Snapchat has launched two innovative advertising formats, Sponsored Snaps and Promoted Places, in partnership with Disney, McDonald’s, and Taco Bell.
These new ad placements are designed to extend the way users already interact with businesses on Snapchat, offering advertisers more opportunities to engage with the platform’s community.
Sponsored Snaps will allow businesses to deliver full-screen vertical video ads directly to users’ inboxes. Users must opt-in to open these Snaps, and they have the option to reply by sending a message to the advertiser or using a call-to-action link to explore more.
The Sponsored Snaps are visually distinct from regular Snaps and will disappear if left unopened. Unlike other Snaps, they won’t trigger a push notification, ensuring a more user-friendly experience.
Promoted Places will highlight sponsored locations on the Snap Map, encouraging users to discover nearby businesses. As part of the feature, certain locations will be marked as “Top Picks,” based on visitation trends within the Snapchat community.
According to Snapchat, marking a location as a “Top Pick” can result in a 17.6% increase in visits among frequent users. Promoted Places aims to help businesses measure and drive foot traffic to their physical locations.
Snapchat is eager to gather feedback on these new features and plans to iterate and evolve them based on user input.
The company is also exploring future integrations, such as CRM systems and AI chatbot support, to enhance customer engagement through the Snapchat Sponsored Snaps, as well as new possibilities for enabling customer loyalty through the Snap Map.