Evan Spiegel, Snapchat’s CEO, says the company will soon “experiment” with placing sponsored messages next to chat threads from friends. Snapchat hopes this will introduce more people to advertising on their platform in a friendly way.
Snapchat is going to give some brands a try at showing their “Sponsored Snaps” between conversations with pals. These ads will look like normal unread messages above the other chats. It will be Snapchat’s first try putting promotions right where people see their buddies’ snaps every day.
The ads won’t make any push notifications or sounds to interrupt talks. People can choose to ignore the Sponsored Snaps if they want. Snapchat wants to make sure ads don’t come between friends! The company also didn’t share much detail about getting rid of these types of ads once they appear.
Snapchat hopes letting companies buy ads in the messaging part of the app will help advertising grow on Snapchat. Right now, Snapchat makes less money from ads than competitors like Facebook. Snapchat also loses money each year, so improved advertising is important. According to Spiegel, Snapchat may also begin allowing sponsors to promote places people could discover on Snapchat Maps with friends.
Only time will tell if people and brands take to advertising in this friendly, optional format. If it boosts Snapchat’s bottom line without bothering conversations, it could be a win-win way to introduce more users to in-app promotions. However, handling ads carefully will be key to avoiding upsetting Snapchat’s social community.
