Can Snapchat beat Facebook in app install ads?

marketingdive.com

Dive Brief:

• Snapchat is prepping to allow direct response specialists to get access to its API for app install ads next year according to Ad Age.
• The frontline news from this move is that Snapchat is making a stronger push for app install ad dollars.
• Snapchat is also setting up an internal “self-serve” ad product so marketers won’t have to go through third-parties to run app install campaigns. 

Dive Insight:

App install ads are a major part of Facebook’s ad business so Snapchat going big into the space could be a signficant challenge. The news comes as Facebook has recently added a number of new features like masks and a 24-hour feed that clearly mimic Snapchat. While Facebook is the bigger platform, it is clearly feeling threatened by Snapchat's quick growth. 

When it comes to app install ads, Snapchat could have an advantage. Facebook has by far the largest user base in social media, but Snapchat owns the Gen Z and millennial demo, a group more likely to add apps to their daily experience.

With the app install push a way to actively courting direct response marketers, per the Ad Age report, this also suggests that Snapchat is becoming more willing to embrace many forms of marketing as it gears up for an expected initial pubic offering next year. In the past Snapchat was known for essentially avoiding marketing altogether and promising its users it wouldn’t be “creepy," but direct response marketers are better known for their hard-sell tactics than the more subtle storytelling approach that has been a hallmark of marketing on Snapchat to date.