How Brands Advertise on Snapchat Without Ticking Off Users
Social networks need two things to be successful: users and a revenue stream. However, the revenue streams of social apps typically come at the cost of annoying its users. No one likes advertisements interrupting their app activities. Snapchat, and the brands advertising on the platform, have been able to sneak in advertisements on the popular social platform in a way that not only avoids being a nuisance, but excites users.
Snapchat currently has an estimated 100 million daily active users with an average of 20 total minutes a day spent on the platform among Millennials. They’re projected to generate $50 million in ad revenue this year, and could reportedly make $200 million in revenue next year. Snapchat is a unique form of social media. While Facebook dominates life milestones, and Twitter documents news and events, Snapchat is the everyday moments. Users post frequently and don’t overthink their snaps because they only last 24 hours. This ephemeral nature that makes Snapchat so unique poses a challenge for advertisers.
So how do brands inject themselves into an app that only provides seconds of exposure? The key is not to interrupt the experience, but to become a part of it. Users don’t want polished ads on Snapchat, and they don’t expect it. They want real, organic, spur-of-the-moment content that allows a glimpse into the everyday moments of the brand. They also want to be in control of the on-app advertising they encounter. I’ll use McDonald’s as my main example, as they were one of the first to advertise on Snapchat.
Everyone has seen a McDonald’s ad; people have grown up watching them. Snapchat users don’t want to see these, so McDonald’s used Snapchat as a way to give people a different look into their ads. The brand has snapped out behind-the-scenes commercial footage with favorite athletes such as NFLers Richard Sherman and Johnny Manziel. LeBron James has made some appearances as well. Using Snapchat as a way to give fans a unique look into their favorite athletes, who also happen to be in a McDonald’s spot, is a great way to add value to the brand’s social media presence. These snap stories are only up for 24 hours, just like everyone else’s, so there is incentive for users to keep checking in with the brand so as to not miss anything. You don’t need popular athletes appearing on your brand’s snap stories (although it doesn’t hurt). You just need to provide a glimpse into your brand that can’t be seen anywhere else. An organic, unedited, real-time glimpse.
Sponsored geofilters are another form of popular advertising on Snapchat. Geofilters are location-based overlays on users’ individual snaps. For example, if I’m in San Francisco, I can overlay an illustration of the Golden Gate Bridge on top of my picture. This filter will only appear, however, if I am actually in San Francisco. For users, it’s exciting to discover these overlays, and there’s a motivation to use them since they can only be accessed in select locations. They are a fun, visual way for Snapchatters to tell their friends where they are and what they’re up to. The geofilter snaps account for more than a million of the messages sent every day on the platform. McDonald’s deployed geofilters at most of their 14,000 locations in the United States. There’s no guarantee that users are going to see this form of advertising, unlike pre-roll video ads that run before your content starts playing, which YouTube is known for. It’s up to the users whether they want to send out a snap with these sponsored geofilters, which is why Snapchatters have embraced this form of advertising.
The lesson we can all learn from Snapchat advertising is to engage customers, rather than interrupt them. When it comes to social media, authenticity and ingenuity resonate stronger than your standard polished advertisement. Snapchat is one of the only advertising platforms that use this idea of “opt-in” advertising. This option to choose the ads they want to see (or send to their friends via a snap) has given more power to the users. With the increasing availability of ad-blocking software, it’s important for marketers to shift their thinking when it comes to reaching, and resonating with, their target audience. So when concepting new campaigns, think about what kind of ads you would run that users would want to see, and if given the option, would “opt-in” to view. Craig Davis, Founder of Brandkarma and former CCO of J. Walter Thompson, put it nicely when he said, “We need to stop interrupting what people are interested in, and be what people are interested in.”
Noelle keeps Lifters on their toes by keeping everyone up to date on Millenial’s interests. Learn more about Lift Agency
