This story was delivered to BI Intelligence "Digital Media Briefing" subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here.
Snapchat is pitching itself as a platform where close friends interact with each other to entice ad spend from brands.
This is likely an attempt by the young platform to differentiate from those with much bigger user bases like Facebook, where users likely interact with acquaintances more frequently. Here are the key data points parent company Snap is touting to brands:
- Nearly 60% of snaps are sent and received between close friends, according to Sparkler, per Snap.
- Eighty percent of Snapchat users recall seeing themselves, a close friend, significant other, or family member in a Lens or sponsored filter, according to Kantar Millward Brown, cited by Snap.
- Sixty-two percent of social media users learn about new brands from their friends, while 93% indicate they buy things their close friends recommend, according to Sparkler, per Snap.
Brands can tap into the close relationships of Snap users by running sponsored Lenses and filter ad campaigns. The stats essentially imply that many Snapchat users send sponsored Lenses or filters to people close to them. Additionally, these sponsored Lenses and filters seemingly have a high chance of influencing purchasing decisions. Many marketers still view Snapchat as an experimental platform to advertise on, which makes increasing the value proposition of sponsored Lenses and filters especially important.
On the other hand, the pitch could cause Snapchat’s other ad formats to become less popular among brands. The data could cause companies to shy away from running Snap Ads, the platform’s vertical video ads that are played during things like Stories and Shows, for example. Brands may also shift away from Snap Ads because users reportedlyskip them very often. A shift in preference away from Snap Ads could hurt revenue for some of Snap’s Discover partners, which receive a share of Snap Ads revenue.
In the long term, this approach will likely help Snapchat differentiate itself from rival Instagram. Snapchat is built by design to allow users to interact with their best friends, according to Snap VP of content Nick Bell, implying the company won’t implement changes to make it easier for users to interact with those they are not close to. As Instagram continues to build on its reputation for maximizing the reach of posts, Snapchat could succeed in carving a place for itself as a more intimate platform.
To receive stories like this one directly to your inbox every morning, sign up for the Digital Media Briefing newsletter. Click here to learn more about how you can gain risk-free access today.