With 100 million active daily users, the overwhelming majority of whom are between 13-34, Snapchat is potentially lucrative for advertisers and brands. But what are the specific advantages of advertising on Snapchat, and how is it best done?

The benefit of advertising on Snapchat, according to its founder Evan Spiegel, is that content is presented vertically and fills up the entire screen of a user’s phone. Snapchat claims that the completion rate of their vertical ads is nine times higher than horizontally oriented ads seen elsewhere on mobile phones.

Combined with this high completion rate is excellent user feedback. Snapchat reported that 93% of users responded positively to a campaign integrated into Snapchat Discover for the film Fast 7, which has resulted in Universal Pictures promoting their other films in a similar manner.

Media companies ranging from National Geographic to MTV have been taking advantage of Snapchat for over a year with Snapchat Discover. It’s interesting to note that with Snapchat Discover users don’t click through to publishers sites, the interaction between brand and user is purely internal. Snapchat has, in this way, also proven a lucrative platform for advertising, as well as being an avenue for success for brands aiming to promote themselves or sell a product. Buzzfeed, for example, reported that 21% of their total traffic came through Snapchat.

For brands seeking to do something similar, in 2015 a full takeover of a Live Story feed cost between $400,000 and $500,000; with a single branded Snap costing up to $100,000. A full takeover of a Live Story doesn’t guarantee brand exclusivity either, with Snapchat seeking three to four advertisers per live story. However, each brand is promised that they’ll be the only in its category to advertise within a given Live Story. 23% of Snapchat users between 13-24 said they regularly check the Live Stories and Discover features on Snapchat, with the ability to reach 41% of 18-34 year olds in the US alone. Snapchat seems to be seeking brand partnerships for integrated advertising as an alternative to brands posting native content.

It’s significantly cheaper, as an alternative to partnering with Snapchat, to create on-demand Geofilters, allowing individuals and companies to create branded promotions. Depending on the geographic range and timeframe you desire, this can be both low cost and allow for a more personalised experience.

While brand promotion through Snapchat native content is absolutely feasible, as shown by Taco Bell’s stated engagement and organic reach, creating good Snapchat content can be difficult without a solid creative vision and understanding of the strengths and limitations of the app.

A downside to Snapchat advertising for those seeking to invest is the lack of analytics provided, with most available data coming from companies who have advertised or from Snapchat itself. However, in saying that, Snapchat is quickly becoming the best place to find and promote images and short form video content.