Snapchat has officially opened the platform out of beta with 16 partnerships already involved and a goal of reaching more brands and agencies by allowing them to buy directly on the social network.
Here’s the five new features coming out of Snapchat today:
1. Ads API program is out of beta.
Thanks to broad advertiser interest and strong campaign results 4 months into beta, we’re excited to let all brands to buy through the API via Ads API Partners. More than 100 brands have participated in our beta, including Gatorade and Nissan in the US (via 4C), Unilever and McDonald’s in Australia (via Brand Networks) etc.
Stepping back, the Ads API launched in October and removes friction for buying Snap Ads (our full-screen, sound-on video ads) by letting advertisers purchase Snap Ads streamlined and at scale — with A/B testing of creative and targeting, real-time analytics etc. In December we announced a machine learning targeting option for buyers called “goal-based bidding.”
2. Announcing six new Ads API Partners – bringing total to 15
We welcome leading global ad tech companies Videology and Kenshoo, as well as AdParlor, Kinetic, Hyfn, and Adglow. These join the existing nine Ads API Partners in our program helping brands improve their marketing investments.
3. Announcing five new Audience Match API Partners – a new category
In September, we announced Snap Audience Match — a match program allowing advertisers to send Snapchat a list of customer emails or device IDs in order to exclude or show ads to those users.
Our five new partners — PMG, mParticle, LiveRamp, Kochava, Merkle — make it easier for marketers to use Snap Audience Match — by seamlessly passing existing lists of email addresses and mobile device IDs to build advertising audiences for Snapchat. We anonymously match that data to enable ad targeting. Advertisers can work directly with these partners to manage, segment, and simply update audiences for use in their campaigns.
And as we explained in September when Snap Audience Match launched, we don’t target sensitive user identities like race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or religion, and also provide an in-app opt-out of targeting using data sourced outside Snapchat.
4. Announcing five new Creative API Partners – a new category
This new group of partners — Celtra, ReFUEL4, VidMob, Percolate, Spredfast — provide software for advertisers to design and cut their own great creative for Snapchat — including Snap Ads with or without Long Form Video or Webview attachments.
Marketers can access tools they need to enable simple creative production and development, asset management, custom web experiences, A/B testing, creative analysis, and more. Advertisers can then seamlessly push creative via the API for use in campaigns. This will enable marketers to better test, learn, and update creative for effective campaign performance.
5. Ads Partner Licensing allows brands to move control of tehir campaign in-house with self-service tool
Brands that license software gain direct control of all campaign details, and access to real-time data, specialized partner solutions (i.e weather targeting, dayparting etc.), increase their speed of execution and optimizations, and drive efficiency in their investments. Brands can now choose between self-service or managed service to best meet the needs of their business.
To date, Ads Partners have been deeply involved in all aspects of campaign execution as a managed service: setup, launch, optimization, and reporting. The availability of self-service removes significant friction for large brands that prefer to take a hands on approach throughout their campaign process.
