Snapchat, Pinterest and X: when and how to use them

0:00 Beyond Meta and TikTok

Most paid social budgets start on Meta and TikTok, and for good reason. But if you only ever use those two, you might be missing the most efficient audience for your business. A fashion brand in Riyadh, a home décor shop in Bristol and a tech launch in London might each find their best customers somewhere else. In this lecture you'll learn how Snapchat, Pinterest and X differ in audience mindset, the formats and tools that matter on each, and a simple plan for testing a new platform properly, so you can decide with evidence instead of hype.

0:43 Audience mindset

Start with mindset, because it shapes everything. On Snapchat, people are messaging close friends, using the camera and watching fast, full-screen content. It's especially strong with young audiences and in Saudi Arabia and the wider Gulf. On Pinterest, people are planning: saving ideas for a new kitchen, a wedding or an Eid table, often before they know which brand they want. So Pinterest influences purchases weeks later. On X, people follow real-time news, conversation, sport, entertainment and tech, which makes it great for launches, live events and timely moments. Same fundamentals, different moods.

1:23 Snapchat

Let's go deeper on Snapchat. Formats include full-screen Snap Ads with a single video or image, Story and Collection ads, Dynamic Product Ads from your catalogue, AR Lenses for try-ons and games, and Sponsored Snaps, which appear in the Chat feed. For automation, Snap's Smart campaign solutions include Smart Bidding, which targets a cost, Smart Budget, which moves money between ad sets, and Smart Ads for creative optimisation. For tracking, use the Snap Pixel plus the Snap Conversions API, deduplicated just like Meta's. And creative should be vertical, sound on, fast, with a face in the first second, and Arabic-first for Saudi audiences.

2:08 Pinterest

Now Pinterest. Because people are planning, think like search. Keywords and interests matter more here than on other social platforms. Formats include standard and video Pins, carousels, collections and shopping ads from a product catalogue, and Performance plus campaigns automate bidding, budget, targeting and creative formats. Track with the Pinterest Tag plus the Pinterest Conversions API. Creative should be beautiful and useful: vertical images in a two by three ratio with clear text overlays, showing the idea, like a renter-friendly kitchen update, not just the product. And be patient. Use longer attribution windows, because the save today often becomes the purchase next month.

2:53 X

And X. Objectives include reach, video views, engagements, website traffic, app installs and followers. Formats include promoted posts with text, image, video or carousel, vertical video, pre-roll next to publisher content, and premium takeovers for big moments. Targeting includes keywords, conversation topics, and follower look-alikes, which reach people similar to the followers of accounts you choose, plus interests and custom audiences. Track with the X Pixel plus the X Conversion API. And pay attention to brand safety: review adjacency controls, and monitor replies on promoted posts, because conversation is the whole point of the platform.

3:34 Example 1: Riyadh fashion on Snapchat (illustrative)

Let's do a simple worked example with illustrative results. A Riyadh modest-fashion label already runs TikTok. It adds Snapchat with one campaign using Smart Bidding, eight Arabic-first vertical videos from local creators, and an AR try-on Lens for a new collection, with the Snap Pixel and Conversions API installed first. After four weeks, Snapchat's store-verified cost per new customer is close to TikTok's, and post-purchase surveys show more Snapchat mentions from customers under twenty-five. So they scale Snapchat gradually rather than doubling overnight. A new platform, added with discipline.

4:13 Example 2: Bristol home décor (illustrative)

Now a realistic Pinterest scenario. A small Bristol home-décor shop runs Performance plus shopping campaigns from its catalogue, plus idea Pins like renter-friendly kitchen updates. After one week, last-click sales look modest, and the owner is tempted to stop. But a thirty-day view shows Pinterest-influenced orders with higher average order values than other channels. So the team keeps spend steady and watches new-customer growth in store data, rather than cutting after week one. The lesson: judge each platform on its own buying rhythm, not on the rhythm of the platform you know best.

4:53 Which to test first?

So which platform should you test first? Ask three questions. Where is my audience's attention, according to current local data, not last year's headlines? Does the platform's mood match how people buy my product? Planning-led categories like home, weddings and recipes lean Pinterest. Young, camera-first audiences and Gulf markets lean Snapchat. Launches, live events and news-driven categories lean X. And can I make native creative for it every month? If you can't produce full-screen, fast, Arabic-first video, Snapchat will struggle, however good the audience looks. Pick the one platform with the best answers to all three, and test it properly before adding another. One well-run test beats three half-hearted ones.

5:41 Hands-on: new-platform test plan

How should you test any new platform? Use the plan in the lesson text. Write a hypothesis: this platform can acquire new customers at or below my target because of this audience insight. Set up the pixel and conversions API first, with UTMs. Run one campaign with automated bidding and six to eight native creatives, not recycled ads. Budget for roughly fifty times your target cost per acquisition over the test, or a fixed learning budget. Run for three to four weeks, longer for Pinterest. Judge on store-verified cost per new customer, add a post-purchase survey question, and write your scale or stop rule before you start.

6:28 Mistakes and measures

Common mistakes. Recycling TikTok or Meta ads unchanged, when each platform has its own look and mood. Judging Pinterest with short attribution windows. Launching without the platform's pixel and conversions API, so the automation has nothing to learn from. And running a test budget so small it can't teach you anything. How do you measure success? Compare store-verified cost per new customer with your existing platforms. Look for incremental signals: survey mentions, geo tests where possible, and overall new-customer growth. And make a clear scale or stop decision at the end of the test, and document why.

7:10 Recap and try this now

Let's recap. Snapchat suits young and Gulf audiences with full-screen video, AR Lenses and Sponsored Snaps. Pinterest suits planning-led categories and rewards patience and search-style thinking. X suits real-time moments, launches and conversation. Each has automation, a pixel and a conversions API, so set those up first. Make native creative for each, and test new platforms with a written hypothesis, store-verified metrics, survey signals and a decision rule. Here's your try this now. Choose Snapchat, Pinterest or X for a business you know, and fill in the new-platform test plan, including three creative ideas native to that platform.