Mobile advertising is quickly gaining recognition as one of the most effective forms of Digital Marketing available today. With budgets running into billions of dollars in the United States alone, marketers are racing to test and run campaigns for every type of client from bug spray to Band-Aids. The novelty of mobile ads was originally cited to be the prime factor contributing to their relative advantage over traditional Web ads. However with newer research released, the novelty factor has given way to real results and effective ad creative is an essential component of mobile’s growing success.

Crafting engaging mobile ad creative is perhaps the most important aspect of mobile marketing. While there are a number of possible variations, one important fact about mobile ad creative is the underlying divergence from traditional online advertising. What works on desktop will not necessarily find success with mobile search or display campaigns.

Researchers are testing newer strategies to make ad creative more proficient, and have come up with a myriad of actions the drive engagement. According to a study by Dynamic Logic the following characteristics are identified as the key to driving a successful mobile ad, and can be applied to both display and search campaigns where applicable.

• The location of a brand name or logo within a mobile ad matters: Left-side brand placement is generally most effective and has a strong impact on advertising recall.
• A strong call-to-action encourages ad response rate and helps drive purchase intent.
• Other successful campaigns have included discount offers and social media connectivity which can increase initial click through and encourage further engagement.

 

Creative Optimization in Action (Case Study: Major Satellite TV Provider)

After re-evaluating and optimizing the campaign creative for a major satellite TV provider we found these small changes made for big results.

Total calls delivered by these small changes, increased by 564%. The data here speaks for itself, and drives home the fact that ad creative and copy is perhaps the most important ingredient of a mobile campaign. The ad can be setup to target the perfect audience, utilizing the most specific lat/long data available. But if the creative isn’t relevant, the ad will more than likely fail.

So moral of the story, mobile ad copy and creative should be short, sweet, and include a relevant and value oriented call to action. Whether optimizing display or search campaign creative, the key is to test, test, and test again. The mobile audience is a constantly mobile and evolving target. But by leveraging our unique search behavior and user engagement data, we can shift along with mobile users to continually optimize campaigns and ensure performance goals are not just met, but often exceeded.