Mobile advertising is one of the fastest growing facets of digital marketing. But just as you and your team are likely trying to develop a mobile ad strategy, so are plenty of other competing businesses.
Simply coming up with some ads that work on mobile screens isn’t quite enough. You have to develop ads that really appeal to your customers.
To marketers that have created ads for other mediums, this may sound like a recycled message. But the mobile medium is different than any other.
When advertising on television or radio, your message is likely to be seen or heard by multiple people at the same time, in the same room, potentially with other distractions around. When advertising in print or on desktop, there are plenty of other things on the page or screen that can also steal attention away from your ad.
Mobile ads are more likely to be the only thing that a person is looking at on that particular screen in that particular moment. It’s that moment that you need to capture and focus on if you want your mobile ad strategy to be a success.
This means that when you create an ad to appear within a mobile app, such as a game, you should create it with a specific part of that experience in mind.
Create an ad that congratulates them when they reach a new level or one that is meant to console them if they’ve experienced difficulty. That will help your ad to feel like a part of their mobile experience rather than an interruption. It can also help your message appeal to those viewing it, since it shows that you are in tune with their experience and how they are feeling in that moment.
You’ll need to use research to determine those specific moments where users experience such emotions.
Ari Brandt, CEO and co-founder of advertising platform MediaBrix, wrote in a post on Mashable:
“From the user data, you can pinpoint a range of emotions, like positive feelings of high achievement, which you can use to position your brand as a hero. When you approach a user, you have to contextualize the moment by acknowledging what they are doing and why you are there and establishing how you can enhance their experience.”
Appealing to people’s emotions should be a part of any advertising strategy. But mobile ads really allow you to zero in on the user’s experience and how they feel in a particular moment.
It’s a great new opportunity for businesses. And if your mobile ads don’t take advantage of it, it might be time to rethink your mobile strategy.
Mobile Phone User Photo via Shutterstock
Aira Bongco
Mobile advertising is not that hard to understand. All you need to know is how people are using the platform. You can do it by just interviewing some people and doing a survey. Then, you can tailor tha ad according to their needs.
Also remember that if your ad is occupying the entire screen, then it has interrupted what they were doing. Therefore it had better be pretty dang good or it will come across as a nuisance.
Douglas Craig
Mobile marketing is no different from other media. It HAS to be about the message!