After Snap shares were hurt by its weak first-quarter earnings, the company today made its pitch to advertisers at IAB’s NewFronts where it introduced new products and advertising opportunities. Here, Snap’s new Americas president Rob Wilk, formerly Microsoft’s chief advertising officer, and chief creative officer Colleen DeCourcy talk about a test that allowed Snap partners to take advantage of a new artificial intelligence feature, My AI, to put ad links in front of users. Snap also announced new ad slots, including the option to reserve the first video ad seen in friends’ Snapchat Stories and the ability to advertise within the TikTok-like Spotlight feature.
The announcements come at an important time for Snap’s advertising business, which saw its sales decline for the first time as a public company, despite the number of Snapchat users increasing 15% year-over-year to 383 million.
The tech industry’s first-quarter results made it clear that the advertising rebound that powered Meta during the first quarter has yet to benefit the broader social app ecosystem. Snap wasn’t the only one feeling the effects — Google’s YouTube business also saw ad revenue drop nearly 3% in the quarter. By opening up new ad products to marketers, Snap has the opportunity to increase revenue as it finds more places to insert ads in its mobile app.
While many of the ad slots announced today were more traditional, one of their ads stood out.
At the event, the company talked about how Snap uses its new AI feature to put sponsored links in front of users — something Snap CEO Evan Spiegel teased during earnings.
My AI, which just rolled out to Snapchat’s broader user base last month, can suggest Lenses, places from the Snap Map, and soon, it’ll be able to send a Snap to Snapchat+ subscribers, as well as have text conversations with users.
Today, the company confirmed that it has begun testing Sponsored Links in conversations with My AI that would connect users to partners relevant to their conversations. For example, if a Snapchatter asks where to have dinner, my AI can return a sponsored link to a local restaurant or food delivery app. If a user is talking about a weekend trip, my AI can return a sponsored link from an airline or hotel. Or if the user is talking about a video game, users may receive a link to a similar game from a local retailer.
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Snap says it’s still in early beta with this feature and wants to make sponsored links as useful as possible.
He also notes that lessons learned from AI can deliver mobile video powered by conversational intent for first-time Snapchat users and notes how users’ conversations with AI will help Snap deliver more relevant content across the app, including in areas like Stories and Spotlight. In other words, it appears that what users talk to the AI about can change the experience of what they see elsewhere in the app.
To help with this, Snap notifies users that it saves their AI chats until the user deletes them manually.
It’s worth noting how much faster Snap is running with the addition of the AI feature. The company said just over a month ago that it was still looking for qualified AI experts to join its safety advisory board. It also launched an AI product for global users before introducing parental controls — though it says those are coming. Meanwhile, Snapchat users have been going off the AI with one-star ratings amid complaints that the feature can’t be removed from their chat tab without paying for a subscription.
Other Snap ads today included Spotlight, its TikTok clone, which launched in 2020. Snapchat began testing in-product ads a year ago, and during last week’s earnings, Spiegel said Spotlight now reaches 350 million monthly active users — a number that’s more than up 170% year-on-year.
Now, the company is opening Spotlight to global advertisers, she told NewFronts.
Spotlight ads will initially be offered as automatic placements with the service and advertisers will be able to manage them via the Snapchat Ads Manager. Of course, there’s a risk of buying ad slots next to any user-generated content, but Snap says it moderates Spotlight content before it reaches a wider audience, which reduces the chance that marketers’ content will appear alongside hate speech or other harmful content.
In addition, Snap introduced a new ad acquisition product called “First Story”, which allows advertisers to reserve the first Snap ad (video ad slot between friends’ stories), which users may see. The company compared the product, which it said had high demand, to existing offerings like First Commercial and First Lens, which also allow advertisers to reserve first place in other parts of the Snapchat app. The ability to be first in friends’ stories means that marketer is more likely to reach users before they go out. In the US, Snap says the potential daily reach exceeds 50 million.
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Today’s The First Story ad slots are launching globally, and Warner Bros. The first customer. The ad slot will be used to market the upcoming feature, “The Flash”.
The company also announced today that it’s making it easier for brands to work with Snap Creators through its US-based Snap Star Collab Studio, its service that helps brands get results, partner with and incentivize Snap Stars, as it courts top creators and other public figures. in the application. The new studio will help with partnerships by connecting brands with preferred production partners – Studio71, Beeline by Brat TV, Influential and Whalar – to create and implement sponsored stories and creations.
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Throughout the year, Snap will also expand its API and introduce additional tools for paid amplification, which will help brand creations reach more users.
Snap also announced a host of new content partnerships at today’s event, including plans to work with the Women’s World Cup, which joins its existing partners the NFL, NBA and WNBA in sports. The Women’s World Cup will offer exclusive content on Snapchat’s Stories, Spotlight and Camera for its next edition, the company says.
“Snapchat is all about real relationships, with more than 750 million people coming each month to build relationships and have fun with their favorite friends, families and creators,” Wilk said. “We’re excited to share at NewFronts how these real relationships are having a real impact on brands as we announce new innovations and features across Stories, Spotlight, Creators, My AI, and more.”