Why Sephora is betting on Snapchat to boost app downloads during the holidays

Dive Brief:

Cosmetics retailer Sephora used Black Friday deals to drive app downloads this week through a Snapchat advertising campaign.
Snapchat users were shown sneak peeks of Black Friday deals, but had to either have the Sephora app installed or download the app in order to see the entire deal.
Target is another retailer taking advantage of Snapchat for holiday marketing with daily holiday geofilters running through Christmas.

Dive Insight:

Cosmetics company Sephora is betting on Snapchat this holiday season, but it isn't the only retailer relying on the messaging app to help it raise its flag among Snapchat's millennial-heavy audience. Sephora's strategy calls on users to download its app if they want get a full look at Black Friday deals this week.

David Naumann, director of marketing at Boston Retail Partners, told Mobile Marketer, “The success of a mobile app depends on the retailer’s ability to inspire its customers to take the first step to download the app. While there is no surefire approach to get consumers to download apps, Sephora is clever to leverage other social media platforms like Snapchat to promote the benefits of the app.”

The campaign was built around a Snapchat Story that told viewers Sephora loves its followers, teased them with images of products that are set to be part of its Black Friday promotions, and ends with a call-to-action to download the app in order to see the rest of limited time beauty deals.

"Black Friday is an uber-promoted shopping day and it is challenging for retailers to get noticed among the flurry of promotional campaigns ... and social media is a cost-effective way to deliver a message that has the potential to spread virally across the networks of their loyal fans," Naumann told Mobile Marketer.

Snapchat looks to be a popular social media platform for holiday marketing now that it’s rolled out a number of ad products, such as audience bundles. The ephemeral messaging app also boasts a very engaged, and desirable, user base of millennials. In addition, it recetly reached six billion daily video views, narrowing in on Facebook's eight billion.

Big box retailer Target is tapping Snapchat for its holiday marketing for the first time this year to go along with a social strategy that includes Facebook and Instagram and a 30% lift in budget.