Our reliance on mobile media has been increasing for a long time now, but this year, expect mobile devices to be more crucial to consumers’ lives than ever before.
As reported by eMarketer, “With mobile devices serving as a lifeline to the outside world amid stay-at-home orders, time spent on smartphones and tablets has jumped” in recent months. In another eMarketer report, the organization notes that US adults will spend an extra 24 minutes per day on their mobile devices in 2020 as a result of increased digital shopping due to the pandemic.
This information is vital to marketers. Why? Mobile ad effectiveness is directly impacted by consumer behavior. The strategies that create the most engaging campaigns can vary from year to year. Consumer preferences, mobile advertising products, and the state of society, in general, all play a part in determining how customers interact with brands via mobile.
As a society, we’re currently facing a lot of unknowns. One thing we do know, however, is how to help you maximize your ad spend. Try these sure-fire mobile advertising best practices to better connect with your customers this year.
Enhance Your Banners with Product Images and Animation
There’s a reason why very few mobile ads are made entirely of text: ads that incorporate a product image are more effective at inciting engagement and driving traffic to your site. According to our GroundTruth Creative 2020 findings, banners featuring product images can improve Click-Through Rates (CTR) by 14%, and Visitation Rate by 65% in CPG.
Another way to make your ad pop? Include animation. Adding even a subtle GIF animation to your banners can improve CTR performance by 25% and Visitation Rate by 2x.
Lighten Up Your File Sizes
When it comes to mobile ads, speed is essential. Bigger file sizes take longer to load, and that can have a negative impact on both the ad experience and your brand.
Recent research shows that the human brain only needs 400 milliseconds less than half a second to experience a reaction to a mobile ad. In other words, consumers will see and process your ad in the time it takes for them to blink. Express your message and brand in a way that’s straightforward and strong to make sure the impression consumers come away with is a positive one.
Keep Your Copy Succinct
Mobile ad design best practices aren’t limited to the visual side of creative. The copy you write warrants some careful analysis, too. Our research shows that banners with fewer than five words improve CTR performance by 27% and Visitation Rate by 88% in Retail. Drill down to the heart of the message you want to convey and remember that, in this case, less is more.
Leverage Dynamic Distance to Increase Your Visitation Rate
One of the best ways to boost the effectiveness of your mobile campaigns and increase your return on investment is by including a dynamic distance overlay in your ads. Dynamically populated text lets consumers know how far they are from your nearest business location, so they can act on their impulse to buy.
Our research shows that dynamic distance overlay can increase Visitation Rate by double among Restaurant and CPG brands, and triple it in Retail.
Effective mobile advertising is about understanding your audience and what they need.
When you optimize your ads to load faster, highlight your products, and deliver relevant messaging in real-time, your mobile campaign is sure to attract attention and perform.
Check out our Mobile Creative Ad Gallery to see more examples of what we can do for your brand.
For more mobile creative best practices, and to find out how GroundTruth can help improve your next campaign, contact us today.
Rachel Bennington
VP, Managed Sales
