How a Digital Advertising Agency Can Use Snapchat to Capture Mid-Funnel Intent

For a long time, Snapchat was treated as a branding channel or ignored entirely. It sat in the same mental bucket as awareness-heavy social platforms: good for impressions, questionable for intent.

That assumption is quietly breaking.

Over the last 18 to 24 months, Snapchat has shifted how users behave, how ads are served, and where it fits in the customer journey. It has not done this loudly. There was no major rebrand, no dramatic announcement. But for e-commerce and DTC brands paying attention, Snapchat has become one of the more effective mid-funnel environments available right now.

For a performance-led digital advertising agency, this matters far more than platform hype. It changes how budgets should be structured and where incremental conversions can be found.

Why Snapchat Is No Longer Just an Awareness Channel

Snapchat’s evolution has been driven less by ad features and more by how people actually use the platform today.

The average Snapchat user now spends over 30 minutes per day in the app, often across multiple short sessions

Those sessions are not passive scrolling. They are intentional, repetitive, and habit-based. Users open Snapchat to check updates, messages, and Stories from accounts they already follow. This is important because intent in digital advertising does not only come from search behaviour. It also comes from contextual readiness.

Snapchat users are not discovering brands for the first time as often. They are being reminded, reassured, and nudged closer to action. That is textbook mid-funnel behaviour.

This shift is why brands running Snapchat as a pure reach play are often disappointed, while brands treating it as a consideration and retargeting layer see disproportionate returns.

Where Snapchat Sits in the Funnel Today

Snapchat performs best when it is not asked to do everything.

It struggles as a cold, broad acquisition engine unless creative and offer alignment are exceptional. But when layered correctly between awareness and conversion, it fills a gap many other platforms miss.

A simplified view of Snapchat’s strongest role looks like this:

• Reinforcing brand recall after first touchpoints
• Educating users who already know the brand
• Re-engaging site visitors who did not convert
• Supporting time-sensitive offers and drops

This is especially powerful for DTC brands with visually demonstrable products, short buying cycles, or repeat purchase behaviour.

Snapchat’s own data shows that users exposed to ads on the platform are 34 percent more likely to purchase compared to those not exposed

Why E-commerce and DTC Brands Are Seeing Results

What makes Snapchat effective mid-funnel is not targeting precision alone. It is the environment.

Unlike feeds that mix news, debate, and long-form content, Snapchat is fast, vertical, and interruption-friendly. Ads feel closer to native content, which lowers resistance. When users already recognise the brand, this environment becomes an advantage rather than a risk.

For e-commerce and DTC brands, this creates a unique opportunity:

• Product education without long explanations
• Social proof through creator-style formats
• Visual reinforcement of value propositions

Snapchat ads also benefit from lower creative fatigue compared to Meta platforms. Many brands see stronger performance simply because users are less saturated with similar ad formats.

According to Snap and MediaScience, Snapchat ads deliver 1.7x higher brand lift and stronger incremental conversions when used alongside other paid social platform

How a Digital Advertising Agency Should Structure Snapchat Campaigns

The mistake many teams make is running Snapchat in isolation. Its strength is unlocked when it is connected to the wider paid media ecosystem.

A digital advertising agency should treat Snapchat as a supporting decision channel, not a standalone hero. That means clear audience logic, clear measurement expectations, and realistic attribution models.

Effective Snapchat mid-funnel setups usually include:

• Retargeting site visitors from the last 7 to 30 days
• Engaging video viewers from Meta or YouTube
• Reaching previous purchasers with new offers
• Supporting launches that already have demand

This is one of the few places where frequency actually works in your favour. Snapchat users tolerate repetition better when the message evolves slightly each time.

Measurement: What to Watch and What to Ignore

Snapchat will not always win last-click attribution. That does not mean it is underperforming.

Mid-funnel channels influence decisions that happen later. Judging them purely on direct ROAS often leads to premature budget cuts.

Instead, measurement should focus on:

• Lift in branded search volume
• Assisted conversions in analytics platforms
• Conversion rate improvements in downstream channels

Snapchat reports that advertisers who evaluate performance using multi-touch attribution models see up to 20 percent higher perceived ROI compared to last-click reporting.

This is where many teams go wrong. They expect Snapchat to behave like Google Search. It never will. Its value lies in accelerating decisions that were already forming.

The Opportunity Is in the Middle

Snapchat’s comeback is not about chasing a new shiny platform. It is about recognising where user behaviour has quietly shifted.

For e-commerce and DTC brands, the mid-funnel is often the most neglected stage. Too much spend goes into awareness, too much pressure is put on bottom-funnel ads, and consideration is left under-supported.

A smart digital advertising agency, such as PopUp Teams, understands that growth does not come from forcing conversions earlier. It comes from guiding users more confidently toward them.

Snapchat is doing that quietly, efficiently, and at a lower cost than many brands expect. The ones paying attention now are building an edge that will be much harder to replicate later.