Snapchat is courting pharma marketers with a new ad format designed to support the disclosure needs of branded prescription drug campaigns.
Advertisers on Snapchat, a social media platform on which posts are only available for a short period of time, can add calls to action (CTAs) at the bottom of their posts. The CTAs allow advertisers to send users to websites and lead forms or direct them to install apps. Snapchat has adopted a multi-CTA model to help pharma marketers.
Using the new feature, advertisers can configure up to three disclaimer CTAs alongside a primary CTA. By supporting multiple CTAs, the platform could allow pharma companies to direct viewers to the primary brand destination while also linking to important information within the same ad. The ability to add up to three disclaimer CTAs supports linking to safety, patient and prescribing information.
Snapchat designed the feature to support compliant campaign setups across its various formats, namely Snap Ads, Story Ads, Commercials and, later this year, Sponsored Snaps. The feature means pharma advertisers face less limitations in the formats they can use and can scale campaigns across the platform, Snapchat said.
Marketers, social media platforms and regulators have grappled with how to disclose risk information in posts since the early years of social media. Responding to the rise of Twitter, now X, and search ads, the FDA published (PDF) draft guidance in 2014 on presenting risk and benefit information on platforms with character space limitations. Links to risk information formed part of the FDA’s proposal.
Snapchat had 493 million daily active users in the second quarter, up 5% year on year. The figure is small compared to social media giant Meta, which reported 3.6 billion logged-in users of Facebook, Instagram, Messenger or WhatsApp in June. But Snapchat offers access to large numbers of younger people, with most of its users being 18 to 34 years old.
Fierce Pharma’s news archive suggests pharma ad campaign announcements reference Meta platforms, primarily Facebook and Instagram, and TikTok more frequently than Snapchat. But Snapchat played a role in Eli Lilly’s recent campaign with WNBA star Caitlin Clark, with a national takeover of the platform forming part of the marketing drive.