Demystifying Mobile Advertising

Take a minute to stop and think about your business’ marketing & advertising strategy. Is mobile advertising a part of it?

In case you’ve missed it; the age of mobile is here, it arrived at least 10 years ago and has been making its mark as a lucrative advertising medium to give brands that extra push. As a business, whether you choose to admit it or not, the reality is that more of your customers are spending a lot of their time in the digital world. This growing digital consumption is further facilitated by the rise in mobile device usage globally, and more noteworthy is its significant growth in the Caribbean. The introduction of low-cost telecommunications service in the Caribbean in the last 10 years has resulted in increased availability to, and usage of mobile phones, and the increase in internet penetration has increased the use of Wi-Fi devices such as tablets and PDAs. As a business, one of your key objectives is to provide your product or service to consumers, which you first do by introducing it to them where they are. With the increased presence of consumers on mobile devices, it is important for your business to also establish a strong presence in this space through advertising.

Mobile advertising is advertising that appears on mobile devices, such as mobile phones, and tablets. This form of advertising is not a new concept, but rather one that is continuously evolving. In former years, mobile ads were mainly SMS, which later expanded to include shrunken versions of desktop ads. However, with the constant changing world of mobile, mobile advertising has also improved to include highly technical ads that have been optimized and designed specifically to suit mobile adaptability and achieve maximum efficiency on mobile platforms.

Types of Mobile ads

The main types of mobile ads refer to how the ads are presented on the various mobile devices, in relation to their size and location on the screen. The five main types of mobile ads are: banner, native, interstitial, video, and rich media.

1. Banner- banner ads, or display ads as they are commonly called, are those that are displayed across the top or bottom of a mobile screen. Banner ads are effective because they’re location on the screen does not interfere with the user’s mobile experience.
   

   photo from blog.namomedia.com/

2. Native- these ads are those that adapt the look and feel of the page on which it is hosted, and as such do not look like ads. The benefit of using a             native ad is that it blends seamlessly into the page or app and does not interfere with the user’s mobile experience.

3. Interstitial- Interstitial ads are interactive full page ads that are displayed across the entire screen of the mobile device. Though full paged, these ads tend to be displayed while the app is loading or after the app has closed. The benefit to using this ad is that it offers more advertising space since it takes up the entire screen, and encourages more engagement since users have to click to close the ad.

4. Video- Video ads are those that play at natural pauses within a mobile experience, such as the loading stage in a game app. These videos are short, 15-30 seconds in length, and offer brands the opportunity to connect with their audience. The benefit to using this type of ad is that it is highly interactive and as such the user engagement is increased.

5. Rich media- a rich media ad can be any of the aforementioned ad types, however its design is different. A rich media banner, or a multimedia banner as it is sometimes called, is a highly interactive ad that engages the user by prompting them to complete an action, or includes video, audio, graphics, or a combination. Compared to a static banner, rich media banners have the advantage of converting advertising into engagement based on its design, and functionality which create a greater impression and a lasting experience for the user.

Mobile advertising is a fast growing digital marketing strategy that offers multiple benefits. With the changes in the current market place, digital advertising may be the change that is needed to boost your brand’s image. To explore implementing your own mobile advertising strategy, click here