Social media is no longer just a place for making connections, it’s the nucleus of brand strategy. Marketers are increasingly shifting from traditional media to social platforms, leveraging their unmatched ability to reach, engage, and convert audiences in real time. Instagram and Snapchat, two of the most influential platforms, are now undergoing updates that could open new avenues for brands.
A recent study by WPP Media and Lumen Research in collaboration with Snap Inc. showed that Snapchat has carved a strong presence in India, with AR lenses, Filter Ads, and Chat Ads generating up to 5,900 seconds of attention per 1,000 impressions, driving a 9% year-over-year increase in ad revenue and capturing 2x more attention than conventional digital platforms. Whereas Instagram in 2025 remains a key platform for advertisers, over 2 million businesses use it globally, reaching 1.74 billion people, including 414 million in India (business.instagram.com, DataReportal), demonstrating strong reach, engagement, and measurable ROI for advertisers.
Snapchat: From Impressions to Attention
Snapchat’s most notable update this year is the introduction of the Attention Per Mille (APM) metric, designed to measure the actual attention ads receive rather than just impressions. Amit Chaubey, Head of Marketing Science, APAC, Snap Inc., explains, “As per a Lumen global study, about 70% of ads in the study did not get attention. In India’s context with an AdEx of $5 billion, 70% of that would be around $4.13 billion, going unnoticed every year. With Gen Z, attention has become a critical challenge in advertising, who are digitally native and quick to skip, scroll, or block ads altogether. To address this, we worked with WPP Media and Lumen to understand if attention matters.” Talking about the findings of the study, he says, “The answer was clear, even a 5% point increase in attention can boost brand favourability and recall by as much as 12%, and attention is four times better at predicting outcomes than view-through rates. That’s where Attention Per Mille (APM) comes in, it measures the total attention earned per 1,000 impressions by combining how many people pay attention and for how long.”
For agencies, this shift is a call to rethink measurement. Harshada Chitale, Account Director, White Rivers Media, shares her insights, stating, “Snapchat’s APM metric challenges the industry to move beyond surface-level impressions, encouraging campaigns designed to hold attention and foster meaningful recall. We use these innovations to create strategies that prioritise measurement and adaptability. By tracking attentive seconds and leveraging AR campaigns, we bring greater effectiveness and precision to our work.”
Pratik Gupta, Co-Founder, FoxyMoron, adds, “Earlier, performance was measured mostly by reach and impressions. Now, with APM, we can track exactly how much time an audience actually gave to a campaign. This helps agencies optimise storytelling in real time, ensuring campaigns drive attention, engagement, and ultimately stronger ROI for clients.” Chaubey goes further into the details, sharing that, “This metric isn’t just a theory, it’s already delivering impact. While Gen Z gives 34% less attention on traditional channels, the right platform, format, and creative can increase attention by as much as 22%.”
However, as these metrics are still relatively new, concrete results and broader adoption insights remain limited. The true impact of APM on campaign performance will only become clear over time. Aadil Mehta, Co-Founder, ting, notes, “This marks a shift from ‘vanity metrics’ to ‘value metrics.’ Brands will need to rethink success not in terms of likes and views alone, but in terms of sustained attention and discovery among new audiences. Over time, this will reward brands that create authentic, resonant content rather than simply optimising for algorithmic reach. Campaign success will increasingly be defined by depth of attention and relevance, not just top-line numbers.”
Snapchat’s features, including AR, Filter Ads and Chat Ads, continue to enable brands to engage audiences in interactive and immersive ways. “AR lenses continue to be the strongest Gen Z play, virtual try-ons in beauty or fashion categories show how brands can turn curiosity into consideration instantly,” highlights Ahmed Aftab Naqvi, Global CEO and Co-founder, Gozoop Group.
Recognising the power of the platform, Sunitha Natarajan, Director of Digital Strategy, Social Panga, adds, “Snapchat is a very playful platform with features people actually want to mess around with and share. If brands can win attention through a playful spirit, the communications tend to work best.”
From fashion to fintech, brands are leveraging these formats to engage young Indians authentically. With APM in the mix, campaigns can now be evaluated on how deeply they capture and sustain attention, not just on how far they travel.
Instagram: From Reach to Relationships
Instagram too is evolving with features that boost discovery, engagement, and community-driven content. The Repost feature, Map/Location tool, and Friends tab help brands reach new audiences, extend content lifecycles, encourage peer-to-peer engagement, and connect digital experiences to real-world contexts. Sunitha explains, “Instagram works when it feels like a conversation and Snapchat when it feels like a game. Most of our strategies evolve from how consumers actually use these platforms. Instagram features push people for participation. Reels are still a key driver for reach, but the real magic we’ve been seeing lately is in collabs, stickers, and channels usage. It makes consumers feel like they are part of a story and not just another audience.”
The Repost feature enables users to share content from others, including brands and creators, directly onto their own feeds. This not only extends the reach of brand content but also strengthens authenticity and increases content lifecycle. Achyuta Nand Chand, Co-Founder & Head of Strategy, Mashrise, explains, “Instagram’s Repost feature helps brands spark organic discovery and amplify community-driven content. By encouraging users to share relevant posts, we can build authentic engagement and ensure campaigns reach wider audiences while remaining contextually relevant.”
Whereas, Sagar Pushp, Co-founder and CEO, ClanConnect, states that, “Brands are experimenting with Reposting, as it allows them to extend the lifecycle of content while ensuring the audience consumes it in its entirety, something that stories couldn’t always guarantee. The ability to track reposts adds another layer to performance measurement, apart from likes, views, and comments, to include virality as a tangible metric. It strengthens community engagement by making user-generated and influencer-led content more discoverable.”
The Map and Location tools bring a geographic dimension to content discovery. Brands can tag events, stores, or activations, allowing users to find nearby experiences while still controlling privacy. As a Meta spokesperson notes, “Instagram Map is off by default, and your live location is never shared unless you choose to turn it on. If you do, only people you follow back, or a private, custom list you select, can see your location.” This ensures that discovery is secure while enabling hyper-local targeting. Naqvi, adds, “The Map feature has opened new doors for categories like F&B, retail, and travel. Imagine a QSR chain running a “nearest store” offer that pops up right as someone explores food options on the map.”
The Friends tab fosters peer-led discovery within trusted circles, enhancing organic visibility and encouraging meaningful interactions. Rupali Shrivastava, Chief Marketing Officer, Limelight Lab Grown Diamonds notes, “The Friends tab brings brand conversations into smaller, trusted circles, which aligns well with how jewellery is often discussed peer-to-peer, through recommendations and sharing. These tools allow us to move closer to the community-driven model of engagement, where advocacy and trust drive awareness.” The strategic value of these features also extends to influencer marketing.
ClanConnect highlights that Repost, Map, and Friends tab allow brands to integrate creators’ content seamlessly into discovery paths, boosting organic amplification and helping measure true engagement.
As platforms evolve, the benchmarks for engagement are shifting. Marketers are moving from reach and impressions toward attention, trust, and community. Snapchat’s APM is challenging the industry to measure depth of attention, while Instagram’s tools are redefining discovery through peer-led sharing and hyperlocal touchpoints. The coming months will test whether these updates deliver sustained audience interaction and business outcomes. One thing is clear: in the new grammar of social media, it’s not just about being seen, it’s about being remembered.
