With the U.S. midterm elections coming up in November, Snapchat has made its pitch for political ad spend with the release of a new report into civic engagement in the app, and how Snapchat users are influenced in their voting decisions.
The study is based on a survey of more than 1,000 Snapchat users aged between 18 and 45, which was conducted by Alter Agents earlier this year.
The response data shows that Snapchat users are increasingly interested in civic participation, and are more likely to respond to in-app outreach based on causes.
As per Snap: “In a complex political landscape, Snapchatters are uniquely open-minded in their political approach, seeking out viewpoints before choosing how to vote and open to changing their positions.”
Snapchat users are very politically active, with 78% planning to vote in the upcoming midterm elections, per the report. That makes Snapchat users 1.2 times more likely to vote than non-users.
Snapchat users also rely on digital ads to learn about candidates and their stances, with 80% of respondents indicating that political promotions have introduced them to candidates and causes that they didn’t know about. Another 74% indicated that they’re more likely to look up candidates after seeing ads on the platform.
Additional data notes include:
- Sixty-six percent of Snapchatters actively discover information about political and social issues through direct conversations within those close circles.
- Sixty-four percent of Snapchatters trust direct peer and community perspectives more than traditional news networks.
- Eighty-three percent of Snapchatters reported they’re likely to pay attention to ads regarding social causes, candidates or voter initiatives, which is 1.4 times higher than non-Snapchatters.
Civic participation has been a focus for Snapchat for some time, with the platform previously contributing to various outreach efforts that encouraged people to participate in elections
In 2018, Snapchat said it directly drove more than 450,000 people to register to vote. Meanwhile in 2020, that number increased to 1.2 million due to in-app prompts and nudges designed to encourage voter participation.
The capacity to reach younger, often first-time voters via a platform they trust can clearly help to boost civic engagement. That’s how Snapchat can play a valuable role in the process, and these data notes further underline the platform’s potential to assist in political outreach.
