How local brands can win Black Friday on Snapchat

If you are a small business you might be wondering how on earth you can compete with the bigger brands, but in fact Snapchatters are 34% more likely than those who do not use Snapchat to shop from brands which support their local community.

And – Snapchatters spend 1.6x more than the average shopper over the entire holiday shopping season.

Start advertising early

Most Snapchat users begin their holiday shopping plan 2-3 months before the big day itself, therefore you are more likely to engage a larger audience if you start running your campaigns early. Snapchatters spend 2x more in November and December than they do during any other time of the year. Focusing only on Black Friday day will mean you’re missing out on a lot of opportunities to identify new customers looking for deals. Try extending your campaigns slightly further to boost your sales.

Make sure your website is mobile and user friendly

The majority of sales are now being made on mobiles versus desktop, and an estimated 67% of online sales will come from mobiles this year alone. During the busy periods there will be a high volume of traffic heading to your website, so make sure it is highly responsive to increase conversion and sales.

The average Snapchatter spends 20% more online than anyone else and each year there is a 2.1x increase on how much money Snapchat users spend on Black Friday weekend through to Cyber Monday. Making sure that Snapchatters can have a seamless transition from your ad to your website will boost sales and conversion rates.

Highlight your top products, link to your page, and drive urgency

When thinking about your ads make sure you have your best selling products in mind. With your advertisements you want to catch the eyes of new customers and by showcasing the products which many know and love you’re sure to grab some attention.

When promoting your top products make sure you have a direct link to the product page, this way customers can see the product and head to the checkout easily and smoothly. Nothing ruins a good ad more than losing the product!

It is also essential to drive urgency. It is more likely to get customers to respond quicker if they know they are getting a one off type of deal.

Choose the right type of ad for your business

Any business can successfully promote their brands on Snapchat, but ensuring you have chosen the right type of ad format is what can make or break a campaign.

Simple image or video ads are extremely useful when trying to promote Black Friday deals. These ads are full screen, you can add music, sounds and visuals to quickly and effectively promote deals, services or products to the audience. They can take the form of video — whether it be motion graphic, live, cinema-graph, or gif style — as well as still.

Story ads are featured on the Snapchat Discover page. Story Ads allow Advertisers to reach consumers by placing a branded tile in Snapchat’s Discover section that opens into a collection of 1-20 single images or videos.

Collection ads are made-for-commerce ad types which consist of four different tappable images, each promoting a different product. This allows brands to promote top products or new products in a new, innovative way.

Commercials are non-skippable six-second video ads. Commercials appear within Snapchat’s Curated Content and games.

Lenses are the flagship format of Snapchat which can help your business reach new audiences in a meaningful way. You can create memorable, interactive moments using augmented reality and you can build experiences that Snapchatters can play with and send to friends.

Filters allow brands to take part in the hundreds of millions of Snaps sent between friends each day on Snapchat. When Snapchatters take a Snap, they’ll be able to see your Filter and use it to explain where, when, and why they took the Snap.

This Black Friday, harness the full potential of Snap advertising… and let us see those best creative campaigns!