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Snapchat Steals the Show in Mobile Advertising

Hayley Allred
Nov 3, 2017
3 min read

This week, I was searching online for ads and I stumbled upon an article that was talking about Snapchat’s new market plans. I am a frequent snapchat user so this article appealed to my senses. I read that lately Snapchat has been falling behind in the area of mobile application advertising. It is no surprise that Facebook and Google rule over the advertising area here but Snapchat has big plans to compete in this market.

“The popular chat app has been rolling out a number of ad products over the last year designed to let app marketers tap into its 173 million daily users, many of whom fall into the highly-engaged college-aged and millennial brackets that marketers crave. The platform also delivers more than 3 billion Snaps and serves over 10 billion video views every day, making it one of the most active social networks in the world.”

The key for app marketers is to turn all of Snapchats user’s attention into downloads. Snapchat has recently introduced Snap Ads App Install which delivers an in-app experience for Snapchatters to watch trailer videos of these new apps and then swipe up to download the advertised app from the appropriate app store. The best part is that Snapchatters don’t have to leave the app to complete this procedure and the app downloads in the background while the user is still using Snapchat.

The article I read also gave 7 tips on running a successful Snapchat campaign. If you follow these tactics below, you are sure to have a successful Snapchat campaign. Here they are in short:

Keep it creative and simple: Snap ads lasts 3 to 5 seconds, so no complex messages. Messages that are simple and get the point across are the best. “Ads should mirror the bite-sized and linear storytelling of other Snaps.”
Incorporate your brand elements: App marketers need to make sure they show their app name and logo accompanied by high quality images and artwork. It is also to show your company’s assets and make sure the viewers understand your brands purpose.
USE SOUND: Two-thirds of Snapchat users play snaps with the sound on. Therefore, sound is a key aspect in your Snapchat campaign. “Snaps with no audio or canned music might look cheap and unprofessional, so marketers who ignore the audio qualities of their ad risk negative brand affinity.”
Goal based bidding: If you have a target audience that will more likely swipe up on an app download than other competitors, Snapchat gives the lowest price to the company with the best target audience. “A campaign that mixes approximately 50 percent optimization for swipes and 50 percent for installs will drive an effective mix of both scale and quality.”
Use vertical video: Now we have all learned that landscape is the way to go with videos, but it is different on Snapchat. You need to make sure your video is in Portrait orientation so it best fits with Snapchats platform.
Snapchat says run multiple campaigns: Running multiple campaigns will be more beneficial to your audience seeing your brand, Snapchat recommends running more than 12 campaigns. “The more campaigns they have running, the more points of control they have to optimize for overall performance by adjusting levers such as bid amounts and ad creative—not to mention the more aggregate scale they will achieve.”
Target the right audience: Snapchat campaigns will be most beneficial if you target the correct audience! “Aside from standard targeting options such as age, gender, location, device type, etc., the platform offers a mix of predefined audiences in categories based on lifestyles, events, life stages and more. And then there are advanced targeting options such as lookalike audiences or engagement audiences, which enables marketers to target users who previously interacted with their ads. Aim to include one targeting type per campaign, while ensuring sufficient reach.”