Snapchat Announces Testing of Sponsored Ads in Chats and Promoted Places in Snap Map
Snapchat has announced that it will begin testing advertisement placements in two places in its app, improving customer relationship management (CRM) system integrations. It is partnering with two dining franchises and an entertainment company whose ads will be visible on the app, enabling businesses to visually engage with consumers. Users will be able to interact with the Snaps received on the instant messaging platform by replying to them or accessing the call-to-action options provided.
Ads on Snapchat
In a blog post, Snapchat detailed the advertisements coming to its app. It will be visible in the Chats tab as well as the Snap Map. Following its rollout, Snapchat users will receive sponsored Snaps from Disney. Meanwhile, the Snap Map will display ads from McDonalds and Taco Bell.
Businesses can send full-screen vertical video Snap directly to Snapchatters. However, it is purely opt-in, the company confirms. Users will have a choice of whether to open the Snap and they will be removed if remain unviewed. Snapchat users can also interact with the sponsored Snaps by sending a message to the advertiser or by using the provided call-to-action option to open a predetermined link.
The platform says these Snaps will be distinct from the user’s personal chats and will not come with a push notification.
In addition to Sponsored Snaps in the chats tab, Snapchat is also bringing ads to the Snap Map — a feature that enables users to share their location with others and seek out places of interest. The most happening places are marked as Top Picks on the Snap Map and the company claims it can drive a typical visitation lift of as much as 17.6 percent for frequent Snapchat users relative to that place. This is said to be one of the contributing factors for rolling out ads.
Other New Features
Snapchat recently rolled out the Footsteps feature to all users. This feature, previously exclusive to Snapchat subscribers, lets users keep track of all the places they have explored and sent snaps from. In addition to tracking new places, it can also leverage stored Memories to take past trips into account.
Subsequent uses of the feature will leverage the location data to track the steps, as per Snapchat.
