Top tips & tricks for brands, digital agencies & ad sales teams on how to run successful mobile advertising campaigns. Tips include how to create mobile banner ads that are engaging and generate much higher returns.

2. 16 Best Tips
to
Run Successful
Mobile Rich Media Ad Campaigns
You are about to embark on an online
advertising campaign to garner interest for
your products or services with the objective of
selling it and gaining mind share. To do this,
you must optimize your ads for conversion.
Conversion rates are a measurement of how
effective your ads are in generating leads and
turning them into sales or performing some
other action, such as signing up for a trial.
While different approaches work best for
different products and services, there are
universally proven methods and here we
examine 16.
“
Conversion rates are essentially
a measurement of how effective
your ads are in generating a lead
and converting them into a sale
or performing some other
desired action
“

3. 1
Define campaign goals and objectives
Your goals and objectives must be measurable to show you where
you stand and whether you are on the right track
What are you trying to accomplish with this
campaign? Are you promoting a brand, selling a
revolutionary product or looking for Facebook fans?
There must be a clear goal and objective to your ad
campaign. If this cannot be determined, your
messaging, strategies and tactics will lose focus and
consequently, your campaign will likely fail.
Your goals and objectives must be measurable to
show you where you stand and whether you are on
the right track1.
1
“Planning internet marketing Campaign Goals and Strategies”
http://www.dragonsearchmarketing.com/planning-internet-marketing-campaign-goals-strategies/

4. 2
Be clear, direct and to the point
“
You have only 8 seconds to capture
the audiences’ attention
8
Seco
nds
“
In online advertising, there is a rule of thumb known as the
“reverse rodeo rule” stating that you have only 8 seconds
to capture the audiences’ attention2. While rich media
maintains your grip on the audience longer, you must
make it count. Maximize this opportunity through the use
of clear and direct messages instead of composing
lengthy essays. Ads containing 4 words or less receive
28% more taps3.
2
“Hit Branding Goals with Rich Media Ads” http://www.everydayhospitals.com/blog/hit-branding-goals-with-rich-media-ads/
3
“Mobile ads with four words or less receive 28% more clicks”
http://www.thedrum.com/news/2013/08/02/mobile-ads-four-words-or-less-receive-28-cent-more-clicks

5. 3
Know who and where the target market is
To draw quality traffic,
it is important to display ads
to the right demographic
Every product or service has a target audience
based on factors such as geographical location, age
and gender. In an app centric world, this is especially
important as different people use different apps.
To draw quality traffic, it is important to display ads to
the right demographic. An ad for a Ferrari displayed
to teens will likely yield impulse taps, nothing more.
To identify and target your audience, you must work
together with ad networks.

6. 4
Time ads to increase relevance and visibility
In December, Christmas gifts will be
on peoples’ minds
25
DEC
People tend to think about food close to lunch and dinner.
In December, Christmas gifts will be on peoples’ minds and
as the school holiday season approaches, many will be
planning for family vacations. These very simple examples
highlight the importance of the timing of your ads. It should
then be obvious that timing is everything. Take note of the
time, day, month and, sometimes, even the year to increase
the relevance of your ads.

7. 5
In-app advertising for an app centric world
4% 2%
12%
32%
6%
2%
2%
6%
It may have only been 5 to 6 years since the mobile
revolution began but the change has already been
significant. Today, the majority have migrated from
mobile browsers to mobile apps. According to app
analytics firm Flurry, 80% of the consumer’s time is
spent inside apps4. The conclusion is simple: if your
ads are not being displayed inside apps, you are
steadily losing your audience
App-Games
App-Facebook
18%
8%
App-Other
App-Entaertainment
8%
App-Productivity
Browser-Safari
App-Utility
Browser-Android Native
App-Social Networking
Browser-Opera Mini
App-News
Figure 2: Time spent on iOS and Android
connected devices (Source: Flurry)
4
“Flurry Five-Year Report: It’s an App World. The Web Just Lives in It”
http://blog.flurry.com/bid/95723/Flurry-Five-Year-Report-It-s-an-App-World-The-Just-Web-Lives-in-It

8. 6
Optimize ads for a mobile experience
Mobile devices are generally still small and there are two
ways to optimize ads for a mobile experience. The first is
split it into two: a teaser banner and the full screen ad. The
teaser attracts attention and when tapped, the full screen ad
takes centre stage. The second involves using technology to
determine the screen orientation, whether it is in portrait or
landscape view. A landscape view provides more real estate.
Why not make use of it dynamically?
The teaser attracts attention and
when tapped, the full screen ad
takes centre stage
Figure 3: Optimize for mobile devices to make
best use of real estate
Various mobile ad formats that include interstitials, pop-ups, sliders & IAB mobile rising stars.

9. 7
Design seamless and non-intrusive ad
If your ad caught the eye
in the middle of a game,
there is now no need to
sacrifice that high score
just to view it
Figure 4: A non-intrusive experience increases the likelihood of a tap
Create HTML5 mobile ads using MobileAds' ad creator.
Traditional banner ads create an intrusive
experience, taking the audience away from
the app used when tapped. New ad delivery
methods jettison this behaviour by
integrating the ad within the app. This
preserves the app state when the banner is
tapped and when done viewing, it returns to
that state. If your ad caught the eye in the
middle of a game, there is now no need to
sacrifice that high score just to view it.

10. 8
Use interactions to hold
and convert the audience
it found the audience 79% more
likely to interact with an IAB Mobile
Rising Stars ad as opposed to
traditional banners
Holding the attention of your audience is a tricky task
but can be accomplished through interactive ads.
This conclusion has been supported by an Internet
Advertising Bureau (IAB) commissioned study5.
Examining the effectiveness of the IAB Mobile Rising
Stars creative ad units, it found the audience 79%
more likely to interact with an IAB Mobile Rising Stars
ad as opposed to traditional banners. From passive
spectators, they now become involved and invested
and increasing the probability of conversion.
5
“Mobile Rising Stars Ad Interaction & Effectiveness”, http://www.iab.net/media/file/MobileRisingStarsAdInteractionandEffectivenessFINAL.pdf

11. 9
Bring ads to life using rich media
A study conducted by browser developer
Opera found 66% of taps on rich media
ads completed the interaction in ad units
that displayed videos with an average
dwell time close to 1 minute6. Swedish
automobile manufacturer Volvo
completed a mobile ad campaign for their
S60 using rich media that resulted in 10x
improvement in click-through rates7.
By conveying the message about your
brand or product in a more interesting
and aesthetically pleasing manner, you
will increase your chances of conversion.
Figure 6: Volvo S60 rich media ad campaign
(Image from GigaOM)
6
“The State of Mobile Advertising”, https://www.dropbox.com/s/s78vuq9of7ixpfw/opera_state-of-mobile-advertising_july2012_FINAL.pdf
7
“Mobile Rich Media Ads Getting Clicks and Eyeballs”, http://gigaom.com/2011/01/31/mobile-rich-media-ads-getting-clicks-and-eyeballs/

12. 10
Rich media is more than pictures and videos
Rich media is much more
and can be adapted for
the goal at hand
Having a stock clearance sale? Why not
include a map that uses geo-location to
point those interested to the closest store
to grab those out of this world deals. Just
developed a revolutionary new beauty
product? Do not just describe the benefits;
show it with a comparison of before and
after images. When the term rich media is used, people tend to think only of
pictures and videos. Rich media is much more and can be adapted for the goal at hand.
Mobile rich media banner examples that embed components for social media, ecommerce, image slideshow, video, etc.

13. 11
Create unique tapestries of interaction
What if you could provide multiple forms of interaction instead? From flipping through a picture gallery of
your newly redesigned hotel to playing a video of your guests enjoying themselves in the surrounding
scenery, the more options provided, the longer the dwell time. By providing multiple forms of interaction, ads become more diverse and cater to a wider audience. Not only
that, it gives you the power of providing different calls to action to people
with different levels of expectations.
By providing multiple forms of interaction,
ads become more diverse and cater to
a wider audience
Figure 7: Combine different components to create unique interactive experiences

14. 12
Make call to actions visible and obvious
Congratulations!
You have the audiences’ attention and
interest but do they know what to do next?
There must be a clear call to action that
entices them to perform the desired action
from a design and messaging perspective8.
Never use text that blends in with the rest
of the ad. Instead, use buttons with
standout colours together with direct and
compelling statements to lead them down
the conversion tunnel.
Figure 8: A clear and obvious CTA grabs the attention immediately
8
“Your Call to Action is Lame! Here are 10 Ways to Make it Convert Better”,
http://unbounce.com/conversion-rate-optimization/your-call-to-action-is-lame-here-are-10-examples-to-help-you-fix-it/

15. 13
Highlight incentives and value
Before your audience decides
to hand you their credit card,
they will want to know what
they will get in return
Figure 9: Quiznos mobile marketing campaign
(Image from Sense Networks)
9
US sandwich chain Quiznos ran a campaign from
November till December 2012 targeting customers
with discount coupons via mobile ads9 .
It witnessed 3.7 million impressions and a 20%
boost in coupon redemption. The lesson is this:
Before your audience decides to hand you their
credit card, they will want to know what they will
get in return. The probability of conversion
increases when you convey incentives or values
that would otherwise be difficult to attain.
“Quiznos sees 20pc boost in coupon redemption via location based mobile ad campaign”,
http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/advertising/14738.html

16. 14
Make intimate and personal ads
What is the purpose of your product or
Pictures of people
having a wonderful time
with your product or
service will have a better
chance of convincing
the audience
service? Without doubt, you believe they
improve lives and bring happiness. Make
this known by including images of its
impact on people as this brings a level of
intimacy and gets your audience
emotionally invested10. Pictures of people
having a wonderful time with your product
or service will have a better chance of
convincing the audience it too will have a
positive impact on their lives.
10
“7 Ways to Improve Your Facebook Mobile Ad CTRs”, http://www.nanigans.com/2013/04/01/7-ways-to-improve-your-facebook-mobile-ad-ctrs/

17. 15
Take advantage of social media
Whether an article or a picture, people
enjoy sharing through social media
and its power cannot be
underestimated. According to Rhythm
New Media, ads using a social
component increased audience
interactivity rates by 57% with one
client even seeing a 75% increase in
engagement rates11. You may not get
the first time conversion but if
compelling enough, it could spread
through social media12.
Ads using a social
component increased
audience interactivity
rates by 57%
Figure 10: Users can tap to like Hard Graft or retweet its ad
11
“Four Mobile Marketing Strategies That Are Working Right Now”, http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/advertising/12382.html
12
“Rich Media and Social Media: A Match Made in Marketing Heaven”,
http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2268058/rich-media-and-social-media-a-match-made-in-marketing-heaven

18. 16
Create a sense of urgency
You must create a sense of
urgency that makes them think
‘now or never’ instead of
‘I’ll do it later’
Figure 11: Remove hesitation by increasing the sense of urgency
Hesitation delays conversions. The longer they
wait, the more likely it is for your audience to
lose interest. The solution to avoiding such a
situation is simple. You must create a sense of
urgency that makes them think ‘now or never’
instead of ‘I’ll do it later’. It could be something
as simple as a limited time offer lasting 24 hours.
An offer that is too good to pass up will prod
your audience to act now rather than later.