impulsive spending habits. (Did I NEED to buy every episode of Magnum P.I. on VHS? Probably not. But I regret nothing.) At the end of the day, all that knee-jerk clicking and buying means that Millennials will be responsible for one in three purchases in 2020.
And Gen Z is not far behind. Together with Millennials they wield over $1 trillion in spending power. On their own they’ve got $323 billion in direct and $1.2 trillion in indirect purchasing power. Gen Z is increasingly becoming the most important generation for marketers to reach. They are still forming their brand preferences, exploring the kinds of services and products they want to engage with and buy from, and are directly influencing what their families spend money and time on.
While Millennials might have the itchiest “add to cart” fingers, Gen Z is unparalleled when it comes to purchasing influence. According to Cassandra Research, 87% of Gen Z says they influence their family’s purchase decisions. Their parents vouch for that, too—92% of them agree. Plus, +63% of incremental sales come from households where ONLY purchase influencers saw the relevant advertising.
And what is the point of me going on and on about all the purchasing power these two generations hold? I’m sure you’ve already put it together, but, I’ll just say it nice and loud for the folks in the back:
There’s no better place to reach this influential community than on Snapchat.
Snapchatters spend money
Snapchat has no vanity metrics, likes, or follows. Whatever users share isn’t judged by how “popular” or “engaging” it is. It’s one of the reasons why Snapchatters feel safer and more comfortable expressing themselves—no matter what that may look like.
At a time when many people feel anxious or overwhelmed by social media, 95% of Snapchat users—more than any other app tested—say the app makes them feel happy. Snapchat helps advertisers engage with people when they’re feeling good and are primed to take action.
But does that happy feeling really translate to spending more money? Here are the facts:
- Gen Z Snapchatters in the U.S. are 43% more likely than Gen Z non-Snapchatters to say they tend to buy brands they see advertised, and 37% more likely to say they are brand-conscious.
- Gen Z Snapchatters in the U.S. are 62% more likely than Gen Z non-Snapchatters to discover brands or products via in-app ads.
- Gen Z Snapchatters in the U.S. are 17% more likely than Gen Z non-Snapchatters to have watched a branded video.
Not only that, but if you’re trying to get app installs, Snapchat is one of the best places you can advertise!
- Gen Z Snapchatters in the U.S. are 61% more likely than Gen Z non-Snapchatters to have downloaded or used a branded app last month.
- ~50% of Snapchatters are interested in trying out new apps.
- 50% or more of Snapchatters download at least one app per week.
- 50% or more of Snapchatters use apps to make purchases at least once a month.
Shopping Behavior
Reason #3: You’ve got nothing to lose—and plenty to gain
You can use Snapchat to drive ROI for your brand or business no matter where your customers are in their journey. On Snapchat you can market at every stage of the funnel, ensure brand safety through curated content, and measure your results in real time. PLUS, you can do all of that without making a huge investment to get started.
Spend 1/10 what you do on Facebook
You heard that right. Advertising on Snapchat will ring up to an average of one-tenth what you’ll pay on Facebook per 1000 impressions. That means you’ll have a much wider reach for the same amount of ad spend. This one is a no-brainer.
You probably already have the right creative
Don’t let a fear of not having the right creative for Snapchat get in the way of testing the platform for your brand. In fact, if you already have creative for Instagram Stories then you can repurpose that for Snapchat without editing a single thing! Remember: Snapchat was the first platform to introduce Stories. Instagram copied them.
There are four kinds of Snapchat ad formats you can use:
- Snap Ads: These are <10 second, full-screen videos that can appear in Discover, after a user’s story or in live stories.
- Sponsored geofilters: Here you’re essentially allowing users to take pictures with a branded banner.
- Sponsored lenses: Imagine… puppy dog face BUT for your brand. That’s what sponsored lenses are. The only downside is that you have to let Snapchat create your lens and the development process starts at 8 weeks. https://storage.googleapis.com/snapchat-web/marketing/sponsoredlenses/pdf/pdf_specs_en.pdf
- Dynamic Product Ads: You can use this for dynamic retargeting or simply showcasing your products. They’re a great option because your customer can click directly to the product they want. If you’re an ecommerce brand and want to showcase your products, this can be one the most powerful ads you run on Snapchat. https://forbusiness.snapchat.com/blog/introducing-dynamic-ads
https://strikesocial.com/blog/snapchat-ad-specifications/
Snap ads specs
Width: 1080 pixels
Height: 1920 pixels
Aspect Ratio: 9:16
Format: .MP4, .MOV, H.264 encoded
Audio: 2 channels only, PCM or AAC codec, 192 minimum kbps, 16 or 24 bit only, 48 KHz sample rate
Length: 3 to 10 seconds
File Size: 32MB or less
Sponsored geofilter ad specs
Width: 1080 pixels
Height: 1920 pixels
Format: .PNG asset with transparent background
File Size: 250KB or less
Sponsored Lenses ad specs
High-resolution, transparent background: .PNG of logo
High-resolution, layered: .PNG files for any static images that brand wishes to appear in the lens
For 2D Lens: High-resolution .PSD file of any specific 2D models that will be appended to the face or frame in the lens
For 3D Lens: 3D Max or Maya files of 3D models that will be appended to the face / head / frame in the Lens
Audio: .MP3 or .WAV file
How to make the most of Snapchat
Now that—I hope and pray—I’ve convinced you to advertise on Snapchat, let’s take a quick look at how to make sure your Snapchat campaigns are successful.
Utilize location targeting
You can target Snapchatters by country, region, postal code and point radius. Utilize location categories (like “Grocery Stores and Supermarkets”) to reach the most relevant users for your products. Note: This feature is only available in the U.S.
Re-engage with the Snap Pixel
The Snap Pixel allows you to track actions taken on your website, so you can measure campaign impact and optimize accordingly. You can track purchases, optimize for any conversion event, and of course retarget, retarget, retarget.
Snap Pixel lets you see what actions Snapchatters take after they swipe up or tap the CTA on your ad. By placing the Snap Pixel code on your website, you can measure performance metrics like lifetime value, return on ad spend, and total sales achieved from your campaigns.
Use Snapchat-friendly creative
The first thing you’ll need to do is choose which ad format you want to test. In most cases, this will be a Snap ad. As mentioned above, the easiest solution to creating a Snap ad is just to borrow creative from your Instagram Stories.
But what can you do to really stand out on the platform so that you can drive important actions from Snapchatters? (You know, like purchases!) :)
First of all, keep in mind that Snapchat is not JUST mobile-first—it is a platform that is ONLY on mobile. So all your content needs to be 9:16, under 10 seconds, and made to be viewed on a mobile device.
Here are the kinds of creative that we see getting the best results on Snapchat:
- User-generated content or UGC. Particularly selfie-style testimonials.
- Best features or how-to content shown from POV—almost like an Instagram Story.
- TikToks—You can just take them right from the platform.
- Videos filmed on a mobile device (as opposed to overly produced videos.)
- Fast-paced GIFs.
The big point here is to not complicate things. Filming your product on your iPhone and adding some text directly on Instagram Stories is likely to go a lot further on your Snapchat Ads than a big production.
https://forbusiness.snapchat.com/blog/creative-best-practices-snapchat-for-business
Fun Facts to Ponder
If you take nothing else away from this article, remember the following as you consider whether or not to add Snapchat to your advertising arsenal.
- Millennials and Gen Z have a direct spending power of $1 trillion. The Snapchat audience has buying power, influence on household spend, and is forming their lifelong brand preferences now.
- Snapchatters are active, engaged users. On average, Snapchatters spend over 30 minutes on Snapchat every day, and we know that they aren’t just mindlessly scrolling. If you can get an ad in front of them, it won’t just go in one ear and out the other.
- Snapchatters are ready to convert. Snapchatters in the U.S. are more likely to discover new brands in in-app ads, more likely to buy brands they see advertised, and they use apps to make purchases at least once per month.
*All data is provided by Snapchat, Fundstrat, commissioned by Snap Inc. 2019, Census Bureau. Futurum Research, “Marketing to Millennials,” January 2016.
Are you ready to start advertising on Snapchat? Get in touch and be our next success story!
