In Q4 last year, Snapchat’s performance looked pretty bleak, with lower-than-expected ad growth, and higher-than-anticipated costs, leading to job cuts, funding reductions, projects shelved, etc.
But in Q1 this year, Snap shares bounced back, based on increased ad performance, re-focused businesses opportunities, and a major new push on SMBs. That final point resulted in the number of SMB advertisers jumping 85% year-over-year.
Which is obviously huge, and this week, Snap held a webinar with two of its key product leaders to discuss how it’s re-focused its ad system, and improved results for all ad partners in the app.
The 14 minute overview provides more specific insight into each element, but in this post, we’ll go over the key notes.
First off, Snap says that it’s redesigned its ad formats, in order to unify the look and feel of promotions in the app.
As per Snap:
“We’ve focused on designing formats that drive the outcomes and objectives our partners are looking for, and these redesigned formats are helping to maximize the intentionality behind every action a Snapchatter takes on an ad.”
The new formats provide more uniformity in Snap promotions, using its full-screen display to showcase ad offers and messaging.
Snap’s also working to improve its AR ad options, including new ways for brands to boost exposure for their branded Lenses.
Snap says that it’s expanding its “Total Takeover” product suite, which includes “First Story”, “First Commercial”, and “First Lens”, to also include a new “State-level First Story”, which will enable reach in specific regions.
Snapchat’s also planning to launch “a higher-impact AR product that offers advertisers an all-day takeover of the Lens Carousel”.
Snap also says that it’s implemented a new, streamlined app download experience for app advertisers, enabling Snapchatters to install apps with fewer taps, and without leaving Snapchat.
Snap says that it’s also implemented new bidding capabilities specifically designed for mobile gaming advertisers.
On another front, Snap’s also testing a new Value Optimization offering, which will enable advertisers to bid on the value of purchases driven, not just the quantity of purchases.
It’s also got a new way to bid on click-through conversions within seven days, which it’s calling its “7/0 delivery optimization”.
Snap says that the process has led to lower cost-per-purchase and higher ROAS for early participants.
Snap’s also continued to add more partners to assist in campaign creation, including CRM partners to facilitate expanded data integration.
“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. This information allows us to further optimize our lead gen product and improve advertiser ROI.”
It’s also partnered with Snowflake, Datahash, LiveRamp, Tealium, to provide direct assistance with integration of its Conversions API, helping more business glean more insight into their Snap ads performance.
Snap’s also launched a new Landing Page View optimization goal “to help marketers deliver on KPIs, including session volume, landing page views, and reduced bounce rates.”
It’s also continued to refine and improve its machine learning models to optimize for specific objectives:
“We’ve seen over 60% lower cost for some advertisers vs traditional click engagement models.”
There are some interesting notes here, relative to your Snap ads approach, which could help to guide your strategy moving forward. And while many of these announcements had already been made, it is interesting to note the broader direction that Snap is heading with its ad products, and how it’s looking to drive improved performance.