Snapchat: Old News or Hidden Gem?
Depending on who you ask, Snapchat may have come and gone years ago. Initially designed as a way to communicate the… ahem… most ‘intimate’ parts of ourselves without leaving a trace, the disappearing message app has grown far beyond its original scope. Since its creation in 2011, Snapchat has gone through some serious changes.
Our Millennials readers might remember the app’s heyday when it was the platform of choice for communication of all kinds in the mid-to-late 2010s. P.S. Do you also remember that it was the originator of stories, before Instagram implemented them?
This was the era of painstakingly maintaining snapstreaks by sending snaps daily, keeping track of your friends’ snapscores to see how much they used the app, and of course, the origin of the now-ubiquitous dog filter (see below, and please take a moment to notice how SMALL the iPhones were back then!).
While Snapchat may not be the young person’s messaging app of choice anymore (that honour goes to iMessage and Instagram DMs), it’s emerged as a valuable tool for marketers in a new, unexpected way thanks to the Spotlight page, Snapchat Ads, and other related features. In this guide, we’ll be looking into Snapchat as a marketing tool, examining its value, and explaining ways to start using it to your advantage.
Understanding Snapchat as a Marketing Tool
Expanding far beyond its origins as a simple messaging app, Snapchat now relies much more heavily on its Spotlight feature, which essentially acts like a For You Page, like the ones you see on Instagram or TikTok. Despite shifts in the social media world over the past few years, Snapchat holds its spot in the top 10 social media apps, boasting more than 850 million active monthly users. Many of these users aren’t on other social media platforms, which is why Snapchat Ads are so surprisingly valuable.
Snapchat Ads have some impressive stats to pay attention to. Snapchat’s commercials, ads, and company-created, branded augmented reality (AR) lenses deliver 5 times the active attention of other social media platforms, according to one study, and many Snapchat users have higher-than-average chances to convert into buying customers. Here are a few other fast facts to know about Snapchat:
Snapchat Ads are quick to make and quite inexpensive compared to other platforms—ad bids can cost as little as $5
Gen Z and Millennials make up the vast majority of Snapchat users, and these generations have more trust in influencer marketing than any other
Snapchat beats Instagram and TikTok when it comes to stats on creator-driven shopping
Many brands report that Snapchat offers the highest click rate on ads compared to other platforms
Snapchat has proprietary tech that allows it to group similar content without the need for hashtags—someone posting about a new Nike drop, for instance, will automatically be grouped with sneakerhead content, even if they didn’t use the relevant hashtags
66% of luxury shoppers surveyed said they prefer virtually trying on luxury products using Snapchat’s augmented reality (AR) lenses instead of going in-store
Snapchatters represent about $4.5 trillion in global spending power
Why Market with Snapchat?
It should be clear that, contrary to what Gen Alpha may think, Snapchat is by no means a dead platform. Of course, like any platform, marketing on Snapchat isn’t a sure thing. It takes an understanding of the platform and best practices, a keen eye for trends, and the willingness to change and adapt your strategy over time, but with the right approach, you can see some seriously impressive results from this nearly 14-year-old platform. Here are the top tools to get familiar with in order to get the most out of Snapchat.
Ad Targeting
The biggest thing to keep in mind is the existing audience for Snapchat. If you’re trying to reach Gen Xers or Gen Alpha, Snapchat might not be the right call, as these demographics use Snapchat much more sparingly. However, if you’re looking to connect with Millenials and Gen Z, it can be a powerful tool. From here, it’s a good idea to get even more specific with your target audience, as Snapchat offers powerful ad targeting tools. These features include targeting based on:
Online and real-world interests and behaviours
Location (multi-country, metros, or even a point radius around a certain address)
Age
Gender
Language
Device type
Ad Insights
What’s even better about Snapchat’s targeting tools is that you can layer your existing client data with behaviour from within the app, helping you get even more specific with your ads. From here, you can view detailed Audience Insights to learn how people engage with your ads, which helps you create better, more relevant content for your audience. Snapchat’s Audience Insights go surprisingly in-depth, including features like:
Saving multiple relevant audiences to use for different types of ads and content
Create a custom audience to view in-depth info on user interests
Get detailed demographic breakdowns of your custom audiences
Identify and add similar audience segments to your existing campaigns
Plus, any business can set up a Snapchat ads manager for free, even if you don’t post much or aren’t active on the account.
Tracking Behaviour Off Snapchat
If you make sales online, you know how complex and non-linear the modern-day sales funnel can be. Understanding the ways people behave as they go from your Snapchat Ad to your website is essential for tweaking your strategy and seeing the results you deserve. Fortunately, Snapchat offers a great tool for exactly that: The Snap Pixel.
The Snap Pixel is a piece of code that can be easily installed on your site or through your e-commerce provider (e.g., Shopify, Zid, Salla, etc.) in just a few minutes. It offers some powerful functionalities, such as:
View all actions a user makes on your website after viewing your ad on Snapchat
Attributing purchase conversions directly to your ad campaigns
Create custom Pixel audiences of people who have previously engaged with your business
Create custom lookalike Pixel audiences of people similar to those who have engaged with your business
Real-time campaign analysis for on-the-fly optimization
Goal-based ad bidding to help you get specific about optimizing ads for certain actions
Making the Most of Your Marketing with Snapchat
To be honest, Snapchat isn’t the right move for every business. If your audience is mainly made up of Gen X, for instance, you’re not likely to see huge ROI from your Snapchat Ads. But with the right approach, Snapchat can be a powerful tool for reaching a slightly younger audience. Plus, the more casual, authentic style of Snapchat can make it a great fit for brands with a more laid-back, down-to-earth style—something that doesn’t always come across well on Instagram or Facebook.
If you’re looking to experiment with a new approach to marketing with a far lower investment than Meta ads, Snapchat could be your next move. If you’re curious to find out more about Snapchat and explore whether it makes sense for your brand, our team would be more than happy to connect. We have some amazing paid ad experts in our corner we’d be happy to introduce you to. Book a discovery call with the BNL unicorns and level up your social media marketing game today!