Brief:

• Snap this week started offering software tools to help developers marketing their apps on photo-messaging platform Snapchat, as the social media company expands service for direct response advertising. The ad suite includes products to boost retention, lifetime value (LTV) and return on ad spend (ROAS), and will integrate Snapchat experiences into apps to keep users engaged, according to a Thursday announcement.
• Mobile games publisher Tamatem boosted LTV 50% for the launch of its "Fashion Queen" game using Snap's app ads products for re-engagement and user acquisition, according to a Snap case study. The company also now lets app marketers optimize for installs in campaigns using augmented reality (AR) lenses. Tophatter, a live auction shopping app, saw a 125% gain in ROAS by using Snap's new "minimum ROAS," a programmatic bid strategy to reach the highest-spending Snapchat users by setting a specific ROAS, per a case study.
• Snap's Creative Kit lets developers integrate the image-messaging platform into apps so users can share digital content including AR experiences, filters, GIFs, lenses and videos to Snapchat's camera or preview screen. The Login Kit gives developers a way to let users sign into their apps with Snapchat credentials and support Bitmoji avatars across channels, further reducing friction among users.

Insight:

Snap's expanded ad suite aims to help app marketers engage with users on the image-messaging platform, which has a daily user base of 249 million people worldwide and has seen increased usage during the pandemic. With 1.8 million apps in Apple's App Store and an estimated 2.9 million in the Google Play store, Snapchat is giving app marketers more ways to stand out amid the clutter and re-engage their existing users. In the U.S., Snapchat reaches more than 75% of people ages 13 to 34, a desirable target audience for many app marketers.

App install advertising had been forecast to jump 32% to $76.2 billion worldwide this year, reaching $118.4 billion by 2022, AppsFlyer estimated before the pandemic triggered higher usage of mobile devices. The mobile attribution and marketing analytics firm later said that more than half (54%) of app marketers planned to boost their user acquisition campaigns this year, with 41% saying they would increase their reach and demographics.

Snap isn't alone in seeking a bigger share of app marketers' spending. Twitter last week introduced a carousel advertising format that lets mobile users swipe horizontally to open an app or website. App carousel ads boosted installs per impression an average of 24% compared with single-asset formats, Twitter found in tests. The company also decided to delay the release of its revamped Mobile Application Promotion (MAP) until next year, when it expects to integrate new industry-standard mobile privacy requirements.

On a more technical level, Google this week announced developers must use the Android App Bundle format for all apps distributed through its Google Play online store starting in August. The company seeks to cut the size of apps, making them easier for users to download and install. More than 750,000 apps and games already use app bundles on Google Play, with top apps cutting the average size by 15% compared with a universal Android package (APK) file format. Developers such as Netflix have seen higher install success rates with the bundle format, Google said in a blog post.

For Snap, the expanded ad suite for app marketers comes as the company sees higher growth from direct response advertising. The company continues to offer more support for direct response advertisers and develop new user experiences. With more people upgrading to 5G smartphones, Snap and wireless carrier Verizon this week began to showcase the advanced capabilities of higher-speed cellular networks with a virtual concert by Black Pumas singer Eric Burton in New York. The activation marked several firsts — the first 5G Landmarker Lens for geotargeted AR, first full song to be used in a Snapchat Lens and first 3D Bitmoji music performance — as the company works to keep people engaged with the social app.