Snapchat is a key connective platform for many young users, with almost a billion people logging into the platform every month.
What began as a tool for sharing risqué images and messages has grown into a serious contender in the social media space. While it has lost some growth momentum, it still outpaces many apps in terms of attention and engagement.
But Snapchat’s more privacy-focused approach can also make it difficult for marketers to penetrate. Brand messaging can fall flat and feel disruptive within the Snapchat stream.
Snapchat is working to address this with a range of new ad options, but if brands are looking to build a presence in the app, they need to do their research first.
Here are four tips to help marketers make the most of Snapchat in 2026.
1. Research the competition
Snapchat doesn’t have a comprehensive library or public trends tool, so research on the platform is a more manual process. Marketers should try to combine in-app exploration with Snapchat’s official business resources.
Marketers can search in the app for topic keywords, brand names, and creators in order to get a sense of which profiles, content styles, and Lenses are resonating with Snapchatters.
A deeper dive into the results and related profiles can provide useful insight into what’s connecting with the Snap audience. In addition, the Snap Map can also offer context around relevant locations, stores, and local trends.
Snapchat also provides a range of business resources, including guides, case studies, measurement materials, webinars, and training content, to help marketers better understand how to make best use of the platform’s brand and advertising tools. The platform also offers a general overview of ad case studies and marketers can visit its Snap Focus education platform to learn more about its brand tools.
2. Formulate a brand persona and strategy
Using the insights gleaned from initial research, marketers can establish what’s working and what would work best for their brand in Snapchat context.
That is likely to be different than it is other platforms because some styles of voice and video presentation stand out to Snapchat users more than others.
Brands should work to establish what other successful brands in their niche are posting and how they’re posting, and work backwards from that to consider what their guiding persona would be.
Snapchat does provide a range of campaign case studies to highlight successful Snapchat ad approaches. The company also has new AI-powered capabilities that include campaign setup and optimization, creative development, shopping, creator partnerships and conversational experiences.
3. Create a public profile
A public profile for brands is a must, as it will enable all Snapchat users to find and view brand content in the app.
Snapchat describes its public profiles as a brand's permanent storefront, and marketers can use this as a means to showcase products and services. Brands should set up their Snapchat profile to align with audience expectations.
The company also announced a Snap Creator Network launching later this year. The AI-powered system aims to simplify creator discovery and campaign activation, and help brands find the right partners. Marketers will be able to describe the creators they’re looking for — including audience, tone, category and campaign goals — and AI can help find creators that fit their audience and campaign needs.
4. Analyze and Improve
With an organic strategy in place, brands on Snapchat can utilize the audience insights element within the settings for public profiles to tap into what’s working, and discard what’s not. For seasonal campaigns in particular, such as upcoming holiday promotions, the company recommends that brands plan early.
Snapchat offers a range of promotional tools, and it may be worth boosting some initial updates to boost brand awareness in the app. Snapchat also recently added a conversational assistant within its ad platform to help guide strategic ad approaches.
Marketing on Snapchat requires a more dedicated, unique approach, given the varying way that people use the app for connection. However, the key is understanding how brands are using the app and how that relates to success.
