How Snapchat Builds Brands Like No Other
New research from Snap Inc. and eye square across 13 global markets reveals why meaningful time on social platforms — and diverse ad experiences — drive stronger brand outcomes especially on Snapchat.
In an era of ad fatigue and shrinking attention spans, marketers are rethinking what "effective reach" really means. Impressions and time spent are table stakes, but the question is whether that time translates into real outcomes for brands. Our latest research, conducted in partnership with eye square across 13 global markets, points to a clear answer: the brands that win are the ones that show up where time feels meaningful and engage consumers through a breadth of formats, not just frequency.
Not all time spent on social media is created equal. We surveyed social media users aged 13 - 44 across 13 markets and found that about 3 out of 4 Snapchatters consider their time on the platform to be meaningful — the highest score among all messaging platforms 1.
Why does this matter for brands? Because meaning drives action. Among users who find their time on a social platform meaningful, we see 1:
85% more openness to seeing ads
62% more engagement with relevant ads
74% more likelihood to take action on relevant ads
On any given platform, users who experience meaning are significantly more receptive to advertising than those who don't. Meaning is a lever that brands can actively pull by choosing where and how they show up.
So what drives meaning? Our study measured 22 specific activities users perform on each platform and the data reveals clear specialization. Each platform creates a different kind of value in users' lives and Snapchat's meaning comes from something no other platform can match at scale: real, personal connection.
Snapchat is the #1 platform globally for every core communication activity with friends and family among the platforms studied 1, including chatting, sharing personal photos and videos, video and audio calling, and checking Snap Map to see where friends are.
This holds across every market in the study, from the US to Saudi Arabia to the Nordics. Snapchat is where close friends actually talk, share, and stay connected every day.
And here's the kicker: enjoyable usage of platforms creates meaning; boredom kills it. Our regression analysis shows that using a platform because you're bored actually undermines the sense of meaningfulness. When people open Snapchat, they want to connect with someone they care about. That intentionality is what makes the time feel meaningful and what makes it valuable for brands.
The takeaway for advertisers? When ads appear in Snapchat's connection-driven environment, they outperform. Globally, Snapchat scored significantly higher than competitor platforms on the metrics across the funnel 1:
Unaided Ad Recall: +6 pts vs. competitors
Aided Ad Recall: +7 pts vs. competitors
Favorability: +8 pts vs. competitors
Simulated Brand Purchases: +6 pts vs. competitors
Connection and unique ad offerings from Snapchat create receptivity that feed-based environments struggle to match.
The most powerful finding in this study is what happens when brands go beyond a single ad format and engage consumers through a breadth of engagements on Snapchat.
We tested three levels of brand engagement on Snapchat, while holding frequency constant, and measured the impact on brand outcomes across seven markets 1:
Video ad only → 16% were able to recall seeing the ad without prompting
Video + AR Lens → 22%
Video + AR Lens + Sponsored Snap → 36%
That's more than double the recall from adding format diversity alone — without increasing frequency.
The effect carries through the entire funnel: simulated brand purchases nearly doubled, from 19% with video only to 33% with the full breadth of formats 1.
These findings mirror how human relationships work. Meaningful relationships aren't built through repetition. They're built through a variety of shared experiences. You deepen a friendship by doing different things together, not by having the same conversation over and over. The same applies to brand-consumer relationships: A consumer who sees a video ad, interacts with an AR Lens, and receives a Sponsored Snap in their chat has built a richer, more multidimensional connection with that brand than one who sees the same video three times.
This is what makes Snapchat's ad ecosystem uniquely powerful. Snapchat offers a breadth of engagement, ranging from immersive video and interactive AR, to a direct message in the most personal space on a Snapchatter’s phone. It's not just a media strategy. It's a relationship-building strategy.
The breadth-of-engagements principle doesn't just work within Snapchat. Our study also tested what happens when advertisers add a Snapchat Sponsored Snap to an existing Facebook video campaign to reach consumers in two different channels. The results make the case for platform diversification 1:
Unaided ad recall: +11 points when a video exposure on Facebook was replaced with Sponsored Snaps instead
Aided ad recall: +14 points
Purchase intent: +16 points
Simulated Brand Purchases: +7 points
These are massive lifts across the entire funnel, achieved by combining Facebook's feed environment with Snapchat's messaging environment. The explanation is straightforward: A video ad in a content feed and a Sponsored Snap in a private chat reach users in completely different mindsets. One is a passive content consumption moment. The other is an active, personal communication moment. Diverse brand encounters across different environments create stronger memory encoding and richer brand associations.
For advertisers already investing in social video, adding Snapchat isn't about replacing what's working. It's about unlocking incremental value in the intimate, connection-first environment where Snapchat lives.
If you look at the pattern of innovations for Snapchat, it's always been about connecting. It's always about making it super easy. It's always been about just being yourself and hopefully that brings you closer to somebody. That's kind of what we see as opportunities for both businesses and consumers.
Optimize for meaning, not just reach. The platforms where users spend time meaningfully are the platforms where ads perform best. Prioritize environments where users are intentionally engaged and not passively scrolling out of boredom.
Lean into Snapchat's connection context. Snapchatters consider the platform the #1 communication platform globally. Ads that show up alongside real conversations between close friends benefit from a halo of trust and receptivity that feed-based platforms can't replicate.
Diversify your format mix on Snapchat. The data is unambiguous: breadth beats frequency. Combining video, AR Lenses, and Sponsored Snaps more than doubles unaided recall and nearly doubles purchase intent versus video alone, all at the same frequency.
Add Snapchat to your cross-platform plan. Even if you're already running social video on other platforms, adding a Sponsored Snap delivers massive incremental lifts across the brand funnel. Snapchat isn't competing for your existing budget. Rather, it's multiplying your existing investment.
Think relationships, not impressions. The brands that build diverse, multi-format connections with consumers build stronger relationships. Show up in more ways, in more contexts, and create the kind of brand connection that drives lasting impact.
This research was conducted by eye square, commissioned by Snap Inc., across 13 global markets (Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, India, the Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, and the United States). The study included a Value of Time (VoT) quantitative survey of social media users aged 13-44 and an In-Context ad effectiveness test across 7 markets, which included a simulated shopping exercise. All metrics reported are based on Top-2 box scores with significance testing at p<0.05.
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