Mobile Ads That Add Up

If you are running a consumer business and not investing in mobile ads, you are in trouble.

For most brands in 2016, mobile advertising is a must - a no brainer, yet determining the right mobile strategy is slightly more challenging. Here are 4 tips for mobile ad campaign success.

​1. More is less. 

If your message tries to appeal to everyone you’ll end up with no audience as your content will be irrelevant to most. Having a target audience helps you create focused ads that catch their attention, consequently increasing reach and engagement.

Ask yourself how your audience relates to mobile. Which devices are used and how? What content interests them?

2. Creative trumps targeting.

Your ads’ appearance greatly impacts engagement, therefore, it is important to understand the different mobile ad formats available.

Video ads: This most effective and popular format is entertaining, memorable and increases brand equity. Make sure your ads are no more than 15-30 seconds long or you’ll lose your audience’s attention.

Interstitial ads: These ads allow for more engaging content by completely covering screens and forcing the user to either close the ad or engage. But, if badly placed they’ll interrupt the user-experience, negatively impacting site traffic. 

Native ads: These ads appear as part of the app or site content, thus they are the least intrusive while still being highly effective. 

Banner ads: Banner ads are found at the top or bottom of screens, they are non-intrusive, easy to produce and deploy and used often. The major strength of these ads is reach, as they can be seen on any mobile internet enabled device, even if it’s not a smartphone. However, many unconsciously resist banner ads making them the least effective format. 

Expandable ads: These banner and interstitial combination ads begin as banners and, usually following a click, expand in size. Although the banner resistance issue is somewhat addressed, they can be disruptive so use this format carefully.

Experiment with several ad types, measure results and then stick to the formats that work best.

3. Emotion is impact.

Strong impulse driven call to actions (CTAs) are vital to successful marketing campaigns. Ensure CTA buttons are strategically placed and that their message pulls readers in. Some of the best mobile ad CTAs include discount coupons and free items. If you look at an ad and feel nothing, it will most likely not work well. To help craft effective messages, check out strong CTA examples like those listed on Hubspot.

4. Conversions not clicks. 

A solid mobile analytics strategy is crucial to effectively understand, segment and target efforts. Important KPIs provide post click conversion information, like secondary action rates (SAR), store visitation lifts (SVL) and same store sales increases (SSSI). 

The click-through-rate (CTR), while easiest to measure, isn’t accurate. According to a GoldSpot Media study, about 50% of mobile ad clicks are accidental. 

Use a mobile analytics platform like Localytics to drive perfectly targeted and profitable ad campaigns.

Want to know more about great mobile ads? Contact us so we can help you!