Understanding what social media platforms your customers are spending all of their time on is ideal but nearly impossible. Users typically have multiple accounts that they access throughout the day, leaving various touch points as they go. Snapchat, in particular, is a popular platform, with an average of 332 million engaged users logging on and spending over 30 minutes watching videos, snapping photos, and trying on filters every day. Dive into essential Snapchat business tips and more below, and decide for yourself if Snapchat is right for you.
Impactful Audience Tools
A common misconception is that Snapchat is most heavily used by a younger audience, deterring those businesses who may want to reach people 18 or older with ads. In reality, Snapchat users range from 13 to 35 years old and beyond, reaching an impressive 75% of millennials and Gen Z. Not only does Snapchat reach a broader audience, but it also reaches a more engaged audience. This is largely due to the fact that ads are full-screen and immersive, capturing every inch of attention, unlike some platforms.
Let’s dive into the different ways you can better understand and reach potential customers who are ready to connect with you. In Snapchat Ads Manager, Audience Insights are available to better understand your audience so you can create relevant content and find potential audiences that you may not have considered before. Location, demographics, interests, and device insights are all available to advertisers.
In addition to Audience Insights, you can utilize data that’s unique to your business, product, or service to create Custom Audiences. These Custom Audiences can be built by uploading customer lists within the Snapchat Ads Manager. Uses of Custom Audiences include, but are not limited to:
- Snap Audience Match: Upload customer lists, and target those customers on Snapchat.
- Lookalike Audiences: Target Snapchatters similar to your existing customers.
- Pixel Custom Audiences: Reach Snapchatters who have already engaged with your website.
Immersive Experiences and Ad Formats
Since Snapchat ads are full-screen experiences, advertisers have an opportunity to capture a user’s full attention as they interact with the platform naturally. During that moment where a user’s attention is captured, the right ad has the potential to inspire action and drive results that other ad formats cannot.
Snapchat is budget-friendly, allowing for businesses of all sizes to advertise. Not only can you start with a budget that works for you, but Snapchat also offers free, in-platform creative support through Snap Publisher. The Snap Publisher tool allows you to create inspiring videos via a range of features, including:
- The ability to easily enhance an existing video with design elements like text, audio, images, and animations.
- Resize existing horizontal videos into vertically oriented ones to ensure your content is built for mobile viewing.
- Access a library of pre-existing templates with transitions and fading elements, and create templates to use over and over again.
Snapchat offers a range of ad formats, including:
- Single Image or Video Ads: Add an attachment, and encourage a potential customer to swipe up and take action.
- Collection Ads: Showcase multiple products at once, making the browsing experience simple.
- Story Ads: A series of three to 20 Single Image or Video Ads that are delivered in between content or through a branded tile in Snapchat’s Discover section.
- Lenses AR Experiences: By combining the power of computing with the real-world experience, you can reach users with memorable, interactive moments that Snapchatters can play with and send to friends.
- Commercials: Put your content front and center with non-skippable, three minutes or shorter videos.
- Filters: Reach users as they visit neighborhoods, parks, restaurants, and shops, as well as during key holidays with custom filters that users engage with.
Plans for the Future
Snapchat has been known to stay ahead of trends and frequently introduces new user experiences that are exclusive to Snapchat. During this year’s Snap Partner Summit, Snapchat introduced plans for the future with a large focus on augmented reality. Augmented reality (AR) is not new to Snapchat, with an average of six billion AR lenses being used per day. During the Snap Partner Summit, it was announced that more advancements to AR tools would be top of mind for the platform.
“Our investments in augmented reality represent our ongoing efforts to build technology that serves humanity, and that feels intuitive and familiar to use.”
Evan Spiegel, CEO, Snapchat
Some of the announcements regarding advancements in AR tools that might catch your attention include:
AR Creation Suite
The launch of the Augmented Reality 3D Asset Manager makes it much easier for partner brands to manage 3D models for any product in a catalog. This also allows brands to create Shopping Lens in a few seconds without any extra costs.
AR Image Processing now allows brands to leverage existing content originally produced for a website and convert them to AR-ready assets for Snapchat AR try-on Lens experiences.
Available today in beta for select partners, apparel, eyewear, and footwear brands can build virtual try-on experiences using AR-ready assets with AR Shopping Templates. This is fast and free for brands to import their assets and create Lenses in minutes.
Dress Up
Try on clothing from the comfort of home with Dress Up. Found in Lens Explorer, Snapchatters can browse and discover new looks and products from brands while having the ability to share looks and save favorites to easily find your favorite looks again.
Pixy
And last but not least, we were introduced to Pixy, the flying camera that requires no controllers as it automatically captures photos and videos in the sky above you. Another bonus? Pixy knows exactly where to return, softly in the palm of your hand. Be sure to watch the official announcement for Pixy here!
So, if you aren’t already taking advantage of Snapchat’s robust feature offering and unique audience, now might be a perfect time. You can begin expanding your efforts and reaching new customers on Snapchat today – no matter what size brand you are!
