This move just made it easier for Snapchat to get on the media plan

Snapchat and Nielsen, doubling down on their partnership, are now offering marketers the ability to make targeted ad buys based on offline data, in a similar fashion to other popular social media platforms.

A marketer can use Nielsen audience data, for instance, to target someone on Snapchat who purchased lipstick at a retail store offline. The offering provides some 30,000 segments and includes Nielsen Buyer Insights and Nielsen Catalina Solutions, which are primarily based on offline loyalty card and credit card data.

The move is similar to what Snapchat already provides through Oracle, but the addition of Nielsen makes the company a more serious player on par with platforms such as Twitter and Pinterest, says Josh von Scheiner, founder and creative director at social media agency VonShine Industries.

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He also notes it comes at a time when Facebook is raising the height of its so-called “walled garden” under the guise of increasing regulation.

“The timing is awesome,” says von Shcheiner. “These deals take a while so the timing is likely a coincidence, but with all the data and privacy concerns, Facebook is scaling back on purchase-based targeting while Snapchat is scaling up – something that should help it grab more ad dollars.”

Last November, Snapchat made a deal with Nielsen that allows advertisers to make ad buys in similar fashion to how they do TV.

Sydney Boyd, biddable media manager at agency The Shipyard, says the announcement isn’t exactly surprising.

“We’ve already seen developments like Facebook ad integration into Instagram stories and ad placements on Instagram TV,” Boyd says. “Snapchat needs partnerships like this to allow advertisers to deliver more relevant content to its users.

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Coming from an agency perspective, I imagine it will now be a bit easier to work Snapchat into a client’s media plan.”

Nielsen says the integration with Snapchat will allow partners to plan, activate and analyze marketing initiatives, and use Nielsen audience segments for campaigns in CPG, retail, auto, finance, travel and tech.

What about accreditation?

Although the new third-party offering will likely be welcomed by marketers, it hasn’t received accreditation (nor has it applied for it) through the Media Ratings Council (MRC) says George Ivie, CEO of the MRC.

That shouldn’t be a problem, according to von Scheiner. “Snap’s viewability score is validated by Moat, which is turn audited by the MRC,” he says. “I would imagine that Snapchat is going to eventually work with MRC directly, but for the time being, why make that a priority when it’s already kind of taken care of?”

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Joshua Koran, managing director of DMP at Sizmek, says the MRC helps ensure marketers know what they’re buying from third-party measurement vendors. “The industry may eventually create standards for in-store purchases, but at present, I believe the measurement vendors’ sources vary widely across credit cards, panels and in-store purchase collection like Catalina.”