Confidential and Internal

To: Ward Baker From: NRSC Political Department Date: March 9, 2016 RE: Snapchat’s Explosive Growth Rate and Impact on the 2016 Elections

Last week, Snapchat announced they have over 8 billion video views per day. Snapchat reaches over 41% of US residents between the ages of 18 and 34 on a daily basis. Snapchat's app has more than 100 million daily users who spend an average of 25 to 30 minutes on the app each day. These are astounding figures and it's another sign that we need to start considering Snapchat in the same league as Facebook, , and Google.

Voters & News Consumption on Snapchat

Snapchat users are also likely to vote. Two-thirds (67%) of Snapchat’s millennial users are likely to vote in the 2016 election, compared with 61% of overall.

Snapchat is not just a social media platform. Snapchat is also becoming the equivalent of a global cable company by providing interactive content from companies like ESPN, Viacom, News Corp, CNN, Vice, and Buzzfeed in addition to content deals with the NFL and NBA. Peter Hamby joined the company as Head of News and is currently building a team of journalists hired away from organizations like CBS, ABC, and CNBC. In addition to providing coverage of debates and presidential primaries, Hamby has also launched a show called “Good Luck America.”

Snapchat users are consuming the content Hamby’s team is creating. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of millennial Snapchat users are following the 2016 Presidential election closely – 43% viewed the CNN Republican Primary Debate on September 16th and 39% viewed the CNN Democratic Primary Debate on October 13th. Since then every single political story posted by Snapchat has received over a million views.

Advertising on Snapchat

The content partnerships with major TV networks, news publications, and professional sports leagues are another sign eyeballs are shifting from televisions to mobile devices. Snapchat is becoming a leader in serving premium content on mobile devices, which positions them to eventually become a leader in the mobile advertising space.

Confidential and Internal

We’ve experimented with Snapchat ads at the NRSC – including these ads we aired to users in attacking Jason Kander. The completion rates, overall reach, and engagement were impressive, and we plan to make more ad buys on this platform during the election cycle.

Snapchat’s advertising capabilities are still in the early stages of development, but those capabilities are increasing rapidly. In February, the company announced a partnership with Nielsen to supply marketers with third-party data measuring their ad campaigns. They are also beginning to experiment with direct response ads. While these direct response ads are currently limited to app installs, it is a clear sign that other types of direct response ads (e.g. email sign- ups and GOTV) could be coming down the pipeline. Snapchat is also working on improved targeting methods, which should be available in the next few months – including ways to target likely voters.

How Your Campaign Should Consider Using Snapchat

The decision to get your campaign on Snapchat should be based on a variety of factors, including the overall state of the campaign and your digital program. If your campaign does make the decision to join Snapchat, we have five tips that will make you successful on the platform:

● Use Snapchat to give a behind-the-scenes look at your candidate and the campaign. Where they go to eat, what they do before a speech/event, driving in the car from event to event – things people normally wouldn’t get to see. ● Snapchat can also be used to allow people to attend events without being there. You can snap them speaking to volunteers, going on factory or plant tours, or walking in parades. ● Let candidates be themselves. The more authentic, the better. Cheering for sports teams, visiting favorite local restaurants, and practicing interesting hobbies can all be good material for snap stories. ● You can also use young volunteers in your snaps by snapping them making calls, knocking doors, or just working around the office. ● Don’t make your snap story too long. Keep it to less than 45 seconds as best you can. The shorter the snap story, the more likely people are to watch the whole thing.

You can also see examples of how we’re leveraging Snapchat to attack Democrats, promote websites, and create excitement around our 2016 Senate races. You should also check out Sen. Steve Daines’ account to see how he is using Snapchat to connect with millennial voters.