Dive Brief:
- Snapchat is lowering the price of advertising on the platform, sources familiar with the app told Digiday.
- While Snapchat did not comment, sources said Snapchat's new application programming interface (API) provides brands with more flexibility on how much they want to spend on advertising through the platform.
- "They are getting rid of high minimums so brands can experiment in ways they haven’t been able to yet,” one agency executive told Digiday.
Dive Insight:
One long-running complaint about advertising on Snapchat has been the cost of ads, such as one-day sponsored lenses reportedly costing as much as $750,000. Snapchat launched its API and an ad partner program recently to make it easier for marketers to buy ads on the app.
"Different marketers have different objectives, and we just want to make it easier for them to buy ads on the platform," Chief Strategy Officer Imran Khan told Ad Week at the time of the API’s launch.
It seems that is already taking place, with sources telling Digiday that the minimum price for Snapchat’s API is $100,000, a notably lower figure than Instagram’s $500,000 minimum when it first launched its API.
The lower prices, along with the new API and ad partners program, are bringing more advertisers to the table, according to Digiday. The lower prices ultimately mean more brands can afford to experiment with the platform.
Other recent moves by the social media app, including adding tracking and measurement tools, indicate that Snapchat is ready to start playing nice with brands that want to reach its youth-heavy audience, as well as make a more serious push toward generating revenue on the app.
