Operation Dry Goods | Monthly Active Users of 750 Million! How Can Independent Websites Use Snapchat to Explode Traffic?

Operation Dry Goods How can independent websites use Snapchat to increase traffic with 750 million monthly active users?

In recent years, overseas social media has become the main battlefield for independent site marketing and traffic diversion. More and more overseas sellers are taking the initiative to seek new marketing opportunities on this platform in order to achieve rapid volume growth.

Today, Shoptop will introduce to you Snapchat, a platform loved by young people overseas, and how brands can market themselves on this platform.

01

Who uses Snapchat?

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Snapchat allows users to take photos, record videos, add text and drawings, and send them to friends on the app.

Its most attractive feature for users is that the content is “disappearing”, meaning that after the user sends a photo to a friend, it will automatically be deleted according to the time set by the user (1-10 seconds).

Image source: Google

This stress-free social media platform has quickly accumulated a large number of young users.

In February 2023, Snapchat announced that its monthly active users had reached 750 million. In addition, Snapchat’s first-quarter 2023 financial report showed that its global daily active users reached 383 million, a year-on-year increase of 15%.

Image source: Statista

Next, Shoptop will analyze Snapchat’s users in terms of gender and age, country and region, and user purchasing power, providing reference for brand marketing.

1. Gender and Age

According to Statista, as of January 2023, 51% of Snapchat users are women and 48% are men. In 2022, 54.4% of Snapchat’s users were women and 44.6% were men.

Image source: Statista

From the data, in 2023, the gender distribution of Snapchat users worldwide is relatively balanced. Although the proportion of female users has decreased, it is still higher than that of male users.

This means that brands targeting either a primarily female or male audience can use Snapchat for marketing. Of course, content centered around females tends to perform better on Snapchat in areas like the United States.

Looking at age, Statista data shows that as of January 2023, 38.3% of Snapchat users are between the ages of 18 and 24, with approximately 20% of users between the ages of 13 and 17.

Snapchat states that its core user base consists of millennials and Generation Z. Therefore, if a brand is targeting a younger demographic, Snapchat is an excellent platform for advertising.

2. Countries and Regions

According to Statista’s April 2023 data, India has the largest Snapchat user base in the world, with 182.35 million users; the United States ranks second with over 108 million users. The following countries each have over 20 million users: Pakistan (26.35 million), France (25.9 million), the United Kingdom (23.15 million), and Saudi Arabia (21.75 million).

Image source: Statista

Compared to 2022, the total number of Snapchat users in India has increased by 38 million, while the total number of users in the United States has remained stable. Pakistan has surpassed France to become the third largest user base in the world.

Brands targeting the main markets of North America, Europe, South Asia, and the Middle East can use Snapchat to increase their influence.

3. User Purchasing Power

According to Snapchat, its users have $44 trillion in global purchasing power, with most coming from North America ($19 trillion) and Europe ($10.5 trillion), and millennials and Generation Z alone have over $10 trillion in spending power.

These data indicate the importance of Snapchat’s marketing and advertising targeting the younger generation.

02

Types and Practices of Snapchat Advertising

Snapchat has seven main types of advertising, and brands can choose the appropriate type to interact with users.

1. Single Image/Video Ads

Single image or video ads are full-screen mobile ads that include video, photo, GIF ad material, or Cinemagraph (magic subtle motion technology in static photos), which are interspersed between different types of Snapchat content.

Brands can add attachments to images or videos so that audiences can take immediate action, such as visiting the brand’s website or installing the brand’s app.

Image source: Snapchat

Practices

Test all types of image or video ads, including video, photo, GIF, or Cinemagraph, and then choose the best-performing ads.

Use ad materials consistent with brand positioning for higher relevance, which can lead to higher engagement and conversion rates.

Avoid using the same advertising creative on different platforms, and create original content based on Snapchat’s audience characteristics.

Avoid overlaying multiple images, stickers, CTAs, and other useless interference in the same ad.

Snapchat applies the brand name and title to the upper left corner of the ad content, so it is important to keep the background clear in that area to prevent element overlap.

2. Sticker/Filter Ads

Brands or businesses can create stickers/filters targeting different target groups based on age, gender, interests, and location, and add brand elements.

Source: Google

Brands can launch “challenge” activities using prizes, discount codes, and other incentives to encourage users to use customized stickers/filters to publish content and help increase brand awareness.

On Snapchat, the influence of close friends on purchasing decisions is four times that of celebrities or influencers. Therefore, it is crucial for brands to create content that fans voluntarily share.

3. AR Advertising (AR Lens)

Through Snapchat’s AR function, users can virtually try on new makeup, try on new shoes/clothes, try on new jewelry, etc., and brands can use this to promote new products. Users can also purchase their favorite products through related buttons.

Source: Google

Practice Points

AR Lenses include Face Lenses, World Lenses, and Shopping Lenses.

• Face Lenses

Face Lenses mainly target users’ faces. The production of filters can consider interactive elements, as well as music and sound effects.

For story-type posts, consider factors such as beauty, animals, celebrities, makeup, facial painting, and fashionable accessories;

For 1v1 snapshots, consider styles such as cute, weird, ugly-cute, and horror;

If you need longer interaction time, consider game elements, multiple triggers, and animations.

Source: Google

• World Lenses

World Lenses mainly apply to the rear camera, and the production of filters can be combined with Face Lenses, including facial and surrounding environmental effects.

World Lenses should focus on immersive experience effects and can add some animations. Avoid using static 3D elements.

• Shopping Lenses

Shopping Lenses are mainly used in commercial scenarios, which can display multiple products in a filter. Users can switch products by sliding, to achieve seamless interaction and trial, and each product has its corresponding Lens product card, which directly links to each related product URL in the product catalog.

4. Story Ads

Story Ads are interspersed between Snapchat content. At the same time, users can see the content published by brands through the “Discover” section, including 3-20 pictures or videos.

Image source: Google

There is an icon on Snapchat’s main screen. Users can click on it to see the content published by the brand. At the same time, the brand can also create an option to slide up to enter a website or webpage in Story Ads.

Key Points of Practice

Use a title to stimulate curiosity or a sense of urgency, and keep the copy concise and clear.

Avoid story collages, pay attention to the continuity of picture or video ads, and whether they tell a coherent story.

The advertising creative should be personal, energetic, and dynamic to quickly attract users.

5. Collection Ads

Collection Ads aim to showcase the products, services, or experiences that brands sell online, and attract users to click for more information and make purchases by displaying a series of products.

Image source: Snapchat

6. Dynamic Ads

Dynamic Ads are a simple way for advertisers to provide personalized ads. They provide multiple adaptive templates, allowing merchants to automatically create ads that are directly linked to the product catalog.

By synchronizing a product catalog, brands can automatically spread them to users with relevant interests. At the same time, when product inventory and prices change, the ads will also be automatically adjusted to continuously improve the advertising experience based on user preferences.

Source: Snapchat

Through dynamic advertising, users do not have to manually create ads for each product, nor do they have to spend time on designing creative materials (because there are templates to choose from), saving more time to develop their business.

Key Points of Practice

There are four testing elements for Snapchat’s dynamic advertising: distinguishing Product Set product set testing, subdividing categories; comparing different Template ad templates and copy testing; when delivering Prospecting, comparing different audience targeting (interest tags, LAL, Pixel Audience, MACA) testing; using different creative tools for overlaying effect testing.

7. Commercial Advertising

Commercial advertising is presented in video form and lasts from 6 seconds to 3 minutes, usually appearing in Snapchat’s curated content.

Source: Snapchat

Commercial advertising can help increase brand awareness. It is very suitable for short and concise video ads, and since it cannot be skipped, it provides an excellent opportunity for brands to convey important information.

Key Points of Practice

The forms of commercial advertising include real-time video, dynamic graphic video, or stop-motion animation video, and must include audio.

In terms of duration, the standard ad length is 3 to 6 seconds, and the full ad cannot be skipped. The extended ad length is 7 to 180 seconds, and only the first 6 seconds cannot be skipped.

The brand name in the advertisement must match the paid advertiser who is promoting its product or service.

8. My AI Ads

On April 20, 2023, Snapchat publicly released a free AI chat function, My AI, which uses the latest version of OpenAI’s GPT technology. My AI is pinned to the top of the user’s chat list and can provide users with birthday gift inspiration, help plan weekend hiking trips, and even improvise poetry.

Source: Google

Meanwhile, Snapchat has launched a test version of My AI promotion links. For example, if a Snapchat user asks where to have dinner, My AI will reply with links to local restaurants or food delivery apps from advertisers.

Chat flow advertising testing means that Snapchat intends to create AI scenarios as the next commercial hub. However, My AI advertising is not yet mature, and brands and companies can try it at the right time.

03

Snapchat + Independent Websites

From the above advertising types, it can be seen that on Snapchat, brands can establish contact with their audience in various ways. Specifically, how can independent websites play with Snapchat?

1. Drainage strategy

In the customer acquisition phase, brands can promote themselves through sticker/filter ads, story ads, commercial ads, etc., to increase brand awareness, and cooperate with adding independent website links and product links to drive traffic to the independent website.

In the conversion phase, the focus is on guiding users to register and place new orders. The immersive experience brought by AR ads can shorten the consumer decision-making time, increase purchasing confidence, and greatly improve conversion rates and reduce return rates.

At the same time, dynamic ads can create ads automatically from the seller’s product catalog using pre-made templates, reaching potential and redirecting audience at once, thus promoting conversion and repurchase.

Source: Google

Moreover, brands should seize the opportunity to market themselves, for example, marketing based on popular nodes, with corresponding holiday elements to attract more potential users.

It is worth noting that brands should also pay attention to improving the public profile of their Snapchat accounts, including introduction, location, business type, verified status, website links, etc.

These pieces of information help to improve users’ trust in the brand, especially by adding the brand’s URL, which can help interested users quickly access the brand’s external independent site.

2. Data Tracking

If independent sites advertise on Snapchat, it is essential to pay attention to data tracking; otherwise, marketing efforts will be wasted.

Shoptop’s website building customers can use the Snapchat Ad Data Tracking Plugin in the background to understand real-time ad data and delivery effects and optimize ad delivery based on data effects.

Image source: Shoptop store background

In addition, Shoptop also provides ad data tracking plugins for Facebook, Google, Pinterest, Bing, TikTok, Twitter, Yahoo, Taboola, and other platforms. Tracking data from nine major ad platforms can help brand sellers fully grasp ad data accurately, plan marketing activities based on actual situations, make brands stand out, and achieve overseas explosive sales!

3. Advertising Strategies for Different Categories of Independent Sites

• Fast-moving consumer goods

This type of brand can encourage Snapchat users to post more product usage experiences through discount codes and other means, as the platform’s users are easily influenced by their friends.

• Shoes and clothing

Shoe and clothing independent sites can focus on short videos featuring real models showcasing products and include links to buy or browse by swiping up. At the same time, using AR Lens allows users to have an experience and achieve the effect of quickly influencing.

• Beauty and makeup

Beauty and makeup brands can customize AR try-on filters to facilitate users’ experience of using lipstick, eyebrow pencils, and other products and can directly introduce product catalogs, showing the names and prices of products users tried on, making it easy for users to click links directly to purchase.

Image source: Google

• 3C Electronics

Brands in this category should emphasize showcasing product functionality and highlights based on user pain points.

• Home goods

In addition to showcasing products, home goods brands can also create a sense of comfort and warmth, or display their products’ personalized style, to attract young Snapchat users.

Final thoughts

Snapchat is an important marketing channel for breaking out of established networks, but brands should not rely solely on Snapchat, and should instead work with other platforms for marketing.

Other platforms like Facebook, Pinterest, TikTok, etc., each have their own unique features and advantages, which can help brands better connect with their target audience and give them a larger, more diverse user base.

We will continue to update BusinessDialogue; if you have any questions or suggestions, please contact us!