The new advertising solution is called Promoted Places and is currently available as a beta version for the Nordic market. In practice, it works by marking sponsored locations on the platform's map. When a user taps the icon, more information is displayed.
Consumers can see everything from current opening hours to how many people are currently visiting the location. The platform also incorporates moving material where the company itself or other app users share videos linked to the business. For e-commerce and retail companies, the central function is the ability to link directly from the map to an external website, where the customer can then easily complete an order.
A New Sales Window on Mobile
According to the social media platform, its own map, Snap Map, is the second largest map service in the world after Google Maps, with over 435 million users globally each month. So the new function should open up opportunities for e-commerce companies and brands to position themselves in an environment primarily used for social navigation, rather than regular searches.
The launch is part of Snap's stated focus on retail in the Nordics:
Snapchat has over 4 million users per month in Sweden and Promoted Places opens up a whole new way for advertisers to reach people via Snap Map. By integrating brands into a natural and map-based experience, we can help businesses increase their local visibility, inspire visits and create more meaningful relationships with people as they plan where to go next, says Per Christian Strand Teslo, Sales Manager at Snap Inc. in Sweden.