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Snapchat’s Cheap CPA Can Help Your Business Boost Profits

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Published on July 28, 2025

Snapchat may not be your first thought when it comes to marketing your online store, but a recent study has highlighted its potential for ecommerce brands. If you’re looking to grow your business, Snapchat’s advertising tools are worth considering.

But Snapchat isn’t right for every ecommerce brand, and the platform’s study indicated certain industries are to get more bang for their buck than others. I’ll explain what you can learn from the study and provide tips on extending your Snapchat advertising budget further.

Snapchat Gives Ecommerce Brands the Edge

In May, Snapchat commissioned research from Triple Whale on ecommerce advertising. The study looked at 20,000 advertisers, analyzing around $3 billion ad spend across various platforms.

On July 17, the platform released two rather impressive findings that make Snapchat a platform worth considering:

#1. Snapchat Has the Lowest CPA

Ecommerce businesses using a cost per action (CPA) bidding strategy will be charged for every sale made through that ad. Out of all the platforms used by advertisers in the study, Snapchat was reported to have the cheapest CPA.

With CPA costs rising across social media platforms, Snapchat’s low rate means you’ll secure more of your profit per sale than on other ad platforms.

➡️Check out our guide to social media advertising to compare the cost of advertising across platforms.

#2. ROAS Saw Increase, While Competitors Decline

The study found that Snapchat’s return on ad spend (ROAS) increased by 7.5%, while most other platforms declined.

Fashion brands were noted to experience the highest ROAS due to their use of visual storytelling.

🔎Key Learnings

Want to drive sales from your ads? Evoke emotion. Snapchat’s interactive ad formats, such as Sponsored AI Lenses, give it the edge in this aspect. They’re personalized, memorable, and designed for sharing, so they have a deeper emotional impact than regular social media ads.

When using other ad formats on Snapchat, try to relate to your users by:

Incorporating user-generated content from users similar to your audience
Be honest and authentic
Showing your product used in real life situations
Prioritizing self-filmed clips over production quality ads

How To Lower Advertising Costs

According to Triple Whale’s study, Snapchat gives ecommerce advertisers the most bang for their buck. Still, advertising can become costly without the right optimizations. To keep your Snapchat ad costs as low as possible, I recommend:

Installing Pixel code: Snap Pixel will track user behavior after they click on your ad. This data can be used to improve the UX of your site and drive conversions. Pixel code can be added when you’re advertising on Facebook and other social media platforms too.
Claiming welcome advertising credits: Snapchat often runs deals for new Snapchat Ads users. Currently, it’s offering $375 of ad credits when you spend $350.

Fashion Performs Best With the Snapchat Generation

While Snapchat is considerably smaller than the top social media players, its young user base engages with ads two times more than other platforms and is eager to spend. This means that advertising on Snapchat is a great option for brands trying to attract Gen Z to their online store.

Snapchat is also a great advertising platform for:

Fashion beauty, and gaming brands due to interactive ad formats
Visually appealing products
Local businesses targeting based on location with Snap Map promotion

If you decide to advertise on Snapchat, be sure to experiment with its unique ad formats, placements, and split testing tools to find the strategy that drives sales most effectively.

Written by:

Annie Angus Writer

Annie Angus is a Writer for Website Builder Expert with a passion for shaping jargon-heavy research into digestible content. She has previously researched and written about industries ranging from tech to fashion, and now, after testing our top website builders such as Wix and Squarespace, she is enthusiastic to share her findings with our readers. With first-hand experience in utilizing social media and online marketplaces to grow a small handmade clothing business, Annie understands the priorities and concerns held by SME owners, and knows precisely what they look for in a website builder. She combines this unique perspective with her knowledge of website builders to produce engaging content spanning all areas of the small business journey, from creating a strong website to growing and maintaining an audience.