• by Colin Kirkland , May 24, 2024

Two years ago, Snapchat started rebuilding its advertising business from the ground up. Following the launch of Snap’s Conversions API (CAPI), the social media company has reported an increase in small business advertisers, CAPI integration partners, and a revenue boost.

Now, Snap is providing further advertising updates, including redesigned formats and more.

Snap says its redesigned ad formats are driven by a focus on the “intentionality” behind every action a Snapchatter takes on an ad in order to deliver more reliable and desired results to the company’s ad partners. 

In a press event at Snapchat’s New York headquarters, the company said it has worked to remove loose or accidental clicks, which helps its advertising system better understand what is most relevant and intentional, thereby driving more relevant ads.

This strategy includes a new full-screen display to highlight ad offers and messaging in Snap promotions, improved augmented reality (AR) ad options for brands to boost exposure around their branded Lenses, and an expansion of its “Total Takeover” ad product, including a new “State-level First Story,” which prioritizes reach in specific regions in the United States –– an option that may interest political candidates and organizations ahead of the next US presidential election.

Eventually, advertisers will also be able to launch full-day takeovers of the Lens Carousel through what Snap is calling “a higher-impact AR product.”

The company has also introduced a new, streamlined app download experience on iOS, allowing users to install apps with fewer taps and without ever leaving the Snapchat app. As a result, Snap says it is seeing lower Cost-per-Installs and improved ROI for advertisers.

As for advertisers involved in gaming, Snap is introducing new bidding capabilities specifically designed for the mobile gaming category. The company is currently testing a Value Optimization offering that advertisers can use to bid on the value of purchases driven, not just the quantity of the purchases. Snap believes this will be helpful for advertisers who care about maximizing their ROAS.

For advertisers who prefer click-only conversion outcomes, Snap has introduced a new way to bid within seven days called, “7/0 delivery optimization,” which the company says showed a 75% increase in purchase-related conversions year-over-year in Q1.

To help improve lead generation, Snap has also begun working with CRM partners by building integrations with their systems. “With these new integrations, when Snapchat generates a lead, we are able to better determine how useful that lead was and what the interaction ultimately led to,” the company said in a statement. “This information allows us to further optimize our lead gen product and improve advertiser ROI.”

The company has also partnered with Snowflake, Datahash, LiveRamp and Tealium to help their customers easily adopt CAPI and adopt more insights into their Snap ad campaigns. Snap reports a 300% increase year-over-year with CAPI integrations, with an increase in attributed purchases (+22%), purchase value (+25%) and a decrease in cost-per-purchase (-18%).

Finally, Snapchat has launched a new Landing Page View optimization goal “to help marketers deliver on KPIs like session volume, landing page views, and reduced bounce rates,” providing web advertisers with more specific insights that connect with their overarching objectives.

By refining and improving its machine learning models to optimize for specific objectives, Snap says it has seen over 60% lower cost for some advertisers versus traditional click engagement models.