As Q4 has already begun, we are now in the midst of the hottest period for marketers. Advertising budgets are about to skyrocket, reaching their peak right before Christmas. Not surprisingly, this year, even more ad dollars will be spent on mobile. If you're trying to make some noise on mobile this quarter, check out this article for some useful tips on mobile campaign success.
Mobile advertising: Not that easy, still rewarding
It's obvious that mobile is one of the key factors when it comes to Display advertising growth. The second one is obviously programmatic. Combining these two is a great way to stay competitive, as well as efficiently and effectively communicate your message, but it takes some effort to get it right. The objective - "reach your consumer" - may be the same across all platforms and devices, but pulling it off on mobile is no small feat. There are some crucial things you should definitely keep in mind while planning your mobile campaigns.
TIP #1: Use the power of in-app, but stay in control
First of all, do not forget that the majority of mobile screen time is spent on apps. Case in point: Smaato reported to eMarketer that 91% of its worldwide mobile programmatic ad spending in Q1 of 2017 was in-app ( emarketer, Mobile Programmatic Ad Benchmarks Worldwide: In-App vs. Mobile Web Spending Share, Q1 2015-Q1 2017, 2017). App domination will continue into the future, and as this environment is pretty diversified, it is extremely important not to act blindly. Analyse the app's audience with regard to your potential customers. Do your homework, and choose only the apps that highly index against your target audience. This is not only important from the ROI standpoint, but also from a wide brand safety perspective.
TIP #2: When it comes to Quality, always double check
Second, while the industry is moving forward with anti-fraud tools, fraud still remains an issue. For example, 50% of US digital marketers believe that brand safety, ad fraud and viewability are the leading challenges facing media buying ( emarketer, Leading Challenges of Media Buying According to US Digital Marketer, Feb 2017).
And when it comes to programmatic, ad buyers are even more cautious. Unfortunately, there is no sufficient plug and play solution. Real-time traffic monitoring software has already proved to be very helpful, but bots are evolving just the same. Since this race is not about to finish anytime soon, it is very important to double check the tech providers and inventory sources you work with. The word Quality should always stay top of mind, and you should continuously ask partners for full disclosure about the kinds of solutions they use and their relationship with the inventory they provide. If you buy mobile web traffic, don't be afraid to ask about ads.txt implementation, too!
TIP #3: Try out innovative formats
Third, the mobile ad industry is not only growing in terms of revenues, but ad formats are also becoming more sophisticated. They're more dynamic and more interactive, which means they're more interesting to users. It's great for media buyers, because we're no longer forced to buy these small mobile ads anymore; we can explore a wide portfolio of Display, video and Rich Media formats. When you mix them with a propensity to test new solutions, you are way closer to success. So open your mind to non-standard thinking and try to go beyond what everyone else is doing - this principle is even more accurate when it comes to mobile!
