Snapchat ad formats compared: Single Image or Video, Story, Collection and Lead Gen

The main formats and what they do

Single Image or Video is the simplest format: one full-screen vertical image or video, with a headline, brand name and a button. In the Marketing API this is a top snap with an attachment, most often a web view that opens your page when the viewer swipes up. It fits traffic, sign-up and sales goals, and it is the format with the lowest production cost.

A Story ad is a set of several snaps shown as a tile and opened by the viewer. The API describes it as a composite of 1 to 20 creatives with a preview thumbnail. It suits explaining something in steps, such as how a job works or how a service is delivered, but you must produce a series of frames, not a single clip.

A Collection ad adds tappable items to the main video, such as products with their own links, so the viewer can choose. It fits shops with a catalog. Note that a collection creative does not use a single button; the interaction zones carry their own headlines.

A Lead Gen ad opens a form inside Snapchat, with call-to-action choices such as Apply Now, Book Now or Sign Up, so the person does not need to load your website. It suits contacts and applications where a mobile page is slow or hard to fill in. There are also formats that call a number, send a message or open an app; use them only if you can handle the response.

Choose in this order: the action you want, then the creative you can produce well, then the tracking you can verify. A business with one good vertical video and a working landing page should start with Single Video and a web view.

Why the choice matters

• Production effort matches the goal, so you do not film a series for a one-click offer.
• The format agrees with the tracking you have: a form inside Snapchat is counted differently from a visit to your site.
• A small number of formats makes tests readable.

Choose a format in five steps

1. Write the action you want a viewer to take, in a few words.
2. List the creative you can produce this month: one video, several frames, a product catalog.
3. Match the action and creative to a format using the comparison above.
4. Check that you can measure the outcome for that format with a form report or the pixel.
5. Start with one format, and add a second only after the first has produced a result.

Good to know

Sources and further reading

• Snap Marketing API: creatives
• Snapchat for Business: advertising