Snapchat Study: Video ads deliver 24% higher long-term sales lift than other non-skippable formats

Snapchat has released new research highlighting the performance of its video advertising products, claiming that its Commercials format delivers stronger long-term sales outcomes than comparable non-skippable video ads on other platforms.

The findings come from a study conducted with Dentsu, incorporating attention data from Lumen Research and brand measurement frameworks from Kantar. The research examined how video advertising on Snapchat influences consumer attention, brand impact, and purchasing behavior over time.

According to the study, Snapchat Commercials generated a 24% greater long-term sales effect compared with other non-skippable video formats included in the analysis. Snapchat also reported that a single exposure to a Commercial resulted in a 4.4% increase in spending during the following three months and a 2.3% increase in spending over a three-year period.

The company attributes these results to the attention levels generated by its video advertising environment. Snapchat said users exposed to Commercials demonstrated stronger attention metrics and improved brand recall, factors that the company believes contribute to stronger long-term business outcomes for advertisers.

The research also focused on cost efficiency. According to Snapchat, Commercials delivered a lower cost per thousand impressions (CPM) than comparable video advertising formats, potentially allowing brands to achieve broader reach while maintaining campaign efficiency.

The findings arrive as advertisers continue to evaluate how attention translates into measurable business performance. While metrics such as clicks, views, and engagement remain widely used, marketers are increasingly looking at longer-term indicators such as brand equity, customer retention, and incremental sales when assessing campaign effectiveness.

Video remains one of the largest segments of digital advertising spending, with brands allocating growing portions of their marketing budgets to short-form and full-screen video experiences across social platforms. As competition for advertising budgets intensifies, platforms are increasingly using third-party research to demonstrate the impact of their advertising products on business outcomes rather than engagement metrics alone.

For Snapchat, the latest study supports its broader efforts to position video advertising as both a branding and performance marketing channel. The company has continued to expand its measurement capabilities, offering advertisers additional tools to track campaign effectiveness and connect ad exposure with sales-related outcomes.

While the research was commissioned by Snapchat and focuses specifically on its advertising ecosystem, the findings contribute to a broader industry discussion around attention-based advertising and the growing importance of measuring long-term impact in digital marketing campaigns.