Snap Launches New Ad Tools After Disappointing Recent Revenue

Snap has launched a raft of new ad tools at the IAB NewFronts in New York to help brands get more exposure and generate the firm more revenue after disappointing recent results (lead image: Snapchat’s Ads in Spotlight).

The company reported a seven per cent drop in revenue year-over-year thanks to declining ad spend — even despite the app adding an extra 51 million users worldwide in the first quarter of this year.

The first of the new ad tools is, aptly, First Story. This lets advertisers reserve the first video ad between Friend Stories that a user sees — à la TikTok.

This new product is similar to the brand’s First Commercial and First Lens offerings that let advertisers reserve the first six-second non-skip Commercial or first Sponsored AR Lens that a Snapchatters sees. The company said that the First Story feature had been highly requested from its ad partners and brands such as Louis Vuitton and Warner Brothers have already signed up to use the tool.

Ads in Spotlight is a new tool that is coming to Snapchat’s TikTok-like Spotlight short-form video platform. These will be served as automatic placements interspersed within Spotlight content that advertisers can manage from within the Snapchat Ads Manager.

The company assured advertisers that Spotlight content is moderated before it can reach a large audience, reducing the chance that ads will appear next to misinformation, hate speech, or other potentially harmful and brand-unsafe content.

Snap has also launched new content partnerships with the 2024 Paris Olympics and the FIFA Women’s World Cup. NBCUniversal will bring custom content from the Olympic and Paralympic games to Snapchat. The content will include daily Stories, Spotlight and AR content from both tournaments and experiential content delivered by a roster of “Snap Stars” in Paris.

“I’m excited about today’s announcements which provide our advertising partners greater product enhancements that will have a material impact on reaching Snapchatters. Our platform is about real relationships and these new features will give brands more opportunities than ever before, to reach the 7.5 million Australians who are a part of the Snapchat community,” said Snap’s APAC President, Ajit Mohan.

Last month, Snap introduced a new AI chatbot reserved for its Snapchat+ paying subscribers. At the NewFronts, the company also revealed new ways that it is testing and adapting its offering.

For example, it is currently testing whether mobile video powered by conversational intent can be delivered to Snapchat users. It is also working on developing sponsored links during conversations with its AI tool, giving brands the chance to connect with users in highly relevant and contextual settings (at least that’s the plan).

‘Let’s say you’re having a conversation with My AI about what to have for dinner. After an initial My AI response, you could receive a link sponsored by a local restaurant or a food delivery app, offering an easy way to get your dinner with one tap,” explained Snap.

The company said that it had already seen “strong engagement” with these AI-powered sponsored links during testing and it would share more information as it continues to experiment.

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