A Quick Guide to Snapchat Ads Best Practices

A couple of years ago influencers began exiting the Snapchat social media platform. Its stock took a hit and we thought just like that we would have to say goodbye to dog filters and astoundingly snatched selfies. We were ready to call a snap “so 2018!”

But none of that fazed Snapchat. The platform has a hold on young people. It’s like a right of passage when you turn 18 (or, more realistically, 13). 

🍞 Snapchat and ROAS go together like peanut butter and jelly. →  

Currently, Snapchat has 238 million daily users who generate 3 billion snaps every single day. If you were wondering where your younger demographic hangs out online, this could be a clue. And what conclusion can you draw from this information? 

🕵️‍♀️ You might deduce that advertising on Snapchat is a smart marketing move. 

To get you started on advertising on Snapchat, we created a quick Snapchat 101 for Beginners Guide to help you out. 

Ad Formats

Learn about ad formats that Snapchat offers and what to do to keep your beautiful ad from being rejected on a technicality.

Single Image or Video Ads are Snapchat ads that invite users to swipe up, which then redirect users to your landing page, video, or app. 

Need-to-knows:

• The ad is between 3 to 180 seconds long.
• You can upload jpg, png, mp4, or mov 
• Resolution should be 1080 x 1920 px. 
• You can include branding up to 25 characters and a headline up to 34 characters
• Select your own CTA text

Story Ads allow your brand to appear as a tile in the Discover section. You can use this story as a collection of all your ads too. 

Need-to-knows:

• The ad is between 3 to 180 seconds long.
• Composed of a collection of 3-20 ads 
• You can include branding up to 25 characters and a headline up to 34 characters
• Select your own CTA text
• You can add attachments which will be shown after users swipe up.

Custom filters allow you to showcase your business in a fun and interactive way that fits seamlessly into the Snapchat experience. 

Need-to-knows:

• You will need a 1080 x 2340 px image, with 300 KB size limit
• Your image must be a .png with a transparent background 
• Your filter must always have a portrait orientation
• Branding should take up less than 25% of the screen
• You must have a 210 px buffer space and the top and the bottom for users with larger phones

Snapchat Ads Manager Pointers ☝️

Like every platform, the Snapchat ads manager can be used to optimize your campaign. Here’s just a snapshot of tips and tricks:

Try deep linking - Snapchat allows for deep linking, which means you can land on a particular section of a mobile application. With this option, you can re-engage users who haven’t engaged with your app in a while or direct new audiences to download your app. 

The beginning is everything - Introduce your brand in the first 2 seconds of a Snapchat ad. This is the time that captures the attention of a user and will make the most impact. 

Call to action - Always have a call to action in the opening frame so that the user is motivated to take action. 

Don’t forego audio - 60% of Snapchat users have the sound on. This means you can use the audio of an ad to drive emotional engagement, maybe even use voice-over call to actions.