How to Choose the Best Ad Placement for Mobile Ads

Mobile ads are the answer from the advertising world to the consumers hooked on to their mobile screens. Investing the ad spend in a strategic mobile advertising campaign is considered to be an effective and profitable digital marketing strategy, owing to the fact that mobile users spend most of their mobile usage time browsing the internet and consuming online content. 

With the given information, marketers and advertisers need to focus on their mobile-using audience to be able to build and deliver successful advertising campaigns with a high return on ad spends. When talking of mobile-friendly ads, their placement strategy is one of the key elements that play a crucial role in its success. However, before we jump onto the factors one should consider while placing mobile ads, let us first understand their concept in detail.

What is Mobile Advertising?

According to Google ad support, Mobile-friendly ads or websites are a type of ads and web pages that can be easily viewed on the smallest of mobile devices and tablets. It works by understanding that mobile users’ intentions are different from those using desktops or laptops. The only difference between desktop and mobile ads is the size with subtle changes in design, that enhance its mobile-friendliness.

Present-day marketers and advertisers make use of a wide range of sophisticated designs accompanied by rich media interactivity to create mobile-friendly ads and websites that help boost brand awareness and generate higher revenue.

How Mobile Ads Work

Mobile advertising is a two-way street that involves two parties and both are benefited in different ways. While advertisers serve ads to grow engagement, brand awareness, leads, etc, publishers use them to monetize their website and apps. 

The placement of mobile ads cannot be decided by the advertiser, however, they can still choose the desired size of the ad placement. In order to lock in a specific placement of the ad via a DSP (Demand Side Platform), advertisers need to have a PMP (Private Marketplace) deal in place.

Platforms like Airtory help build rich media ads in different mobile ad sizes. Further, advertisers can leverage DSPs or publisher websites for the best possible placement of their mobile ads accompanied by real-time tracking for further optimization. Here is a list of factors that goes into consideration while placing such ads. 

Things to Consider While Choosing Mobile Ads Placements

One of the key elements of a successful mobile advertising strategy is its placement on various platforms. Here is a list of factors to consider and enhance the effectiveness of ad campaigns. 

1. Have a Clear Goal

Having a clear goal and objective is a must for the placement of all digital ads as it is one of the key factors that drive their performance. Additionally, it will help you get the direction towards preparation and execution for the placement strategy of mobile ads.

Furthermore, it ensures that the right amount of money is being spent on advertising and that you are selecting the right channels for your product or service. Here is a list of some common mobile advertising goals and objectives to drive your strategy.

• Increase sales
• Raise awareness
• Lead generation
• Establish branding
• Drive in-store visits
• Drive website traffic
• Promote deals, schemes, launches

2. Understand The Target Audience

The whole purpose of ad serving is to reach the maximum number of viewers and encourage them to buy your product or subscribe to your service. Hence, it is important to ensure that the ads you are creating are reaching the right audience as well as catering to their interests/concerns. 

The only way to ensure that your ads are rightly impacting your audience is by understanding their needs and requirements, which involves conducting research, surveys, etc. You need to know who they are, what they want, what is their age and gender, how they view your ad, their location, etc. These learnings will help you better prepare for your mobile ad placement strategy and also meaningfully communicate your message. 

3. Select a Communication Strategy

Communication strategy is the way you communicate your message to the target audience along with the use of various rich media elements that entice them to take the desired action. Selecting an effective communication strategy as per your brand, product or service will help you decide the placement of your mobile ad that will best work to enhance its effectiveness. Here is what you need to consider when deciding the communication strategy for the placement of mobile ads.

• Is the communication strategy in line with your campaign goals?
• Do you have enough budget to support your communication strategy?
• Does the chosen strategy work best with the kind of products or services you are offering?

4. Mobile Ads Size and Design

On smaller screens, too large or too many ads are said to consume too much valuable space that displaces the actual page content. Hence, it is advisable to keep your mobile ads as small as possible, with the message visible along with the interactive elements. Also, large ads go against the principles of mobile usability that is to prioritize content. 

Some of the most popular and the best ad sizes for display ads on mobile include,

• 336x280 Interstitial Ads
• 300x250 Inline Rectangle
• 320x50 Mobile Leaderboard
• 320x100 Large Mobile Banner
• 480x260 In-stream Video Ads
• 320x480 Interstitial Ads

Talking about the design, creative elements for desktop and mobile need to be different to suit the ad size. Since mobile ad sizes are mostly much smaller, you need to ensure that only important information is included to avoid overcrowding. One thing to avoid is false floors (an illusion of completeness) as they can confuse the users and make them think that they have reached the end of the page. Furthermore, it makes it difficult to read the actual page content, especially when placing the ads on web pages or landing pages.

Considering the above factors will help you with the best placement of your mobile ads to generate excellent revenue.