Snapchat for Business Review: Everything you need to know

Snapchat For Business Review: This question frequently arises among marketing professionals seeking to authentically reach a Gen Z audience.

With over 477 million daily active users by 2025 and a reach of 90% of 13-24-year-olds in over 25 countries, Snapchat is establishing itself as an essential platform for brands targeting young consumers. The platform allows content to be made public, reaching a wide young audience, which maximizes campaign visibility.

‍

But between marketing promises and real-world results, what do businesses that use it really think? It's worth noting that some professionals have been using Snapchat for over a year, which enhances the relevance of their feedback.

This guide provides an in-depth analysis of user feedback, advertising performance, actual costs, and cases where Snapchat Ads Manager is a genuine asset for your digital strategy.

What is Snapchat For Business?

Snapchat For Business is Snapchat's professional advertising platform, enabling businesses to create, manage, and optimize their Snapchat advertising campaigns.

It stands out with its “camera-first” approach: the app opens directly to the camera, making augmented reality ads particularly natural.

The platform offers several essential tools for advertisers. The Snapchat Ads Manager centralizes campaign creation, audience targeting, and tracking of advertising metrics. When setting up your business account, you must enter and verify an email address, a crucial step for communication and account security.

The Snap Pixel and the conversions API (CAPI) allow precise conversion tracking to measure your return on investment.

Available Advertising Formats

Advantages of Snapchat For Business According to Users

Verified reviews on G2, Capterra, and GetApp reveal several unanimously recognized strengths by professionals using the platform daily.

An Ultra-Engaged Young Audience

The major asset remains the privileged access to Generation Z. Snapchat reaches 75% of 13-34-year-olds in over 25 countries. The stories feature, which allows sharing temporary content that disappears after 24 hours, significantly contributes to the engagement of this young audience. Users open the app nearly 40 times a day, creating multiple and qualified contact opportunities.

Native and Immersive Formats

The interactive formats are the second major advantage. AR Lenses generate attention 4 times higher than traditional advertising benchmarks according to a Dentsu study. Users interact with a brand filter for an average of 30 seconds, compared to 2 seconds for a standard video ad.

This user immersion translates into tangible results. McDonald's achieved a 2.75% share rate on its gamified McPlant Lens, with an average playtime of 21 seconds. Starling Bank reduced its cost per installation by 61% compared to other tested platforms.

An Accessible Entry Cost

Contrary to popular belief, Snapchat Ads remains accessible to small budgets. The daily minimum is just €5, allowing for platform testing without massive commitment. However, Snapchat recommends a budget of €20 to €50 per day to quickly exit the algorithmic exploration phase.

Disadvantages and Limitations Identified by Professionals

Objectivity requires examining the recurring criticisms in user reviews.

Measuring ROI Remains Complex

A user on Capterra aptly summarizes this challenge: "Honestly, measuring the return on investment of Snapchat ads can be quite difficult." The ephemeral nature of content and specific user behaviors complicate conversion tracking and sales attribution.

Data from Gupta Media confirms this reality: during Black Friday 2024, Meta generated 13 times more conversions than Snapchat with comparable investment. This difference is due to the maturity of Meta's tracking tools and Snapchat's natural positioning, which is more focused on awareness than direct conversion.

A Limited Audience Beyond 35 Years Old

If your main target is over 34, Snapchat For Business loses relevance. Only 18% of users are over 35, compared to almost universal coverage on Facebook or Instagram. This structural limitation excludes certain B2B sectors or products aimed at seniors by default.

High Creative Demand

The creative content must absolutely adhere to the platform's native codes. A GetApp review highlights: "Ads that resemble organic content generate 2 to 3 times more engagement than overly polished productions." This mobile-first authenticity requires specific creative resources, potentially more costly in production.

Is Snapchat for Business Suitable for Your Company?

Snapchat is rarely the best “default” choice. It becomes excellent if you check at least 2–3 boxes:

• You sell to an audience 13–34 (or “young at heart,” impulsive buying, trends).
• You can produce simple UGC videos (phone, facecam, product demo).
• You have a clear funnel: Swipe Up / landing / offer (or Lead Gen).
• You accept a testing phase where the CPA fluctuates initially.

Snapchat is rarely the best “default” choice. It becomes excellent if you check at least 2–3 boxes:

• You sell to an audience 13–34 (or “young at heart,” impulsive buying, trends).
• You can produce simple UGC videos (phone, facecam, product demo).
• You have a clear funnel: Swipe Up / landing / offer (or Lead Gen).
• You accept a testing phase where the CPA fluctuates initially.

Costs and Pricing: What to Expect?

Advertising metrics are constantly evolving, but here are the updated benchmarks to plan your marketing budget.

CPM and Average Costs

The average CPM on Snapchat ranges from €6.43 to €8.85 depending on the periods. In January 2025, Gupta Media reported a CPM of €6.72 with a cost per click of €1.04. These rates position Snapchat above TikTok (around €6) but below Facebook (average €14.40).

Seasonality strongly impacts costs. Q4 (November-December) sees CPMs jump by 40 to 80% due to Black Friday and the holidays. Conversely, summer offers rates 15 to 25% lower than the annual average.

Premium Formats: Specific Investments

Sponsored Lenses require a significant investment for national campaigns. Packages range from €450,000 to €700,000 depending on the broadcast days. However, the free Lens Web Builder now allows the creation of simple AR experiences in less than 10 minutes, democratizing access to this format.

Geolocated Filter Ads remain more accessible, with prices starting around a few hundred euros for targeted areas during local events.

Results: What Performance to Expect?

Sector benchmarks help set realistic goals for your Snapchat advertising campaigns.

E-commerce and Conversions

Brands using the Snap Pixel combined with the conversions API observe significant improvements:

• +22% in attributed purchases,
• +25% in average cart value
• -18% in cost per sale.
• The average ROAS in cold acquisition reaches 2-3x, climbing to 4-6x in retargeting.

Awareness and Engagement

Snapchat truly excels in branding objectives. More than 55% of users report sharing an ad seen on Snapchat.

AR Lenses generate brand recall 1.3 times higher than other digital channels.

KFC illustrates this effectiveness with its geolocated Chain Filters: 4.5 million views, 180,000 uses, and an 18% increase in restaurant visits, for a cost per visit of only €0.21.

Comparison: Snapchat vs Advertising Alternatives

Positioning Snapchat For Business against its direct competitors sheds light on strategic choices.

To maximize lead generation via Snapchat, it is essential to have an optimized website that facilitates lead collection and conversion of traffic from advertising campaigns.

TikTok requires specific native creatives to perform, increasing production costs. Snapchat more readily accepts content from other platforms.

Tips to Maximize Your Performance

Best practices from case studies and field feedback allow you to optimize your branding campaigns and acquisition.

Thanks to certain Snapchat features, it is possible to enhance user engagement and facilitate their conversion, strengthening the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns on the platform.

Creatives: The Golden Rules

Capture attention in the first 2-3 seconds: 60% of users decide to continue or skip within this timeframe. Favor the native vertical 9:16 format shot on a smartphone for an authentic look.

Structure your Snap Ads for e-commerce as follows: relatable problem (seconds 1-2), product in action (3-5), benefit + social proof (6-8), CTA with offer (9-10). Refresh your visuals every 5-7 days to avoid ad fatigue.

Targeting and Optimization

Audiences of 50,000 to 500,000 users offer the optimal balance between reach and relevance in France.

It is imperative to install the Snap Pixel and the conversions API to improve ad optimization algorithmically.

Advertisers who improved their Event Quality Score from "Poor" to "Good" saw +26% ROAS and -49% CPI. Use Snap Audience Match to target your existing customers and create Lookalike audiences for acquisition.

Critical Review: Our Objective Verdict

Snapchat for Business can be an excellent advertising lever when you play by the rules: vertical creative, simple angles, rapid iterations, and solid tracking. User feedback is generally positive on accessibility and interest in reaching a young audience, but limitations often resurface: changing interface, performance heavily dependent on content, and the need for a serious technical setup.

If your marketing budget is tight, start small… but not too small: the goal is to gather enough signals to make a decision without deceiving yourself.