Snapchat was invented as a way to communicate with friends via pictures and videos. Since then, it has become so much more than that. In fact, there are publications to which you can subscribe and friends’ stories that can be viewed. 

On the other hand, there are Snapchat ads that companies can use for their business. Before making an advertising commitment, let’s examine which features you can use to be successful on the platform. 

Utilize Snap Publisher

This tool lets you create and edit advertisements within minutes, all within your browser. To get started, all you need is a free account, wherein you can open an ad account and start publishing ads. Follow the features below to get the most out of your advertising:

• Choose a Template: Use a template to begin from scratch and create content that fits your objectives.
• Customize your Video: Customize videos using different colors and text, and remember to use your own assets alongside the built-in options.  
• Publish Your Video: Use the Ads Manager to make any final changes before you publish to Snapchat. 

How does Snapchat pricing work?

Different options are on offer from Snapchat for anyone looking to advertise on the platform. You can reach out directly to the Snapchat sales team (through the Snapchat ad manager) or connect with a Snapchat certified partner.

The cost of advertising on Snapchat varies based upon the type of ad, competition, budget, and overall duration of the advertisement. Bearing these factors in mind, your ad needs and objectives can be tailored in line with the advertising cost.

A look at how the pricing for these Snapchat options works and how to create a budget will allow you to reach your goals with Snapchat advertising.

Campaign budget and duration

Every ad you create will have its own budget. However, there is a minimum daily budget of $5. The daily budget is the average daily amount you’re willing to spend on specific ads per day. 

However, to ensure you don’t spend above your budget, set spending caps to limit the total amount of money spent. 

Bidding, billing, and budget — Snapchat’s self-serve tool

Snapchat uses bidding options to grant advertising space, as well as the amount you want to spend. With Snapchat’s ad manager tool, the cost of an ad is based on how advertisers structure their campaigns. Therefore, Your campaign will be optimized to the bid goal on the selected bid strategy. Snapchat charges per 1,000 impressions (CPM), but offers goal-based bidding.

Goal-Based Bidding: This ad strategy will let you optimize toward a specific action that a user is assumed to take. This can range from installing your business app to completing a purchase. Goal-based bidding allows the advertiser to set up a maximum price for each time a viewer performs the action the ad is optimized for. The goal options available are:

• swipe ups
• app installs
• impressions.

Snapchat recommends setting a swipe up bid between $1 and $3, making adjustments as needed according to the ad performance. App install bids are recommended to be set at the cost per install goal, which is the ideal amount the advertiser would pay for an individual user’s installation of the app. As with swipe up bids, the install bid should be optimized based on performance. Advertisers can also set a daily budget for their campaigns.

Once your campaign has been set up, Snapchat will deliver your ads aiming to generate the most of the specified goal at the lowest cost. Due to budget pacing and user-action prediction variance, the observed cost per event may exceed the inputted bid amount.

While Snapchat advertisers do get to decide how much each specified action (goal) means to them, they are still charged by impressions (CPM).

The budget is set at a daily cost and should be optimized for each ad sets’ performance. Snapchat recommends spending more towards ad sets that are performing well and pausing those that aren’t.

Other bidding setups include: 

• Auto Bidding: This is a strategy that allows Snapchat to set the bid for you. You’ll have the opportunity to get the most out of your goals and budget. You’ll also be able to reach your target audience effectively.   
• Max Bidding: You can tell Snapchat the maximum amount a platform can bid for you, while you try to achieve the most efficient CPA (Cost Per Action). 
• Target Costs: This strategy allows Snapchat to bid with your permission. The platform will seek the set CPA amount by the time it hits the end date. 

Snapchat’s Certified Partners

If you want some help to manage your campaign, you can reach out to one of Snapchat’s Certified Partners. The Certified Partners program allows advertisers to work with companies that have expertise in Snapchat advertising — from the initial campaign strategy to creative execution.

The partner sets up the Ad Account with Snapchat, and a monthly invoice is sent based on the media spend for that month.

Purchasing Ads from Snapchat

Snapchat also gives advertisers the option to buy ads directly without the use of the ad manager. In this case, Snapchat buys the media for the advertiser and charges a flat rate for CPM. The rate changes for the various ad formats, however.

• Snap Ads, which is Snapchat’s mobile video ads offering, start at around $3,000 per month in ad spend.
• Sponsored Lenses vary from day to day:
  • $450,000 per day if it’s running Sunday-Thursday
  • $500,000 per day on Friday and Saturday
  • $700,000 for holidays and special events, such as the Super Bowl
• Snapchat Discover Ads start at $50,000 daily
• Sponsored nationwide geofilters are estimated to be about one-fifth of the cost of Sponsored Lenses

Snapchat has made creating Sponsored local geofilters even easier now that users have the ability to create the filter from directly inside the app. The minimum area a geofilter can cover is 20,000 square feet and the largest is 50,000,000 square feet. The exact price depends on the desired location and duration of the geofilter.

Purchasing directly from Snapchat ensures that an ad will run within a specific location of the app, whereas creating a campaign through the ad manager allows ads to be placed anywhere their bid can win, such as between user’s Stories or on the Discover page.

How do I purchase Snapchat Ads?

Source: Snapchat

Final Thoughts

Since cost is mostly in your control as a business, Snapchat is one of the few social media platforms that offer a near-certain return on investment. With their different bid types, influencers, unique ad types, and template features to help publish your videos, Snapchat is meant to aid you in your advertising needs based on the target market you select. 

Ask yourself how much you want to spend, but also what you want to earn from advertisements in the long run. Setting a goal beforehand will help you to achieve the needs of your business.