Snapchat is an influential platform for brands looking to reach and build authentic connections with younger audiences. According to Snapchat, 75% of 13-24 year olds in over 25 countries use the app daily.
With high user engagement and unique ad formats, businesses that use Snapchat Ads can stand out in a crowded digital landscape.
What are Snapchat Ads?
Snapchat Ads refers to Snapchat’s several ad formats that businesses can use to promote their products and services within the app. Features such as Stories, Spotlight, and augmented reality (AR) lenses can deliver immersive content designed for mobile users.
Additionally, Snapchat’s vertical video format fits in with contemporary short-form video trends, making it easier for you to repurpose content across channels.
Advertising Formats on Snapchat
Snapchat Ads offers different advertising formats, such as:
- Sponsored Snaps – allows businesses to send video ads directly to audiences’ inbox
- Story Ads – allows audiences to tap through a series of curated images or videos
- AR Lens Ads – interactive ads that can be experienced through a user’s camera
- AR Filters Ads – allows users to send images or videos to friends using a brand’s filter
- Commercial Ads – non-skippable ads that appear within curated premium content
Types of Content to Make on Snapchat
As Snapchat is an app used for communication, Snapchat users expect raw and authentic content from brands, resulting in native-like ads seeing the most success on Snapchat.
For example, one brand found that UGC generated content provided a 34% higher return on ad spend than non UGC generated content.A few well-performing content genres for snapchat include:
- Behind the scenes moments
- Product development
- Day-in-the-life
- Team culture
- User generated content
Practical content humanises brands, increasing both engagement and retention, and making them the perfect genres for Snapchat Ads.
Best Practices for Snapchat Ads
Creative
To maximise performance, businesses should focus on mobile-first creative and accurate audience targeting. Messaging should be concise with a clear call-to-action presented early on in ads.
Audience Targeting
Another major factor is audience targeting. Snapchat offers three primary types of targeting: standard targeting, custom audiences, and look-a-like audiences.
Standard targeting allows businesses to select demographics such as age, location, gender, and language among other traits – enabling businesses to make sure their ads get seen by the right people.
Custom audiences involve retargeting customers a business already has, or creating lookalike audiences based on customer lists to find similar users.
Test your Creatives
Testing multiple creatives is always recommended to ensure that brands get the most out of their campaigns. Running variations of visuals, messaging, and CTAs allows businesses to identify which content combinations deliver the most profitable results.
Setting up a campaign with Snapchat Ads is beneficial if you’re target audience is in the younger crowd. Whether you’re looking to optimise a current campaign or start a new one, our team of specialists are always here to help. Don’t hesitate to contact us and we’ll get back to you shortly!


