Snapchat, the popular social media platform known for its disappearing messages, is now delving into a new realm of advertising. CEO Evan Spiegel recently announced that Snapchat will be introducing “Sponsored Snaps” from brands, which will appear as unread messages in the main Chat tab of the app. This marks a significant shift for Snap, as it is the first time they are showing ads in such a prominent area of the app.
According to Spiegel, Sponsored Snaps will be placed next to chat threads from friends, implying that they will take priority over messages from contacts until they are interacted with by the user. These messages will not come with a push notification, and users will have the option to open them or ignore them. However, it remains unclear how easy it will be to remove these messages without opening them, or if it will be possible to do so at all.
The decision to introduce Sponsored Snaps comes at a crucial time for Snapchat, as the company’s stock price is at an all-time low. Despite boasting over 850 million monthly users globally, Snap’s advertising business still lags behind its competitors, such as Meta. With the pressure to boost revenue and drive growth, Spiegel emphasizes the importance of expanding the digital advertising business to appease investors.
In addition to Sponsored Snaps, Snap also plans to allow advertisers to promote places in its Map tab, offering another avenue for brands to reach Snapchat users. This move signifies Snap’s commitment to diversifying its revenue streams and tapping into new advertising opportunities.
As Snapchat enters this new phase of advertising with Sponsored Snaps, it will be interesting to see how users respond to these sponsored messages and how brands leverage this feature to engage with the Snapchat community. While the introduction of ads in the Chat tab may raise concerns about privacy and user experience, Snap is clearly focused on driving its advertising business forward to secure long-term revenue growth. Only time will tell if this strategy proves successful for Snapchat in the competitive landscape of digital advertising.
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