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Snap released and announced tools and a partner program aimed at educating select marketers on creating and handling ad campaigns on the platform, TechCrunch reports.
Here’s a rundown of each of the two new tools and Snap’s new partner program, which all make it easier to run ads on Snapchat, and should attract more advertisers:
- Ad Manager is a self-service platform that allows brands to buy and track ads — Snap also provides a mobile version that allows users to track campaigns on-the-go. Ad Manager was announced last month and is now available. With no minimum spend, the platform should appeal especially to smaller businesses, which is important for Snap as a company that still needs to prove it can compete with incumbents Facebook and Google.
- Snap Publisher is a browser-based tool that helps advertisers create campaigns for Snap’s vertical video format, and will be available in July. It helps edit and resize videos for mobile screens and will help minimize the time required to make video ads on Snap. Unlike Ad Manager, there is currently no mobile version. Snap Publisher could also appeal to smaller businesses that may not have the technology or expertise to cater ads specifically for Snap’s platform.
- Snapchat Certified Partners is a program will give additional training to Snap’s top ad-tech partners, and Snap will give the partners preferential treatment when referring clients. The program has already begun helping marketers with best practices for advertising on Snap, with initial partners including PMG Worldwide, SocialCode, and Adaptly.
Snap Publisher is part of a trend where major digital platforms provide self-serve design tools for building creative campaigns on their platform. These self-serve tools cater to specific ad products. For example, Facebook Canvas to create mobile photo, video or carousel ads on the social platform; and now Snap Publisher, to more easily create vertical video Snap Ads. Such tools make it easier to craft the creative (the design, art, and copy of campaigns) on a given platform, making it easier for that company to sell ad inventory.
Staying on top of the various ad formats and tools provided by different social platforms can be difficult for digital ad agencies and designers. Every advertising environment and design tool has a learning curve, and optimizing the creative for each platform can be costly and time-consuming, and ultimately impede growth in the industry. In the future, this problem can be resolved via design tools that can build creative that runs across all platforms, according to Paul Vincent, CEO at Neuranet. These tools would help simplify a complex landscape and result in greater overall revenue in digital advertising.
Nevertheless, the bolstering of Snap’s ad tool offerings could help the company further monetize its existing user base, which is especially important as its user growth has slowed. Snap’s global DAUs increased 5% to 166 million in Q1 2017 from 158 million in Q4 2016. This is lower than the 14% growth rate the company experienced from Q4 2015 to Q1 2016. Snap also reported $150 million in revenue for Q1 2017, missing revenue expectations of $159 million. Being able to get more revenue out of its existing users could be increasingly important as Snap’s DAU growth slows.
Consumers continue to increase their time spent consuming digital media, while advertisers continue to increase their ad budgets into digital channels.
The influx is not expected to let up in the near future. The US digital advertising industry will continue to experience remarkable growth through 2021 to reach nearly $100 billion in annual revenue, driven primarily by the sustained migration of ad dollars from traditional TV to digital video and the continued increase of social spending.
Dylan Mortensen, senior research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on U.S. digital media ad revenue that:
- Forecasts US digital ad revenue through 2021.
- Highlights the rising popularity of digital media with consumers and brands.
- Explores why digital video advertising growth will exceed all other formats over the next five years.
- Outlines emerging technologies that will help propel ad growth in the next decade.
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