Snap’s Inbox Ads are a Risky Bet for the App

Yeah, I’m not sure that Snapchat’s new inbox DM ads, which it’s calling “Sponsored Snaps”, are going to go down so well with Snap users.

Because as I’ve noted previously, the Snap inbox is one of the most intimate connection surfaces in all of social media, due to the privacy and protection of self-erasing Snaps, and the fact that Snapchat is not popular with adults (i.e. parents, relatives, etc.)

That makes the Snap inbox particularly sacred for younger audiences, which is the majority of Snap’s user base. And that’s why I’d be concerned about the potential negative impacts of feeding ads into this element.

And this is an example of why it could be problematic:

As you can see in this example, shared by @c0up), at the moment, most Snap users are seeing the first three slots of their inbox occupied by things that are not DMs from their friends.

The slots here are:

A promotion for Snapchat+
Connection to Snap’s “My AI” chatbot
A promotion for “Moana 2” (via Snap’s ad partnership with Disney)

It’s worth noting also that the Snap app displays nine inbox slots, in total, on screen. That means that a third of your Snap inbox is currently occupied with Snap’s own promotions and features.

That seems like a significant impact. And while Snap has only just started experimenting with Sponsored Snaps, with selected ad partners, I can imagine that many of the app’s 443 million daily actives around going to be annoyed by the encroaching amount of promo content appearing within this feed.

Yet, at the same time, it’s understandable that Snap wants to try these out. A heap of in-app activity is conducted within the inbox feed, and DMs, in general, are more responsive, and harder to ignore. As such, I can imagine that a lot of marketers will be keen to get their promos into this feed, and Snapchat needs to maximize its ad opportunities, particularly because it’s not growing in its key revenue markets (North America and Europe).

As such, making more money out of these audiences is key. But I’m just not sure that this is the best way for Snap to go to about it.

Still, this is just an experiment, and Snap may well reverse course on these promotions, and leave the inbox as it is. But even if it does, the fact that it’s taking this risk is worth noting, as Snap continues to seek more ways to squeeze ad dollars from the app.