min read

November 20, 2025

Driving Lower-Funnel Results with Sponsored Snaps and Smartly

KEY FINDINGS:

Learn how Smartly’s automation and Predictive Budget Allocation help brands scale Sponsored Snaps on Snapchat, turning chats into conversions.

Snapchat’s chat feed has become the new home for full-funnel advertising. With Sponsored Snaps, brands can now appear where real conversations happen, turning authentic moments into opportunities for meaningful engagement. Sponsored Snaps allow you to reach a previously untapped audience, opening a large pool of Snapchatters who convert on ads.

As the first Campaign Management Partner to support Sponsored Snaps via API, Smartly empowers advertisers to activate, automate, and optimize Snapchat campaigns directly within its platform. From setup to creative scaling to performance optimization, Smartly makes it easy to launch Sponsored Snaps that drive real results, faster.

The Smartly Advantage for Snapchat

Running Snapchat campaigns in isolation means missing the bigger picture. Smartly brings Snapchat into the same unified workflow as Meta, TikTok, YouTube, and other key platforms, so you can plan, publish, and optimize campaigns across every major channel in one place.

With Smartly, advertisers can:

Manage the full Snap setup with streamlined workflows and feed-based automation
Build and manage your Snap catalog within Smartly to power dynamic product ads (DPAs)
Elevate creative production with scalable templates and AI-powered tools
Automatically optimize performance across channels with Predictive Budget Allocation (PBA)
Automate adjustments using custom triggers based on performance data

This cross-channel visibility ensures your Snapchat campaigns stay aligned with your broader media strategy, without the manual work.

Snap for Lower Funnel

Snapchat has evolved from a top-funnel engagement platform into a full-funnel channel where brands can build awareness, drive consideration, and deliver measurable results. With Smartly, advertisers can seamlessly activate both brand and performance strategies, scaling product-level video ads, optimizing catalog-driven campaigns, and retargeting high-intent audiences with impact.

Here’s how Smartly unlocks Snap’s full lower-funnel potential:

Dynamic Product Ads (DPAs): Connect your Snap catalog in Smartly to deliver personalized product ads automatically.
Automated Creative Production: Use Smartly’s video templates to transform static catalog assets into scroll-stopping creative variations.
Optimized Performance: Apply Predictive Budget Allocation (xPBA) across Snap and other platforms to automatically reinvest in what performs best.
Smarter Triggers: Automate optimizations such as pausing underperforming ads or scaling high-performing campaigns based on real-time data.

Together, these features help performance marketers make Snapchat an integral part of their conversion-driven strategy.

Inside Sponsored Snaps: A New Era of Snapchat Advertising

Sponsored Snaps redefine how brands show up on Snapchat by placing ads directly into the Chat tab, the app’s most-used feature, with 80% of Snapchatters engaging there regularly. Instead of being limited to Stories or the Discover Feed, Sponsored Snaps appear in the chat feed, feeling like organic interactions with friends and driving incremental reach.

Once opened, these ads deliver a full-screen experience, and brands can optionally enable a chat response for a richer interaction directly in Smartly. Sponsored Snaps support both upper- and lower-funnel objectives (e.g., purchases or app installs) and awareness-driven campaigns.

The result: ads that feel conversational, personal, and naturally integrated into the way people already use Snapchat.

Personalized Chat Feed Ads

Sponsored Snaps are designed to feel natural within the chat feed. Each appears in a Snapchatter’s chat feed, just like a message from a friend, and opens to a full-screen video or image. Brands can:

Tailor the Snap with video and image templates
Adjust chat background and visuals
Customize the first message text for a more personal introduction
Send an auto-reply to engaged Snapchatters

This setup creates an entirely new ad experience that drives engagement without disrupting the flow of conversation.

Supercharged by Smartly’s Creative Automation

With Smartly’s image and video templates, brands can generate Sponsored Snaps faster and at scale. Creative automation supports personalized variations, making it easy to adapt assets for Snapchat’s vertical format and conversational context.

How Do Snapchatters Engage?

According to Kantar research (2025), Sponsored Snaps drive 2.3X higher unaided brand awareness and 1.8X higher purchase intent than competitor in-feed formats when opened. They’re also 87% more likely to feel relevant and 85% more likely to fit naturally into Snapchatters’ habits.

Pro tip: Test “treat yourself” or conversational messages ahead of key retail moments like Black Friday or Singles Day to capture early engagement.

Lower-Funnel Best Practices for Sponsored Snaps

Smartly makes it easy to optimize Sponsored Snaps for conversions. To maximize lower-funnel performance, apply these best practices:

1. Define your optimization goal and window.

Select conversion-focused goals such as purchases or app installs, and define the attribution window that best matches your sales cycle.

2. Elevate creative with Smartly templates.

Use Smartly’s video and image templates to produce on-brand Sponsored Snaps that drive engagement. Consistent visual identity builds trust—and conversions.

3. Automate adjustments and scale what works.

Set Triggers that automatically adjust your campaigns-like change budgets, bids or status-based on performance, so your campaigns are always optimized for maximum results.

4. Leverage Predictive Budget Allocation (xPBA).

Optimize your budgets in real time. With Smartly’s cross-channel intelligence, you can automatically reinvest spend into the highest-performing Snapchat campaigns for maximum ROI.

5. Test Sponsored Snaps with Impressions-bidded campaigns to complement lower funnel strategy.

Target the Chat Feed exclusively with upper funnel campaigns to maximize reach and CPM efficiency.

Ready to Power Your Sponsored Snaps with Smartly?

Sponsored Snaps bring your brand into the heart of conversation. Smartly makes it simple to launch them intelligently, combining automation, personalization, and performance under one roof.

Book a demo to see how Smartly can help you activate Sponsored Snaps and power better results across the funnel.