To be fair, the problem goes beyond just Snoke. The whole ST (particularly TFA and TROS) seems to be made by people with no sense of object permanence, whose understanding of the previous story began and ended with the base objects present during the runtimes of episodes 4-6. The Emperor and the Death Star were just table-setting in the originals to show the overwhelming power of the dominant government in the universe, so they are here as well despite being the ostensible underdogs. You want thousands of Star Destroyers? The originals had that, so why not? Stormtroopers are soulless cannon fodder too, except that one of our main characters is a Stormtrooper. No problem making Rey related to a powerfully evil Force user, except that her nobody status is her one unique character trait. And on it goes. The ST has a toddler’s understanding of storytelling.

Anyway, if you want to make Snoke compelling you have to strip him of his Force powers. Make him a person who has power through his ability to project the air of a Force user and his emotional manipulation of Kylo Ren, otherwise he’s just another Palpatine.