The former president Donald Trump’The campaign launched first Snapchat digital advertising of the 2024 election cycle this week, marking a late entry into the Gen Z and millennial platform with just days left until the 2024 election.

The social media move comes after the vice president Kamala Harris‘ has maintained a significant presence on the platform since March. Before withdrawing from the race in July, Pres Joe Biden invested nearly $1.5 million in Snapchat advertising.

Snap reports that it has more than 100 million users in the United States, with approximately 80% of voting age, representing a significant potential voter base for both Republican and Democratic campaigns.

One of the new ones ADVERTISING features Trump with an image on the screen asking, “Who needs to vote?” followed by him pointing at the viewer with a thumbs up gesture. The announcement comes from a viral moment in which Trump and co JD Vance visited a memorial in New York for the victims of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

The timing reflects a stark contrast in digital strategy between the two campaigns.

While the Harris campaign has invested $7.8 million in Snapchat advertising since March, Trump’s team is just now entering the space. That’s a change from 2020, when the Trump campaign spent $268,000 on Snapchat ads and began a steady run in late August of that year, according to NBC News.

The former president’s limited presence on Snapchat follows the platform’s banning of his personal account after January 6, 2021. Riots in the Capitol. While that ban remains in place, Snap has argued that the Trump campaign is allowed to purchase political ads, subject to internal fact-checking protocols.

Harris used the largely uncontested space to highlight Trump’s anti-abortion record and position himself as the candidate for the future.

Several of her ads feature her campaign theme song, Beyoncé’s “Freedom,” while others take the form of “back-to-school quizzes” encouraging college-age voters to research Trump’s policies.

Unlike other major tech platforms, Snap did not lift the ban on Trump’s personal account, which drew angry pushback from his campaign.

Newsweek reached out to the Trump and Harris campaigns by email Saturday for comment.

In July, the Trump campaign publicly criticized Snap after the company offered to sell advertising while maintaining a ban on the former president’s personal account.

Trump’s campaign expressed frustration with X, accusing Big Tech of favoring Harris. However, CEO X Elon Musk supported Trump following an assassination attempt at a campaign rally Butler, Pennsylvania. The former Democrat switched sides, pouring millions into his pro-Trump committee America PAC.

Trump has focused on reaching younger male audiences through interviews with popular online personalities, including appearances on shows like “Nelk Boys” and Joe Rogan. He also hugged the former president TikTokjoining the popular platform this year despite previously expressing concerns about its Chinese ownership.

The scale of political spending on Snapchat remains relatively small compared to other tech platforms like Facebook and Googlewhere both presidential campaigns invest tens of millions of dollars.

The difference in Snapchat spending also reflects a broader pattern in digital advertising, with Harris’s campaign maintaining higher online ad spending, supported by higher fundraising numbers.

Recent data from the Pew Research Center shows that Snapchat’s user base includes both conservative and liberal voices, with 51 percent of users identifying as or leaning Democratic, compared to 41 percent who favor republicans.

Snapchat’s user base is 60 percent female, according to Pew’s findings. Larger platforms such as Facebook and YouTube they tend to be more conservative and male, making them more favorable territory for the Trump campaign.

Harris’ campaign effectively used Snapchat’s visual format. One of her most-watched ads features clips of Trump discussing abortion rights alongside news headlines about the restrictions.

Another ad contrasts Trump’s photo with Harris’ career progress, while a third features her running mate, Gov. Tim Walzwarning students about Heritage Foundationhis Project 2025 plans.

With the election showing tight margins in the polls, both campaigns have stepped up their efforts to reach Generation Z and millennial voters who primarily consume news through social media rather than traditional outlets.