Snapchat’s Mass Reach Gamble
Snapchat’s let advertisers know that it has no plans to develop more targeted ad options and instead, will serve advertisers more like television. It will sell ads across its entire audience.
This is a bit of an about-face from what digital marketers expect from a platform like Snapchat. We expect things to be targeted and the data to be rich, but Snapchat doesn’t want to play that game.
Differentiation is at the Heart of the Decision
Snapchat is staking its future on one big play. It doesn’t want to compete directly with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and the other social platforms of the world that offer targeted ad offerings with highly measurable results.
It’s going after TV and charging advertisers around $500,000 to advertise on the platform. That’s a considerable amount, especially for small- and medium-sized brands, but even for large brands with big budgets, why would they invest those dollars in Snapchat over TV when what they’re buying is mass reach? The audience.
Snapchat’s audience is young and active. They’re not turning to TV like older audiences, so one of the most efficient ways to reach them is through a platform like Snapchat.
Snapchat’s offering is an all or nothing game. They’re stating who they are and putting what they offer front-and-center — their audience. It’s simple. It’s easily understood, and going after TV establishes a clear POD among other online social networks. But will it work?
It’s Not for Every Brand
Let’s set aside the reservations one can have with this approach because the lack of targeting and data is a clear stumbling block, but this approach has its benefits.
The user experience is paramount for Snapchat. Running high-cost ads aimed at achieving reach limits the number of ads users will actually see. They’ll be seeing single messages from a small number of advertisers, which protects the product and the user experience. Instagram, on the other hand, has taken a different approach by opening up its platform to multiple advertisers, exposing users to multiple ads per session and frustrating many of them in the process.
Snapchat is going to be priced out of consideration for most advertisers, but those with large budgets that want to achieve reach will be hard-pressed to find a more applicable platform to reach young people quickly and at scale. This is a luxury offering for the select brands that need to get their message in front of as many people as possible. TV is one way to do that but not for all people. Snapchat’s defined itself as the way to reach young people in mass.
It’s a Gamble
This approach is certainly different than how other social networks have chosen to monetize themselves, but it oddly makes sense for Snapchat. But that won’t matter if advertisers don’t bite. Snapchat has a high valuation that it needs to justify, and digital marketers are going to need to decide if the tradeoff between data and targeting for mass reach of young users is worth it.