Last Year: Issues We Saw
Difficult to Build an Audience
Unlike other social media sites
where users can scroll through
a permanent, public, feed,
Snapchat is temporary and
communicates only with pre-
existing followers
Live Stories and branded filters
have solved this problem by
being available to any Snapchat
user on a given day
Scale
If brands are using Snapchat as
a way to communicate to
followers one-on-one then it is
time consuming but that is not
how most brands use Snapchat
anymore
Using Snapchat so narrowly is
inefficient, smart brands create
content for large audiences
Metrics
Up until recently, Snapchat did
not have a concrete way of
measuring engagement and
providing marketers with
information related to their
investments
Snapchat’s new partnership
with Nielsen will produce better
metrics
This Year: Chat 2.0 and Customized Snapchat Ads
On March 29, 2016 Snapchat released a set of updates
known as Chat 2.0.
In the update, Snapchat changed its privacy policy to allow
advertisers to access customer data and customize ads.
Snapchat is ready to compete for bigger digital ad
budgets.
Advantages of update:
● Better targeted ads
● Offers brands the ability to fine-tune messages based
on the intended audience
Snapchat has been developing ways to better understand users and the types of content they
consume.
● i.e. content from Discover publishers gives better direction to the interests of readers
Snapchat API
Snapchat is building an application programming interface (API) that will provide the software
“hooks” that will allow some ad-tech companies to automate the targeting and delivery of ads to the
right Snapchat users.
This initiative provides hope for a bigger digital video ad market with real potential for
brands, publishers and Snapchat itself.
It will improve ad targeting for people watching the media companies in its Discover section
and tracking of visitor browsing and searches beyond the app.
It creates a way for brands to check on how many people have actually watched their ads.
Snapchat vs. Instagram with Teens
In an April 2016 Piper Jaffray survey,
it was discovered that Snapchat has
officially surpassed Instagram as the
app of choice for teens.
28% of teens consider Snapchat their
primary social network.
Instagram still has 400 million daily
active users to Snapchat’s 100
million but Snapchat’s users definitely
skew younger.
Discover
Snapchat has enlisted 20 publishers in an ad supported, revenue-sharing
partnership based on 6-month contracts.
Snapchat has locked in deals with these publishers but will likely look to
re-evaluate their portfolio in the long term.
● Major advertisers are on board: BMW for CNN, McDonald’s for
Comedy Central, T-Mobile for Daily Mail, the Universal Pictures
movie The Seventh Son for ESPN and Ritz Crackers for the Food
Network.
Discover is more of an online magazine than social media platform. The
content is as varied as the publishers, encompassing a mix of text
stories, video, and photos.
Live Stories: Localized Storytelling
Live Stories give users—who have their location
services on and are located within the Story’s
range—the option to contribute Snaps to a
hyperlocal that is then published globally.
These Live Stories are fairly long and feature 10-
second ads spaced throughout bought by brands
and produced by Snapchat creators.
The pricing for these ads is pay-per-view.
Live Story Pricing
2 cents per
view
Views worth a
total of $400,000
Live Story is still in a growth
phase because content created
for Snapchat is difficult to learn.
FDG is an expert at developing
Stories organically.
20 million potential
Story viewers
Snapchat sees Live Stories as a
huge way to connect to users
with events like the Coachella
Story that attracts tens of millions
of viewers while maintaining a
relatively low cost.
Sponsored GeoFilters
Snapchat geofilters are a form of proximity
marketing in which a brand engages with customers
in real-time without ever sending them a single
mobile message.
Companies are able to purchase either national or
regional filters for their own branded message.
Even if the filter is not widely used, it will still
generate views by users who are scrolling through
the filter options in their region, promoting the brand.
Additionally, geofilters pose a great opportunity for
marketers to get local Snapchat users to spread
their message worldwide
Sponsored Lenses
Snapchat rolled out the new Sponsored Lenses for Halloween 2015.
● The Lenses themselves were only a month old at the time of the
branded content introduction.
Lenses differ from GeoFilters in that they are global tools using facial
recognition software to interact directly with the user.
● These Lens types include features like face swaps and facial
transformations into creatures like aliens and are highly sharable.
Sponsored Lenses are a way for brands to make users enjoy interacting
with their content through the platform.
Cost: $500,000 on weekdays and as much as $750,000 on holidays,
however 12-16 million uses makes it a bargain for some brands
Entering the Messaging App Market
• More than 200 stickers, searchable by
keywords
• Video calls allowing for dials to people also not
present in the chat
• Audio chat
• Access to camera roll from messaging screen
The new chat interface is more familiar – and more accessible. It
introduces media in its own unique way – designed to put every form of
input on equal footing, encouraging users to choose whichever ones feels
natural in the moment.
Snapchat’s most recent redesign bolsters its chat function with a variety of new multimedia features
unique to the major video chatting services, and helps to answer the question of why you might want
to use Snapchat’s video calling feature over FaceTime, Hangouts, Facebook Messenger, or Skype.
Advantages
With low-price ads, Snapchat has been attracting the attention of more brands.
Snapchat reaches 41% of 18-34 year-olds Every Day.
Snapchat is tied with Facebook’s daily video consumption at 8 billion views despite being around for
less than half of Facebook’s lifespan.
The average attention span has dropped to 5 seconds from 12 in the last ten years, making the short-
form Snapchat platform perfect for marketers today.
Snapchat users consider their interactions on the app more personal and organic than
any other platform.
The Business Strategy
Snapchat is finally embracing marketers and taking important
steps to become a sustainable media property with a real
advertising platform.
We call that: the ad tech moment for Snapchat.
Snapchat is ready to lead the Big App Club in this key area -
which is very good news for all advertisers.
Additionally, the company is testing longer-form sponsored videos
on Discovery channel partners, including spots that click through
to full-length movie trailers from three different movie studios.
Snapchat is letting advertisers target ads within publishers' channels in
the app's Discover publisher portal based on the specific content people
are checking out.
Users will be targeted based on their off-
Snapchat web browsing and search
behavior in addition to targeting specific
gender and age groups by utilizing
location, device, and context.
Ad Targeting
Brands can leverage the one-to-one interaction with
each customer to:
• Engage with mobile users and tell brand stories
• Humanize your business
• Build brand loyalty, drive sales and ROI
• Communicate authenticity
Snapchat brings technology back to a more personalized peer-to-peer communication. This unique
mode of communication provides an opportunity for brands to build intimate, individualized
relationships with their target customers.
Personalized Experience for Users
Growing Branded Content
Many marketers are hesitant to experiment with Snapchat’s ad-supported structure.
• The mistake here is waiting to jump on the Snapchat wagon and establishing themselves as a
digital innovator that understands short-form content and today’s messaging habits.
Snapchat is still working on improving their branded content integration and planning to make the
process and connection easier for brands looking to buy ad space.
However, Snapchat has been actively working to close gaps
in its advertising campaigns with efforts to collect and
quantify more data. Their new partnership with Nielsen is a
sign of this effort.
Taco Bell has been one of the Snapchat leaders.
Taco Bell launched a Valentine's Day campaign to send a
personalized, funny message to your special someone.
● The filters were designed by Taco Bell’s dedicated
Snapchat department and focused on millennial
engagement.
Taco Bell showed the viewer detailed instructions for
personalizing and sending the Snapchat Valentine.
● A nice touch given that might be redundant for veteran
users of the platform, but definitely nice for neophytes
Taco Bell
Straight Outta Compton
83% of Snapchat uses thought the as fit well with the
platform which is why it did so well.
21 point lift of the Straight Outta Compton movie
amongst 18-34 year-olds.
The Straight Outta Compton movie promotion team
created a filter playing off the popular logo.
The filter tailored to specific cities throughout the country
so that the text read “Straight Outta” your own city.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
LACMA is using the platform to engage a whole
new generation with the world of fine art.
This is the the first museum to get on Snapchat
and it manages to turn fine art into funny,
shareable, memes.
LACMA’s snaps have gone viral all over the world
and have garnered huge publicity for the LA
museum.
This is an excellent way to get teens interested in
art.
Shaun McBride
McBride, known as Shonduras, is a Snapchat
celebrity and artist known for transforming his
pictures is amazing ways with his illustrations.
Shaun is one of Snapchat’s power users and has
represented brands including Disney, Taco Bell,
and Marriott on the platform.
The Disney campaign involved him visiting the
Walt Disney theme parks and documenting his
visit on Snapchat along with his usual
illustrations.
Dominos and KFC
Dominos created a Snap Story that including a promo code for a
discount on the user’s next order.
The story got 6,000 organic views in the 24 hours it was available and
was a huge success.
KFC created geofilters that were fenced into 900 of the chain’s locations
around the holidays.
Users could use the filters to
decorate their photos with seasonal
frames and themes.
DJ Khaled
Famous producer DJ Khaled rose to success rapidly by
documenting and sharing aspects of his day-to-day life.
Some of the brands
being endorsed
through his stories
are Cîroc, Bumble
and Dove.
He gained over 6 million followers in just a few
months and has become the most talked-about
user on any social media platform.
His contributions tend
to balance
somewhere between
off-the-wall comedy
and genuine deadpan
tips for life.
As his popularity skyrocketed,
brands signed on to sponsor
him in exchange for a mention
in his Snap Story.
Keys to Success
The success of Snapchat is a testament to
the power of direct connections
In order to create a brand presence, you’ve
got to be one of those connections; it’s not
enough just to be shared; you have to be
the sharer.
You’re not consuming individual stories,
you’re taking an active role in a threaded
message which includes multiple stories.
That’s how you build brand value.
The Right Contextual Tone
Marketers need to be aware of their audience's needs, interests, etc. to develop the right tone for
their Snapchat account.
This tone is determined by the target audience who could be early teens to board room executives.
If is essential that the account cater to this audience’s needs, board room executives do not react to
cat videos the same way Millennials do.
Brands will use Snapchat to:
● Provide a global look at a local events like Coachella
● Offer promotions like Dominos discount codes
● Give viewers a behind the scenes look
● Partner with major influencers like Disney and Shonduras
Engagement with Users Through Video
Snapchat is already becoming the best way to connect
consumers with their daily Stories, interests, and events
through video.
From a brand perspective, Snapchat, when used correctly,
can be one of the best ways to build and establish
relationships with consumers. That trend will grow in the
coming years as more marketers learn how to effectively
establish a presence on the app.
The key is connecting with users during their digital
down time—time they spend browsing their Snap
Stories and scrolling through Discovery.
Key Takeaways
Advertisers have four main
options when looking to
reach their audiences:
● Discover
● Sponsored Live Stories
● GeoFilters
● Geo Lenses
Failing to act on the opportunities Snapchat offers for brands to connect to their target
audience, particularly millennials, is a huge mistake.
Snapchat users consider their interactions on the app more personal and organic than
any other platform.
To further improve the experience for advertisers, Snapchat has been
actively working to close gaps in its advertising campaigns with efforts to
collect and quantify user data.
In today’s landscape, to be successful is to understood that the user
comes first, data drives direction, and digital context is everything.
Snapchat is well on it’s way to all three.