No matter how you look at it, 2020 has been a tough year. In the wake of the global turmoil of the past year, brands are pivoting to maintain their momentum towards recovery. As brands started to adapt to the new behavior of most at-home consumers, new forms of entertainment have emerged to keep these consumers occupied.

Amidst all of these, major social platforms have also rapidly adapted and shifted their focus to meet the rising demands of consumers over the past year. One of these notable social media platforms is Snapchat.

A look back at Snapchat in 2020

Snapchat had consistently established its own niche audience in 2020, especially with the rise of video-sharing platforms and their unique appeal to the younger audience. Over the past year, Snapchat has been involved in app partnerships with interactive options that provided avenues of consideration for brands.

However, AR remains the key feature that has continued to boost the app’s appeal. The platform has actually remained to be one of the key innovators in the AR realm. Here are just some of Snapchat’s most notable achievements in 2020:

·   New approach to entertainment with Snap Originals

Snapchat’s key strength over the past year has been the growth of Snapchat Originals. It’s a short, vertical-style TV show that has been shown to appeal to younger consumers and their evolving entertainment consumption habits.

It’s expected that the company will focus more on Snap Originals this 2021 as more content publishers and studios will pay more attention to the platform and look for new ways to stay connected with young consumers. This year, we’ll probably see major announcements for Snap Originals, along with big-name stars coming on board, as it expands its advertising and exposure opportunities.

·   Focus on eCommerce

As Instagram and Facebook are making a move to incorporate more eCommerce tools into their platform, Snapchat is also expected to follow suit. Aligning with this shift, the company is looking for more opportunities to provide its creators the avenue to sell their products directly on the platform.

Snapchat has been working alongside various eCommerce platforms like Amazon for quite some time. But as in-feed shopping becomes more habitual for most at-home consumers, Snapchat is also looking to capitalize on similar opportunities.

·   AR advancement

AR has always been one of the best features on Snapchat’s platform. The company is expected to add more AR functionality and tools in 2021. Snapchat is actually already rolling out its tools to scan barcodes and labels to provide information through its camera. It is expected to improve its database of scannable items to advancing its AR tools that can include promotions, offers, and more.

·   Apple and Snap partnership

Snapchat was working with Apple way back in 2017 to develop its AR functionality. There are some speculations in the industry that this partnership will be further strengthened as Apple works on the next stage of its AR glasses. While these rumors are just speculative, Snapchat’s AR capabilities could align with this, and it can be a significant development for the company in the future.

Snapchat Statistics Brands Should Know in 2021

229 million daily active users.

According to Statista, Snapchat currently has 229 million daily active users worldwide, as of Q1 of 2020. It has garnered a 20.5% year-over-year increase from its 190 million from the previous year. These statistics are promising for the app after its unpopular redesign in 2018. Apart from the 2018 plunge, Snapchat users have been increasing steadily since its first launch.

53% of users ages 15 to 25 uses the app.

This statistic shows how popular the app is among the Gen Z crowd. It’s one of the most popular social networks among teens. The platform understands what the younger generation wants from social media apps. They have already developed a niche that considers this age group’s habits and preferences through the app.

Over 210 million snaps are created every day.

Snapchat statistics show that over 210 million snaps are created every day. The company has already increased its total snaps per quarter to around 3.5 billion in 2019. Snapchat said that this growth is attributed to users who are using newer Android devices. One of its popular features is called Snapstreak, where users create and exchange at least one snap per day for consecutive days.

The app is in second place worldwide based on mobile usage.

As of 2019, it was reported that Snapchat is in second place on overall mobile usage. Snapchat users are known to be very active in the app as they share pictures and videos regularly. Engagement levels are high since its user visit the app multiple times per day.

53.5 million app downloads.

Snapchat is on the list of the top 10 most popular apps worldwide with 53.5 million downloads. The app saw a particularly massive increase in app downloads during Q2 of 2019. This coincides with the launch of their gender-swap and baby lenses feature on the app.

The average user opens the app 20 times per day.

Snapchat users heavily rely on using their mobile phone’s cameras. The company noted that daily active users access Snapchat’s camera 20 times per day. Furthermore, a Snapchat report indicated that 95% of Snapchat users say that using these features on the app makes them feel happy.

Four in ten users discover brands based on endorsements and online posts.

Around 4 in 10 Snapchat users claim that they have discovered the app due to celebrity endorsements and online posts. Snapchat influencers typically take photos of themselves using products and share these snaps on the app. Since Snapchat influencer marketing generally relies on word-of-mouth, ads from endorsements do not seem like actual advertisements.

Deep Dive into Snapchat Ads

How it works

Brands should consider two main ideas for their Snapchat advertising. Here are some concepts that can be utilized on the platform:

·   Attachment Ads

These are used as a direct response from consumers to create overall brand awareness. Moving video creatives and GIFs work best for these ads, and they can be found between user stories. It’s also skippable and can be played for 10 seconds. Shakr provides a variety of vertical video creative templates for your brand’s Snapchat ads. Set your brand up for success and create mobile-optimized videos instantly.

·   Filter Ads

These are sponsored ads that can be used to decorate photos or videos on the app. Unlike regular filters, the brand is responsible for creating these filters.

Types of Snapchat Ads

Here are the types of ads that brands can use for their Snapchat campaigns:

·   Web View

Brands can attach their website to the ad. When it appears, a swipe-up CTA can be used to visit the website or make purchases without leaving the app.

·   Article

Brands can promote a specific article or blog on their website with this ad. It can be customized with text, in-line videos, and GIFs.

·   App Install

This is the type of ad used to generate app installations for your brand. While the ad plays, a CTA will appear to redirect consumers to install your app.

·   Long-form Video

For brands promoting TV ads, movie trailers, or BTS videos, this is the type of ads to use. A 10-second ad will play and a CTA that will prompt users to finish playing the entire video on the brand’s website.

·   Sponsored Geofilters and Lenses

Sponsored Geofilter ads appear at a particular location for a specific demographic, while sponsored lenses feature fun lenses that can alter a user’s face.

How do you advertise on Snapchat?

1. Choose an ad objective.

2. Select audience, budget, and schedule.

3. Choose an ad type.

4. Run the campaign.

Best Practices for Snapchat Ads

TIP 1: Persuade

Snapchat ads are a great platform to help persuade consumers to purchase your brand’s products. You need to make sure that you are giving these consumers the content they want to see on the platform.

TIP 2: Draw Attention

Brands need to capture the attention of Snapchat users and make them aware that they are looking at great products. Various creatives that play with colors, fonts, and sounds can be used. Brands can also use vertical video templates from Shakr and scale their video campaigns with on-brand creatives.

TIP 3: Engage

Snapchat ads have huge swipe-up rates. Brands can use creative CTAs to invite more users to engage with their content. Brands can also engage their audience with Shakr’s personalized creatives at scale, where brands can create dozens of videos with just a click of a button on the Shakr platform.

Winning Snapchat Ads

Domino’s

Domino’s used Snapchat Ads for the launch of the New Bigger Better pizza campaign in Europe. The campaign showed a humorous portrayal of people buying pizza that was too big to carry.

Bacardi

Bacardi cleverly used the app to reach their target consumers in Germany and strengthen their brand awareness. They used Snapchat’s Sponsored Lenses for Bacardi’s Do What Moves You summer campaign. The brand also used Snap Ads to create horizontal videos that promote their slogan.

Sephora

Beauty brands like Sephora are creating unique ads to stand out on video-sharing platforms. Sephora utilized Snapchat’s gamified AR lenses to increase sales. Snapchat users who completed the game were given coupons that they can instantly use on Sephora’s website.

Subway

Subway wanted to raise awareness on the launch of their new sandwich, and they tried to reach the younger generation through Snapchat. They used Snapchat’s Commercials that featured a 5-second video with animated emojis and a closeup of their new sandwich to excite the audience about their product.

Shakr is here to make Snapchat work for you and your brand.

As Snapchat continues to evolve with its variety of eCommerce and AR features, pushing your brand to help trailblaze on the website may be a golden opportunity for 2021. We’re here to help you create exciting videos for your Snapchat account.

Shakr can help connect with people with our top-notch campaign creative at scale. Snaps from brands can dramatically increase your consumer engagement this year. Schedule a discovery call with us now.

References:

10 Snapchat Statistics Everyone Should Know in 2021. (2020). Retrieved 23 March 2021, from https://www.oberlo.com/blog/snapchat-statistics

17 Snapchat ad examples (and why they work). (2020). Retrieved 23 March 2021, from https://revealbot.com/blog/snapchat-ad-examples/

Hutchinson, A. (2020). 25 Predictions for Social Media Marketing in 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2021, from https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/25-predictions-for-social-media-marketing-in-2021/589785/

Snapchat Advertising: Everything You Need to Know in 2021 – JungleTopp. (2020). Retrieved 23 March 2021, from https://jungletopp.com/snapchat-advertising/