Making moves
Watch out Facebook, Snapchat is making strides to be a valid competitor in the advertising market.
This past week, Snapchat took a page out of the old Facebook and Instagram strategy to implement new features for small businesses looking to up their ad game.
Simplifying
They introduced the Snapchat Ad Manager, a self-serve one-stop shop for any company wanting to purchase Snap Ads. Previously, the road to buying ads on Snapchat was a complicated one. Companies had to go through a sales team or third party ad tools that often charged a fee.
However, the new feature is a free way for companies to utilize Snapchat’s advertising abilities, similar to Facebook’s suite of self-service tools or Google Adwords.
Snapchat Ad Manager targets small and medium businesses, not just the big name brands. Marketers are able to buy ad formats based on their target audience and bid type. For instance, they can purchase long form video or just the typical Snap Ad. Snapchat plans to roll out these features in June which also includes a mobile dashboard to track campaigns via phone and a Business Manager site to oversee team members.
The tide has turned
This can be considered Snapchat’s response to Facebook and Instagram straight up stealing their strategy. Last August, Instagram launched their stories feature, which many can just think of as Snapchat built into the platform. With a wider reach and easier usability, Instagram stories became a huge success and many considered this to be the downfall of Snapchat.
In addition Facebook has implemented the same feature into their WhatsApp Messenger and mobile application.
Luckily for Snapchat, they had a little more staying power than most gave them credit for and hope to increase revenue with the ad features they are now offering.
Waiting game
Ad Manager could keep Snapchat on the map as a worthy competitor in the advertising game. However, it is still unclear if the vertical video format will be compelling enough for effective ads. In addition, small businesses with smaller budgets may feel their money is better spent elsewhere with more established ad platforms. Only time will tell if Snapchat Ads will reach the same level of Facebook, Instagram and Google.
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