Snapchat’s new partners attach instant apps and games to ads

Snap wants its ads to open to something interesting rather than a boring mobile website. Today Snap announced 14 new ad Creative Partners that will help build custom games, interactive videos, gyroscope-powered epxeriences, lead generation campaigns, and pre-loaded Instant Apps as destinations for Snapchat ads. They’ll also help connect advertisers to influencers, despite Snapchat historically distancing itself from social stars.

Snapchat launched the Creative Partner program last year in lieu of an open developer platform. But now instead of focusing on building the visuals for “Top Snap” ads people see between Stories or Discover content, these new Creative Partners enhance the post-swipe-up experience on ads that load in Snapchat’s internal browser.

Snapchat has been working with partners to test new post-swipe functionality, such as this playable football game for Budweiser’s Super Bowl campaign this year, or this soccer game made for Addidas, via AdWeek SocialTimes

If Snapchat can make the post-swipe experience more enjoyable, it could train users to click its ads more instead of quickly skipping through them. Meanwhile, the experiences translate into longer time-on-site, engagement, and recall for advertisers since users can actually interact with the ad’s landing page.

Here’s the list of new partners and the functionality they’re providing to Snap’s advertising clients

  • Famous – Instant Apps pre-loaded in the web view for immediate interactive experiences
  • Adludio – Haptics and gyroscope-powered experiences
  • Jebbit – Lead generation campaigns with fillable forms
  • Ceros – Animations and interactive experiences
  • Undertone – Premium, classy ad design
  • Whalar – Matches brands with influencers
  • Flyr – Customized design templates
  • Wirewax – Interactive videos
  • Entrypoint – 360 videos
  • TreSensa – Custom games
  • GameCommerce – Branded game development platform
  • CrossInstall – Playable ads to drive game downloads
  • Popwallet – Mobile coupons
  • Slyce – Mobile coupons

Snapchat needs to reinvigorate its ad platform. Snap missed on earnings in Q2 when it pulled $181.6 million in revenue with a loss of -$0.16 earnings per share compared to Wall Street’s expectation of $185.8 million. Meanwhile, Snapchat’s growth has slowed significantly since the launch of clone Instagram Stories.

Snapchat can’t compete with the scale or targeting of competitors like Google and Facebook. But if it can make its ads the most enjoyable and memorable, it may be able to squeeze more revenue out of each of its users. Interactive ads are the best way to do that.