Former President Donald Trump’s campaign launched its first Snapchat digital ad of the 2024 election cycle this week, marking a late entry into the Gen Z and millennial-focused platform with just days until the 2024 election.
The social media move comes after Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign remained on the platform since March. Before withdrawing from the race in July, President Joe Biden had invested nearly $1.5 million in Snapchat ads.
Snap reports that it has more than 100 million users in the United States, with approximately 80 percent of voting age, representing a significant potential voter base for both Republican and Democratic campaigns.
One recent ad featured Trump with an on-screen graphic asking, “Who should vote?” followed by pointing at the viewer with a thumbs up. The ad comes from a viral moment when Trump and his partner JD Vance visited a memorial in New York City for the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
The timing illustrates the stark contrast in digital strategy between the two campaigns.
While the Harris campaign has invested $7.8 million in Snapchat ads since March, Trump’s team is only now getting on board. This represents a change from 2020 when the Trump campaign spent $268,000 on Snapchat ads and began consistent advertising in late August of that year according to NBC News.
The former president’s limited presence on Snapchat follows the platform’s ban on personal accounts following the January 6, 2021, Capitol Riots. While this ban remains in effect, Snap maintains that the Trump campaign is allowed to buy political ads, according to its internal fact-checking protocol.
Harris has used the largely unopposed platform to highlight Trump’s anti-abortion record and position himself as a candidate for the future.
Some of his ads featured the campaign theme song, Beyoncé’s “Freedom,” while others took the form of “school assignments,” encouraging college-aged voters to research Trump’s policies.
Unlike other major tech platforms, Snap has yet to lift restrictions on Trump’s personal accounts, which has drawn backlash from his campaign.
Newsweek The Trump and Harris campaigns were contacted by email on Monday for comment.
In July, the Trump campaign publicly criticized Snap after the company offered to sell advertising while maintaining restrictions on the former president’s personal accounts.
Trump’s campaign expressed frustration at X, accusing Big Tech of favoring Harris. However, X CEO Elon Musk endorsed Trump after his assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. The former Democrat switched sides politically, pouring millions into the pro-Trump America PAC committee.
Trump has focused on reaching a younger male audience through interviews with popular online personalities, including appearances on shows like Nelk Boys and Joe Rogan. The former president has also embraced TikTok, joining the popular platform this year despite previously expressing concerns about Chinese ownership.
The scale of political spending on Snapchat remains small compared to other tech platforms like Facebook and Google, where both presidential campaigns have invested tens of millions of dollars.
The difference in Snapchat spending also reflects broader patterns in digital advertising, with the Harris campaign maintaining higher overall online ad spending fueled by stronger fundraising numbers.
Recent Pew Research Center data shows that Snapchat’s user base includes both conservative and liberal voices, with 51 percent of users identifying as Democrats or leaning that way, compared to 41 percent who vote Republican.
Snapchat’s user base is 60 percent female, according to Pew findings. Bigger platforms like Facebook and YouTube tend to be more conservative and male, making them more desirable areas for the Trump campaign.
Harris’ campaign has used Snapchat’s visual format to great effect. One of the most viewed ads was a clip of Trump discussing abortion rights alongside headlines about the ban.
Another ad contrasts Trump’s mugshot with Harris’ career progress, while a third features his running mate, Governor Tim Walz, reminding students of The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 plan.
With the election showing narrow margins in the polls, both campaigns have stepped up efforts to reach Gen Z and millennial voters who primarily consume news through social media rather than traditional outlets.
