Snapchat Ads: Definitive Guide 2021

With more than 250 milion daily active user, Snapchat is one of the most widely used social media in the US and worldwide.

Despite being adopted by 90 percent of all 13-24 year-olds and 75 percent of all 13-34 year-olds in the U.S., the platform still gets overlooked by many online advertisers, more keen to optimizing for more popular social media advertising such as Facebook Ads or Adwords.

The reason is simple, not so long ago, the ad manager used to not being as accessible as it is these days, and the advertising costs were too high for smaller media buyers. Both of these things have now changed.

What if you could get more clicks and impressions for less? That’s what many marketers advertising on Snapchat are reporting. Some of those who started to invest in this platform to reach their target market seriously achieved astonishingly low CPM and ROI.

How can you do it too? In this guide, you’re going to learn everything you need to start advertising on Snapchat like a pro from today.

More About Snapchat

What is Snapchat? A mobile messaging platform with currently 79 million daily active users in the US and 60 million in Europe (source). Friends can use the platform to send messages that auto-expire to each others’.

The first substantial difference between Snapchat and it’s most prominent rival Facebook is in the placements available. While Facebook’s News Feed can get overwhelming and distracting, Snapchat Ads open full-screen often with the audio on, which might grasp more immediately the awareness of the user.

Snapchat is also becoming more and more popular for promoting podcasts (best podcast hosting)

Despite this, the attention span of people on Snapchat can be considered pretty low. Users of the white ghost social media are often frantic when using it, continually swiping and messaging. That’s why also the best ads usually resembles a ‘raw’ video which you could natively see on the platform otherwise, but made from a brand. There is no need for fancy advertisement because of this, which makes Snapchat Ads even more accessible to smaller advertisers these days.

Snapchat it’s also mostly used by teens, with about 60% of its users being under 25. There are plenty of users over 25 as well, but they’re just not the majority.

What’s the Future of Snapchat?

Lots of opinions have been shared about the future of Snapchat, mainly since the company got public. From January 2019, the stock of the ghostie has seen a considerable increase in value after the positive data reported by the company on user growth and revenue per user.

Indeed, what Snapchat does well is giving a different and unique experience to its users. The fact that messages disappear after a few seconds makes everything more fun and silly for the user who in return gets super-engaged: the youngest range of users of the social media platform reportedly utilize the application 25+ times per day, with 60%+ of them creating content daily. 

This as well allows brands to give a more funny and chill experience to their potential customers when advertising on Snapchat, probably more than on any other platform at this stage.

Also, data from eMarketer shows how Snapchat has been left behind in advertising spent online, which is mostly controlled by Facebook (which includes Instagram) and Google.

Because of this reason, despite being rigid with having their advertisers respect terms and conditions, Snapchat is more inclined in giving support to them, often giving an account manager ready to respond at any question you might have. In short, the platform needs your money as an advertiser as it’s under considerable pressure to generate more revenues since it went public, and because of this, it provides extra care.

It’s hard to say where Snapchat is heading in the future. However, it can surely be one profitable channel for many brands, for now, especially those that see a massive chunk of their target market using Snapchat.

Is Your Target Market on Snapchat?

Snapchat purposefully skews to a younger audience. Because of this reason, brands who are interested in getting sales from people up to 24 years old will have a higher chance of getting good results on Snapchat with proper testing.

However, this doesn’t mean that an older target audience has to be disregarded on the platform. There are 79 million daily active users of Snapchat in the US only, and a considerable part of them are not teens.

While the fact that the vast majority are under 25 means that on this range the algorithm that runs the social media can optimize with more data, at the same time advertising for “older” users on Snapchat can be highly-cost effective due to lack of competition from fellow advertisers.

Considering as well that, besides the 55+ portion of users, which now accounts only for 2% of the total amount, it’s increasing every month. Some experts say that parents are joining the platform to see what their kids are doing, and so it will continue until teenagers move to the next thing.

Creating a Snapchat Business Account

Running Snapchat Ads, it’s straightforward in 2021. You just need to create a business account here. You will initially have a limit of 10k $ spending for a week, after which you will have no other restriction whatsoever anymore on your account.

How to Upload Creative that Will Get Approved

It’s suggested to always upload your creative on your ‘Creative Library’ first so that you can have them all saved in the same place; it’s also the easiest way to upload your first ad.

You have a few options to create your creative; the easiest way is to have someone to make them from scratch for you. Services like Adzombies, Fiverr, or Upwork make it easier to find someone experienced ready to create your ad inexpensively.

However, consider that ad fatigue on Snapchat tends to be easier to hit than with other social platforms; this means that you’ll be required to create lots of new creatives all the time. If you’re serious about the platform and if you start investing considerable amounts in terms of budget, you’ll likely find more convenient hiring someone or teaching it yourself as it’s something not so hard to do.

Another critical insight to get your campaigns approved more efficiently is to always make your ‘Brand Name’ match with the title of the site or the page you’re sending traffic to.

It’s usually preferable to leave your ads sharable, even if usually users will not utilize this function.

Ads are all approved manually. Other tips for getting your ads approved at the first try are:

• To beware at respecting the terms for width specifications, length, etc.
• Use high-quality images/videos (we’re going to talk about where to get them soon.)
• Keep the ad copy in the middle of the ad.
• Focus the copy of your ad on what people want.
• Add ‘could’ or ‘may’ to your copy if you think it fits.
• Don’t make too many changes to your landing page.
• Don’t use a flashing swipe up.
• You have many options for creating your ads. You can have videos, gifs, images with text that float in. The experts interviewed reported having the best results with videos.

Read the Terms and conditions to check whether your ads comply.

If you’re having troubles consistently to get your ads approved, reach out to your account rep as soon as possible as you might get otherwise your account banned or limited.

Which Verticals Work Well on Snapchat?

Given that every industry or niche can work well with Snapchat, there are however different verticals that are just better suited with the kind of experience that the platform is providing to its users and the type of people that subscribes to it.

Because, as said before, users of Snapchat are frantic, verticals that are more inclined towards solving massive pain points with an immediate action are the ones that usually work better. Also, users are mostly young and women. Consequently, this means that Snapchat Ads can largely be effective in the following verticals:

• Debt Relief
• Diet/Skin
• Anxiety
• Game Installs

By approaching these niches with an emotional angle, you’ll likely find good results.

How to Create Snapchat Ads that Convert

As said before, Snapchat is a fun and engaging platform that when people are using don’t really want to think much and just enjoy, this means that users don’t want to be feeling ‘sold’ all the time.

That’s why ads that feel like usual content and naturally fit in with the posts created from normal users are the ones that usually work best, instead of massively edited and pre-conceptualized videos.

A way how you can start today creating compelling ads that can convert like crazy on Snapchat, it’s simply searching for creatives on:

• Stock images/videos sites. Pexels is a good option, Pond5 it’s pricier but it can works great.
• YouTube, or Instagram. Often outreaching to content creators on other platforms is the best way to get high-quality and converting creatives for your Snapchat ads. Just send a direct message to the original creator and ask them if you can use one of their videos in exchange of 50-100 $, many of these people will accept because it means further popularity for them.

What’s working very well for advertisers these days on Snapchat Ads are straightforward ads that look like ordinary posts or user-generated content.

A massive plus of the advertising platform is that over 60% of Snapchat Ads are watched with sounds on. On other platforms, this doesn’t happen, and it’s another massive opportunity for advertisers to catch the attention of the potential buyer.

Split Screen Ad

A kind of ad that the experts we’ve interviewed reported being working very well is the so-called ‘Split Screen Ad.’ It is not only easy to create, but it grabs attention immediately.

The goal for you is to tell a story to make it visible of what is happening from the very first seconds. Story Ads and video views can incredibly improve the visibility within your social media marketing campaigns.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc3QdqErHZg

Native Ad

Among the various Video Ads you can also create a ‘Native Ad’ style, which looks like a standard Snapchat post with an enticing text over it. Your Story Ads will grab for sure the attention of the Snapchat users.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc3QdqErHZg

What Kind of Ads Can You Create On Snapchat?

Snapchat Ads gives you lots of choices when it comes to your objective. For each ‘Objective’ you use you’re going to be bidding against all of the others who have chosen the same. You want to test out different objectives to see which one gives you the best results.

• Awareness, it’s really just if you want to get the word out for your brand and it’s not something smaller advertisers usually are interested in much.
• App Installs, have the goal of getting more users to use your app. To use this function, you will need to set up a deep link, JotURL has one of the most advanced solutions in the market for doing this at affordable prices.
• Website Conversions. It optimizes the targeting of the ad to show it more at people who have been taking actions in the past (i.e., Sales or Opting in on your list.) To use it to the maximum, you have to consider using a reliable link tracking tool.
• Catalog Sales, it’s usually used for eCommerce but not exclusively as it allows the advertiser to show different options for the product displayed.
• Drive Traffic to Website and Website Conversions are usually the ones who work best for lead generation campaigns.

How to Hack Collection Ad to Dramatically Lower Your Ad Costs

(source: https://forbusiness.snapchat.com/blog/snapchat-pioneers-the-next-era-of-shoppable-ads/)

Collection ads are a unique option available on Snapchat. They’re usually used for eCommerce related advertisements, but they can work very well for lead generation campaigns too if used properly.

In the image below, it is shown an ad about debt relief lead generation.

Source: Snapchat

It’s not showing products like usually this category of the ad has been created to, but instead, it’s profiling the user to make it choose.

What makes collection ads very interesting is that they’re often going to be cheaper than regular Snapchat Ads.

How to Launch a Snapchat Ad Campaign – Step-By-Step

Day 1: Keep It Broad and Start Testing

Over the first day of your brand new Snapchat Ad campaign, you want to keep the targeting broad so that you can see what’s working best or not.

A good option would be to:

• Ad Set #1 – 18+, M/F, US (control)
• Ad Set #2 – 25+, M/F, US
• Ad Set #3 – 18+, M/F, Android. Android can be usually related to a cheaper and better performing cost per acquisition, but testing is required.
• Ad Set #4 – 18+, M/F, predefined audience. This one gets you the data to confront, and it is targeted. Choose your audience wisely based on demographics and related interests. They’re not going to be as detailed as Facebook, but it’s still a way to start.

Day 2 to 5 

You’ll likely start getting some data on what’s working best or not. If one of the Ad Sets spending is now at three times higher than the payout it’s suggested to stop it. For the rest, you can now add at least one new targeting per day and increasing your budget every 2-3 days if something is performing well.

This is a general budget increase based on ROI:

Day 5-7

It’s now time for you to start roll in your look-a-like audiences. You’ve likely acquired enough data from your other Ad Sets to profile well-performing look-a-like ads based on that previous information. It’s relevant as well to test different placements and objectives over time.

How to Setup Your Snapchat Ads Pixel

A Snapchat Pixel allows you to retarget your ad viewer, means to show targeted ads to people who have been visualizing your ad and visited your page. 

Installing it’s super simple, and it can be done directly on your Snapchat Ad dashboard at the voice ‘Pixel.’

Snapchat itself created a Chrome extension that allows you to verify whether your pixel is installed correctly. You can use a Pixel on all of your links, even if you don’t own the website, by using the remarketing function of JotURL.

How to Add your Snapchat Pixel to JotUrl

One of the best practices for your Snap Ads is to make the most of your Remarketing Pixel. If you need to find your Snapchat Pixel ID follow the instructions below.

1. Enter in your Ads Manager account.
2. Click on “Create Ads”.
3. Select “Snap Pixel”.

4. Choose the “Create a Snap Pixel” box.

5. Click on “Manage Pixel”.
6. Select “Setup Pixel”.
7. Copy your Pixel ID.

Once you have your code, copy it and go back to JotUrl.

8. At this point, if you don’t already have a Tracking Link ready for your Remarketing campaigns, create a new Tracking Link.

Remember to use your custom branded domain and take full advantage of the alias to customize the look of your URL.

9. Click on “Save and go to Link options“

10. Select the “Remarketing” box

11. You can insert up to 5 different Retargeting Pixels on the same Tracking Link.

Click on (+) REMARKETING CODE

12. Name your Pixel

13. Select the type of Retargeting Pixel from the drop-down menu.

In this case select: “SnapChat Pixel“

14. Then paste the code of your pixel in the space below.

15. If you wish, you can select a Template for your GDPR Policy.16. Once all the procedures have been completed, click the “Save” button.

With this strategy you can boost your Snap Ads and your brand awareness to 100%!

What Are Events?

From the Snapchat Ad dashboard you can as well set up evens, means little snippet of codes which transfer information about an action taken by the visitor of your site. 

The reason is that you can eventually target ads to all of the people who have behaved similarly, and most importantly get more information on the dashboard on whether your ads are working or not and what’s your return on the investment (ROI).

How to Get a Snapchat Ads Representative

Having a Snapchat representative to help you manage your ads can greatly help you remain compliant and not get your account banned. It is something offered for free. As Snapchat is a smaller platform than Facebook and Adwords, because of that they can give you some extra support for your ads.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf8Bp_sRr8M

You can get ad rep by simply asking it to the support (check the image above.)

Conclusion

Snapchat Ad is a growing advertising social ad platform which is allowing considerable returns to frequent advertisers on the platform. The reasons behind are:

• A growing and targeted user base.
• Great support and features.
• Currently the cheaper cost of advertising.

Will it always remain like this the situation? That’s hard to know, however, what’s for sure is that if you believe that there is an opportunity for your business to grow using Snapchat Ads that’s the right moment to jump right in.

If you want to learn more about the use of Snapchat, this article will be useful: “How to create a Deep Link to Snapchat in the easiest way.”

Cheers!