How Snapchat counts results
A Snapchat recap shows what Snapchat credits to its own ads, using its own attribution rule. Results can be credited to people who swiped or tapped on an ad, and to people who only saw it. A view-through conversion is the second kind. The recap often blends them, so ask for a split.
Snapchat reports also lean on reach, impressions and swipe rate. Those tell you how many people saw the ad and how many acted on it right away. They aren’t results. Before you compare them with other channels, read up on reach vs. impressions: impressions count repeats, reach counts people.
And find the window in the report. It decides how many days after a view or swipe a result still counts.
Where results get counted twice
- The same young audience everywhere. Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram often reach the same people in the same week. Each platform can credit itself with the same buyer.
- Views on fast content. Snaps are quick and seen often. A view rule can credit Snapchat with results that happened for other reasons.
- Codes and links. If a creator promotes you on Snapchat with a code, and the code spreads, your creator report and your paid-media report may both count the use.
- Lenses and filters. Branded lenses get lots of plays. Plays are a reach number. Ask how any results tied to them were counted.
The way to see it is to stop reading each platform’s report on its own. Put Snapchat’s, TikTok’s and Meta’s reported results for the same month side by side, add them up and compare the total with your own numbers. If the three together report more than you had, the overlap is real. Then the question becomes which platform reached people the others missed, and a test can answer that.
It also helps to look at timing. If Snapchat’s reported results rise and fall with your TikTok flights, the two are probably reaching the same people.
A checklist for your next Snapchat recap
| Look at | What to look for | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Swipes vs. views | Results split by swipe and by view | Shows how much rests on views |
| Window | Days after a view or swipe a result counts | Longer windows reach further back |
| Reach | Different people reached | Impressions count repeats |
| Overlap | Snapchat’s results plus TikTok’s and Meta’s | Same audience, counted several times |
| Lenses | How results from lenses were counted | Plays aren’t results |
Questions worth asking
Ask them of whoever runs the account, in-house or a partner.
- How many results came from swipes, and how many from views alone?
- What window does this report use?
- How many different people did the campaign reach, and how often did each see it?
- Do any of these results also show up in our TikTok or Meta reports?
- How were results from lenses or filters counted, if at all?
They’re the same questions you’d ask about any platform, and most can be answered from the account in a day.
If Snapchat is a smaller line in your budget, these questions still matter. A small budget can still get credit for a large share of results, and that’s when lining it up with your own numbers helps most.
Share the count with whoever buys your media. Most media buyers want to know which platforms are earning their place, and one shared count gives them a better brief.
What a regions-on, regions-off test looks like on Snapchat
Snapchat ads can be targeted by location, so the test is the same idea as anywhere else. Pick regions that look alike. Run Snapchat ads in some and pause them in others for a few weeks. Compare sales in your own numbers. That’s a regions-on, regions-off test, also called a holdout test.
Because Snapchat overlaps so much with TikTok and Instagram, keep those steady in both groups during the test. If they shift at the same time, you won’t know which one moved results.
If the regions without Snapchat look the same as the ones with it, Snapchat was mostly reaching people other channels already had. If they fall behind, you’ve found what Snapchat adds. Our guide to incrementality walks through how to set it up.
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