Going Broad with Snapchat: How First Ad Impression Takeovers Drive Impact in MENA

In today’s saturated digital landscape, breaking through the noise is every brand’s challenge. Consumers are bombarded with ads daily, but only a few truly capture their attention. That’s where First Ad Impression Takeovers on Snapchat come in. In partnership with Publicis Media, Snapchat conducted a multi-brand measurement analysis across Q4 2024 to evaluate the real impact of these takeover formats. The findings reveal how advertisers across industries, from luxury to government to travel are leveraging this high-reach, short-burst strategy to maximize awareness, drive conversions, and cut through the clutter.

Key Insights from the Study

1. Exceptional Reach at Scale

Snapchat’s First Ad Impression Takeovers consistently outperformed auction buys in terms of reach.

• First Story Takeovers reached 8x more users than regular Story Ads bought via auction ¹.

• First Commercials reached 5x more users compared to auction-based Commercials ¹. This can help scale and also help drive cost efficiency: CPMs for First Story averaged 22% below planned ¹, while First Commercials outperformed with a 47% reduction in CPM ¹.
  
  

2. Breaking Through the Clutter

Owning the first ad impression of the day can give brands a unique advantage. Campaigns using this format saw 2.5x higher ad awareness ² lifts compared to Snapchat’s benchmark. By ensuring brands dominate the first moment of user interaction, takeovers act as powerful visibility drivers.

3. The Halo Effect on Conversions

Takeovers can also help boost performance campaigns:

• Yango saw an 11x increase in conversions on First Story Takeover days ³.

• Dubai Safari Park saw a 2.6x growth in conversions (the Halo effect of First Story and First Commercials) ³.
  
  

How Advertisers Can Win with Snapchat:

• Maximize results with Snapchat’s combined offerings: First products along with auction-based buys to maximize efficiency.

• Maximize impact through simultaneous takeovers (e.g., First Story + First Commercial) to boost impact.

• Leverage Snapchat’s measurement framework (Execution, Experimentation, Evaluation) to optimize campaigns at every stage.

Snapchat remains a platform well-suited for driving attention and engagement. A meta-analysis of 31 Snapchat campaigns using Lumen’s predictive modeling showed consumers gave 2.6x more attention to ads on Snapchat versus the Lumen Social Mobile Average (2024) benchmark, highlighting strong engagement ⁴. For advertisers across MENA, First Ad Impression Takeovers are not just about reach, they’re about owning the moment that matters most.