TikTok and Snapchat Both Push Movie And Cinema Marketing

TikTok and Snapchat are positioning themselves as key players in film promotion, with new reports highlighting their effectiveness in driving ticket sales and audience engagement.

TikTok released data in partnership with Samba, analyzing 38 U.S. theatrical campaigns from early 2023 to mid-2025. Using Samba’s Box Office Lift methodology, the study matched TikTok ad exposure to real-world ticket purchases. Key findings include:

• TikTok exposure drove a median +172% lift in movie ticket purchase rates compared to non-exposed audiences.
• Horror titles saw the highest lift at 215%.
• Fans of specific actors or directors converted at more than 2x the rate of broad audiences.
• TikTok ads delivered a median incremental ROAS of $1.70, over 15x more efficient than linear TV (based on conservative CPM comparisons).
• 60% of attributed ticket purchases came from audiences not exposed to linear TV ads.

Top-performing creative formats included critic reviews/social proof, clear ticketing CTAs, film highlights, behind-the-scenes storytelling, and creator-led, TikTok-native content.

Snapchat published its own moviegoer research the same week, based on a survey of 1,188 U.S. social media users aged 13 – 44 by Omnicom Media and Ipsos. The report revealed:

• 44% of daily Snapchatters visited a movie theater in the past six months – 1.3x higher than non-Snapchatters.
• Daily Snapchatters were 1.5x more likely to have increased moviegoing in the past year and 1.7x more likely to plan even more visits next year.
• 30% preferred seeing films on premiere day, and 33% aimed to see them in theaters when time allowed – emphasizing sustained buzz beyond opening weekend.
• Social media ads now lead discovery, followed by friends/family recommendations.
• 57% said creators/influencers helped them discover new movies.
• 56% expressed interest in AI-powered movie recommendations, with nearly half already using AI chatbots for suggestions.
• AR Lenses on Snapchat were noted for building excitement around releases.

While these reports may simply have been released as a coincidentally similar time, the fact that they exist at all may hint towards both platforms seeing moviegoers (and, in a way, cinemas) as an audience worth targeting. It remains to be seen whether these reports are coming ahead of a planned marketing push or expected peak ticket sales season.