Snapchat Advertising in 2021: Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know

When you think about social media advertising, the big three probably come to mind: Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. But there are other social media platforms out there that can be just as effective at lower prices with huge user bases, one of which is Snapchat.

Despite having 265 million daily active users at the end of last year, many companies overlook Snapchat because they don’t understand it. Don’t let yourself fall into this group — read on for the complete guide to advertising on Snapchat.

What Is Snapchat and Who Uses It?

Snapchat is a mobile social media app available on both Android and Apple devices. The basic concept is to send and receive pictures and short videos with friends. Content sent on this app has a time limit and disappears after being viewed. People tend to use this app to send more mundane and everyday “snaps” rather than the highly edited and tailored pictures we see on Instagram.

Although the initial point of Snapchat was to send pictures and videos between friends, it has since expanded its features. There is a “Snap Story” feature where users can post pictures and videos for all their friends to view for 24 hours. There’s also a chat feature where messages disappear after being sent, keeping in theme with the app’s temporary nature. The final feature is a “Discovery” section where users can view content from publishers and brands rather than their personal friends.

There’s more to Snapchat than meets the eye, but who uses it? It’s not unrealistic to say that those in older generations know little to nothing about Snapchat, except perhaps that their kids use it too much. This perception is generally true. According to Statista, only 5% of people in the United States age 56 and older use Snapchat, compared to 48% between the ages 15 and 25. The usage of Snapchat slowly drops off amongst older demographics, with 30% of those between the ages of 26 and 35 using the platform, 18% between 36 and 45, and 11% between 46 and 55.

But younger generations don’t just use Snapchat casually. It’s their preferred platform, with 34% of teens choosing Snapchat over TikTok (29%), Instagram (29%), Twitter (3%), and Facebook (2%), according to CNBC. If you’re looking to reach Generation Z or Millennials with a captivating, cost-effective experience, Snapchat is where it’s at.

Why Advertise on Snapchat?

Although we touched on some of the benefits of advertising on Snapchat, we need to dive into the full picture of this beneficial platform.

Here are some of the reasons to advertise on Snapchat:

Reach: Snapchat advertising allows you to reach your potential customers where they spend their time and feel comfortable. This can help you reach a new audience you might have trouble reaching on other platforms like Facebook.
Visuals: Unlike other platforms, Snapchat ads are full-screen and so are harder to ignore. As such, they receive up to two times more visual attention when compared to other types of social media ads.
Audio: If you want potential customers to hear you, advertise on this platform. On other platforms such as Facebook, most ads are viewed without sound, making them less effective. On Snapchat, viewers see over 60% of ads with the audio on, ensuring that users see and hear your content.
Targeting: Snapchat ads offer powerful targeting mechanisms to reach specific groups of interest. Snapchat uses data from Oracle Data Cloud, allowing you to take advantage of detailed information to reach and learn more about potential customers.
Results: Users are five times more likely to click on your Snapchat ad and two times more likely to purchase a product as a result of your content compared to other social media ads, according to Social Media Today.

Consider Hollywood Hair Bar’s success with Snapchat ads. In order to connect with their target audience, they capitalized on user review videos for their ads on Snapchat, which rapidly drove online sales. After 60 days of working with The Snow Agency, Hollywood Hair Bar experienced a 1,708% increase in total sales, a 2,956% increase in online store sessions, and a 2,080% increase in total orders.

What Are the Different Types of Snapchat Ads?

There are several different types of advertising formats to choose from on Snapchat, including:

Snap ads: These photo or video ads appear between various types of content throughout the platform between Snapchat stories. They include a clear “call to action” with a button to download, learn more, order, or shop. These ads need to be quick — about five seconds or so to hold the user’s attention, according to Snapchat themselves.
Collection ads: Similar to regular snap ads but with a twist, these photo and video ads incorporate specific products. Below a main image or video, specific products appear with the option to tap on those products to learn more and make a purchase. This is a great option for ecommerce companies trying to show off a wider range of products.
Story ads: Appearing in the “Discover” section, this type of advertisement includes a number of different slides that the user can swipe through. These slides would contain more information about your company than would normally be provided in a basic snap ad. This is a great opportunity for businesses to promote their story and value to users.
Snapchat lenses: Snapchat is well-known for its lenses, allowing your company to get creative, have fun, and show off your brand through Snapchat lens advertising. These lenses add 3D effects, objects, and transformations to a user’s Snapchat message, like the infamous dog ears filter. They can be specialized to highlight your brand and engage more users. Lenses also have the option for interaction, so the more interactive and memorable, the better.
Snapchat filters: Filters and lenses are not the same. On Snapchat, you can apply filters by taking a photo or video, then swiping through to see the different filters available. Filters contain stylized text and images that target specific demographics. Companies can design and promote their own filters that people can then apply and send to their friends.

How to Tailor Your Snapchat Advertising Strategy?

It’s always a good idea to have a comprehensive and strategic approach to advertising, and Snapchat advertising is no exception.

Here are some key tips to keep in mind when developing your Snapchat advertising strategy:

Start with objectives and goals: Think about what you’re trying to accomplish on this platform. Are you trying to increase app downloads? Are you trying to increase website traffic? Increase sales? Your campaign will look different depending on your goals, so set these first before moving on.
Target the right people: Once you’ve set goals and objectives, move on to targeting. No matter how great a campaign seems, it won’t be effective if it’s not reaching the right people. You can avoid this issue by using Snapchat’s targeting mechanisms. Snapchat allows you to target people based on demographic information, geographic location, interests, behaviors, and previous engagement with your brand.
Engage with your audience: Advertising doesn’t have to be a one-way interaction, especially on a casual app like Snapchat. One way to promote your Snapchat channel is to offer a coupon code for customers who snap you a certain photo. You can announce events through filters, encourage followers to send their snaps to you, and repost them. This is an innovative platform where creativity can deliver the best results.
Take advantage of analytics: Snapchat allows you to track the effectiveness and reach of your posts and advertising campaigns through analytical metrics. These metrics include story opens, story screenshots, story completion rate, open rate, and estimated total followers. The platform also shares tips with you on how to improve your ad performance. From there, you can always keep learning, growing, and snapping.

How to Launch a Snapchat Ad Campaign?

Snapchat is a user-friendly platform that makes launching a Snapchat ad campaign easy. But doing it for the first time can be confusing — let us guide you through it.

Go to Snapchat Ads Manager.
Choose which type of ad you want to create: Instant Create or Advanced Create. Instant Create is simple and easy to do—you can do it in five minutes and create a campaign with one ad in just three steps. Advanced Create is more in-depth and allows you to take full control of your campaign, allowing you to create multiple ad sets.
Choose the goal of your campaign. Common choices include website visits, app installs, and app visits.
Insert the URL you want the campaign to link to.
Insert your business name, headline, and call to action.
Upload the photos or videos that you want to be included in the ad.
Set your targeting qualifications based on factors like gender, age, language, location, and interests.
Set your campaign start date, end date, and budget. You can either set a budget per day or a total campaign budget. Daily budgets start at as little as $5 a day, making this a great option for smaller or newer businesses trying to get their names out there without breaking the bank.

How to Find a Great Snapchat Ad Agency?

Effectively advertising on Snapchat takes a lot of research, time, and work. Ideally, you could focus on creating amazingly creative Snapchat ad campaigns that your customers will love. In reality, you have other responsibilities to focus on. But that doesn’t mean you should give up on Snapchat altogether – you just need the right team to work alongside you.

We are a full-service digital marketing agency that helps ecommerce companies and local businesses advertise on platforms like Snapchat. We can handle the entire process, leaving you with the peace of mind that your campaign is in the right hands. Starting with a complimentary consultation, we review your business goals and any current struggles. Then, we create a strategy to meet those goals and overcome those struggles. We know we can help you because we have already gained over $250 million in online sales across all of our 70 clients.

Final Thoughts on Snapchat

You want to be where your customers are, and if your customers are Gen Z and Millennials, they’re on Snapchat. Tackling a new social media platform can be intimidating and overwhelming at first. Still, with the right support from us, you can become a Snapchat wizard in no time.