4 tips to create high-converting mobile ads

It is now technically possible to measure mobile ad performance at all stages of the user funnel : from print to click, to download and even untill registration or purchase  (or any other action in your app or mobile website). A high-converting mobile ad is an ad that has the best possible conversion rate at all steps: « print => click » then « click => download » then « download => purchase »  (or other action). How to create effective converting visuals for mobile advertising? Here are 4 tips gained from our experience on over 100 apps.

• Adapting content to all required sizes and to mobile formats

There are more than 100 mobile screen sizes among all smartphones and tablets on Android & iOS. To achieve high conversion rates, it is necessary to adapt the visual to all screen sizes. Stretching a banner will not give a qualitative result; you have to create 1 visual for each size by replacing and adjusting graphical objects for each visual (picture, text, button). Technologies such as Addict Mobile allow to create automatically hundreds of visuals to fit all screen sizes. It is also important to adapt the visual to the specific mobile formats: for instance on banners the space is limited and requires limited text. On an interstitial on tablet, the space allows detailed illustration. On mobile videos, you should consider that 90% of the audience will play them mute, so you need to deliver a written message. Here is an example of how bad a banner can: this McDonald’s banner does not suit the screen size; it does not cover the entire mobile screen. Furthermore, the text is totally unreadable and there is no call-to-action button.

• Creating striking visuals

A good mobile ads is made up of 4 key elements: an eye-catching illustration, a strong message, a logo (or clear brand identification) and a “call-to-action” button, to let the user know why he should click.   Mobile ads which convert best are based an original messages, special offers or contextual elements linked to the news. For instance for the app Closer (people and gossip magazine), we used smileys, hashtags and catchy sentences from tv reality shows to reach young females. It’s important to use eye-catching visuals, no matter their authenticity: an attractive illustration with flashy colours draws more attention and more clicks. For instance for Citygoo, the best short distance ride-sharing service, the flashy blue screen showing a journey and cost on the right performed far better than the photo of a car and people on the left. According to our expertise, blue colour for the text (or background) and orange colour for « call-to-action » button are usually effective.  Adding effects or animating the call-to-action button also helps improving conversion rates.

• Targeting effectively your audience

Targeting your audience leads to better conversion rates, because you avoid paying for ad display, click or app download by non interested users. Mobile offers unique targeting possibilities : mobile users are identified based on demo & geo criteria (gender, age, localization), usage criteria (purchase, time spent, other apps downloaded on the device) or look-alike groups of users, etc… You can adapt your visual to a group or sub-group of audience to improve conversion rates. For example for a strategy game, we used a specific visual to target males and another one to target females.

• Performing numerous A/B tests

A / B Testing allows to compare the performance of various ads and sets of targeting criteria. It is common in the advertising world to test 10-15 different campaigns, to understand the different formats, texts, illustrations and buttons which work best depending on various audience groups. Thess two banners on the left are very similar. However, the one on the right converts 15% better than the other one, in terms on print to clicks! Beware however, two visuals may have identical CTR, but 30% variation on click to install rate, and again 30% difference on the install to purchase rate. Maximizing conversion rates is a painfull job that requires a lot of time, testing, iterations … and expertise! But this is absolutely necessary to achieve positive ROI. Addict Mobile technology can help you automating this process, creating visuals that are adapted to all formats and managing large volumes of A / B tests.