Things were not looking so good at Snapchat at the end of last year, what with ad revenue growth coming in short of expectations, cost increases exceeding expectations, and laying off employees, cutting funding, shelving projects, etc., etc.

But in Q1 this year, Snap's shares are rebounding, with increased ad performance, business opportunities refocused, and an all-out new push on SMBs. That last factor translated into 85% more SMB advertisers compared to last year.

Which is obviously huge, and this week, Snap held a webinar with two of its key product leaders to discuss how it's re-focused its ad system, and improved results for all ad partners in the app.
The 14 minute overview provides more specific insight into each element, but in this post, we'll go over the key notes.

For starters, Snap claims that it has redesigned ad formats so as to unify the look and feel of promotions in the app.
Snap further says
 "We've focused on designing formats that drive the outcomes and objectives our partners are looking for, and these redesigned formats are helping to maximize the intentionality behind every action a Snapchatter takes on an ad."

These new formats allow Snap to have more consistency in its promotion, using the whole screen for ad offers and messaging.

It is also improving the AR ad options, among which are new ways for brands to increase exposure to their branded Lenses.

A new "State-level First Story" will be added to Snap's "Total Takeover" product suite, enabling reach in specific regions alongside "First Story," "First Commercial," and "First Lens."
Snapchat will add "a higher-impact AR product that offers advertisers an all-day takeover of the Lens Carousel.".

Snap also says it has rolled out a new, simplified app download experience for app advertisers, enabling Snapchatters to download apps in fewer taps and without leaving the service.
Snap says it has also brought new forms of bidding specifically designed for mobile gaming advertisers.
Snaps is also testing a new Value Optimization offering, allowing advertisers to bid on value of purchases driven--not just quantity of purchases.

It's also adding a new way to bid on click-through conversions within seven days, which it refers to as "7/0 delivery optimization."
Snap reports that the process has resulted in lower cost-per-purchase and higher ROAS for early participants.
Snap's also added more partners to help assist in campaign creation, including CRM partners to enable expanded data integration.
These new integrations enable us to better determine how useful that lead was and what the interaction ultimately led to, especially when Snapchat generates the lead. The information helps improve our lead gen product and steer advertiser ROI even higher.

It's also partnered with Snowflake, Datahash, LiveRamp, Tealium, to provide direct assistance with integration of its Conversions API, helping more business glean more insight into their Snap ads performance.

Snap's also launched a new Landing Page View optimization goal "to help marketers deliver on KPIs, including session volume, landing page views, and reduced bounce rates." 
It's also continued to refine and improve its machine learning models to optimize for specific objectives:

We've seen over 60% lower cost for some advertisers vs traditional click engagement models."

Some interesting notes here, relative to your approach with Snap ads-that could help guide your strategy moving forward. And while many of these announcements had already been made, it is interesting to note the broader direction that Snap is heading with its ad products, and how it's looking to drive improved performance.