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Snapchat launches multiple e-commerce ad options in time for holiday shopping

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Shoppable Snap ads are rolling out, and advertisers can now import catalogs to automatically create product ads.

Snapchat is rolling out a number of new e-commerce ad options ahead of the holiday shopping season.

The company is making Shoppable Snap ads available to all advertisers via its self-serve ad-buying platform, allowing advertisers to import product catalogs to create ads automatically from existing assets, and introducing new advanced pixel targeting features. The Snapchat Partner list is also gaining more than 30 new agency partners to help advertisers build their e-commerce and direct response campaigns on the app.

Why you should care

Retail brands looking to reach teens, in particular, should take notice of Snapchat’s recent e-commerce efforts.

Snapchat leads all other social platforms when it comes to the number of US teens on the platform, according to an August eMarketer report. With 16.4 million 12- to 17-year-olds using Snapchat, eMarketer’s data shows the platform has 3.6 million more teens than Instagram and nearly 5 million more than Facebook.

Here’s a rundown of Snapchat’s latest e-commerce advertising options:

Shoppable Snap Ads: The e-commerce driven ads — also called Collection ads — allow brands to feature a collection of products within a single ad. Each product image can be tapped to surface more product details.

According to Snapchat, online retailer Wish.com earned a 17 percent higher engagement rate with the Shoppable Snap ads compared to standard Snap ads featuring the same product. eBay saw five times the engagement rate, and Guess saw 4.1 times the engagement rate with Shoppable Snap ads.

Alyssa Perry, the senior director of marketing for subscription box service FabFitFun, said Snap’s diversified ad placement options have helped their company reach new audiences.

“With the launch of Story ads, shoppable lenses and Shoppable Snap ads, we’ve been able to take a full-funnel approach to how we acquire new customers,” said Perry, “We’re excited to scale even more with Snap as they continue to advance their platform’s eComm solutions, including Snap lenses and Shoppable Snap ads.”

FabFitFun has been running ad campaigns on Snapchat since April of 2017. In Q2, the company increased its ad budget on the platform by 7x after seeing a 36 percent lower cost per acquisition using Snap’s optimization for purchases ad targeting feature.

Product catalogs: Retailers can import their product catalog feeds to automatically create Story Ads, Snap Ads and the new Shoppable Snap Ads featuring their products.

Snap pixel targeting: The company is also expanding its Snap pixel targeting capabilities — making it possible for advertisers to track specific actions consumers take on their website versus simply monitoring what page of the site they visited. Using the tracking data, advertisers can create more customized audiences for their campaigns.

Snap Partners: More than 30 new marketing agencies are joining the Snap Partners program for marketers, extending the list of companies certified to help build e-commerce and direct response advertising campaigns on the app.

New US-based Snap Partners include:

  • MuteSix.
  • Lightening AI.
  • Mish Guru.
  • Taktical Digital.
  • Disruptive Advertising.
  • New Engen.
  • Abacus Agency.
  • Madwire.

Snap is also adding global agencies, including VF Marketing and Nest Performance in the UK, Addict Mobile in France and the Netherlands’ Crowd Mobile agency.

More on Snapchat’s e-commerce offerings and user base

  • In addition to building out e-commerce ad options for advertisers, Snap is also hosting two online training sessions in September and October on the Snap Pixel and e-commerce marketing.
  • Snap claims 188 million daily active users globally, who, on average, visit the app more than 20 times a day and create more than 20 Snaps per day.
  • Last year, a Snapchat-commissioned study showed users made 850 million shopping trips on Black Friday weekend and bought 20 percent more items than the average non-Snapchat user.

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