Snapchat Ads Success Story: e.l.f. Cosmetics Drives More Traffic with Lower CPAs

Snapchat is proving to be an excellent advertising channel for eCommerce sellers. We recently saw that e.l.f. Cosmetics achieved some inspiring results with their Snapchat ad campaigns, so we wanted to share the news.

In case you’re not familiar with Snapchat’s audience, here’s some background info:

  • Snapchat reaches over 229 million daily users.
  • Millennials and Gen Z make up the bulk of Snapchat’s demographic—according to Snapchat, they reach 75% of the total 13 to 34 year-old US population.
  • Users on Snapchat are a unique audience. 27% are not on YouTube, 30% are not on Instagram, 33% are not on Facebook, 75% are not on Twitter, and 91% are not on TikTok in a given week but use Snapchat, according to Snapchat figures from 2019.

That last bit of data makes Snapchat a very intriguing frontier for digital marketers. The ability to reach a large audience that is very active on a platform is pretty valuable—especially when 49% of Snapchatters are impulse shoppers, according to a study from Murphy Research.

The Q1 2020 results from e.l.f. Cosmetics point to the value of advertising on Snapchat. By using Snap Ads, e.l.f. Cosmetics saw a 20% increase in site visits compared to Q4 2019, and a 39% increase in CPM efficiency over the same period of time.

Snap Ads offer campaigns for prospecting and retargeting; a comprehensive strategy includes the use of Snap Pixel to create personalized Dynamic Ads built from your product catalog. According to e.l.f. Cosmetics CMO, Kory Marchisotto, the use of Snap Ads and optimized Dynamic Ads “…led to significant drops in CPAs, one of our priority performance marketing objectives.”

We’re glad to see that Snapchat is yielding great returns for e.l.f. Cosmetics and other sellers. Typically, direct-to-consumer brands and retailers do well on Snapchat, especially in the fashion, beauty, and jewelry space. However, other verticals also find that they can achieve positive results with the right campaigns and optimized product data.

To learn about Snapchat and how it can work for you, sign up here.