For a company that built itself on the proposition that messages should disappear, Snapchat has proved remarkably persistent in the advertising marketplace.

Now, facing a projected decline to below 2 percent of United States social media ad spending by next year, according to Emarketer, the company owned by Snap Inc. is attempting something that might have seemed paradoxical in its freewheeling early days: making life easier for media agencies.

Snap unveiled on Wednesday a feature it calls Agency Permissions, which allows brands to grant their agency partners direct access to manage campaigns through the platform. The move is part of what Adrian Mulryan, vice president of global agency and strategic accounts at Snap, described as a transformation into an "agency-first" business.

"Snapchat has been around for 14 years, but I like to think of us as still in 'startup mode,'" Mr. Mulryan said in an interview. (Whether the holding companies that control most major media buying share this youthful self-assessment remains to be seen.)

The permissions update, which Mr. Mulryan acknowledged might seem like a "base-level" improvement, arrives as Snap continues to expand the commercial footprint of features that were once determinedly ad-free. The company began testing sponsorships on Snap Map — its location-sharing feature that displays public posts from around the world — only last October. In April, Snap introduced AI Sponsored Snaps, which allow consumers to chat directly with artificial intelligence agents representing brands.

Alec Piliafas, executive vice president and head of paid social at Dentsu, said the evolution reflects broader changes in how consumers experience social platforms. "Now people you don't even follow are being served to you based on your interests," Mr. Piliafas said.

As evidence of what the new tools can accomplish, Snap pointed to a recent campaign for Dave & Buster's, handled by the chain's media agency of record, Dentsu X. The Snap Map effort for the Eat & Play Combo promotion reached more than 10 million users and drove a 47 percent lift in incremental visits, according to the company.

For Snap, the challenge now is whether granting agencies more control will translate into the kind of ad dollars that have increasingly flowed to Meta and TikTok. At 14 years old, startup mode is a state of mind.

Original story published in campaignlive.com: "Snap launches ‘agency-first’ programs, expands Snap Map sponsorships | Campaign US"