• by Colin Kirkland , May 29, 2024

Which actually drives more sales activity on Snapchat, brand campaigns or direct response (DR) campaigns? A new report issued by the social media company -- based on insights from TransUnion and Dentsu -- shows that utilizing both in-app campaign strategies is essential to higher ROAS.

“One of the biggest challenges facing marketers is how to split their budget between brand and performance campaigns that drive outcomes,” Snap said, highlighting the impetus for its report. “With often competing objectives, different teams and lines of reporting, getting alignment internally on such a strategic decision is often challenging.”

To answer this inquiry, Snap commissioned a marketing mix modeling (MMM) analysis with TransUnion to evaluate the ROAS in driving sales in direct relationship to how brand and DR campaigns work together.

The research -- which covers over three years of data across 36 advertisers spanning commerce, QSR, technology, telecom, and travel brands -- takes into account up to 12 channels per category, with a total marketing investment of over $15 billion across all categories.

According to the analysis, the split between brand and DR campaigns varies by categories and brands.

“Since 2020, QSR and Technology campaigns on Snap skewed toward delivering brand spend, whereas Commerce, Telecoms and Travel spend was largely contributed through DR campaigns,” the company said in a recent statement.

Yet, even though the share of spend was different per category, the company found that across the board, both campaign strategies were efficient in driving sales.

“Both the brand and DR campaigns contribute disproportionately more sales relative to the share of budget each campaign type receives,” it said, adding that brand spend is the key factor in driving above average ROAS across categories.

Furthermore, combining both branding and direct response campaigns resulted in higher reach, resonance and direct sales, delivering incremental ROAS compared to running either campaign in isolation.