Mobile ads are a hit or miss kind of deal. You can either draw customers in and have their full attention or annoy them and drive them away from your app, there really is no in between.
As a mobile app development company, it becomes essential we strategically implement app monetization strategies while delivering the products to our clients and mobile ads are one key factor that boosts ROI.
I’m going to be sharing some tips and tricks on how to attract customers with mobile ads and not drive them away.
1. Don’t Overdo
Overusing ads is a terrible thing to do as it can drive customers away rapidly. Showing ads every now and then is okay or having an ad as a banner is good but if you are flashing ads every 30 seconds while someone is trying to play a game then the customer will get annoyed very quickly.
It’s like killing the goose for the gold eggs.
People find ads annoying and intrusive which is especially the case if an ad is being flashed on-screen every 30 seconds or so.
In the graph above, 64% of people feel exactly that way and of the several challenges app developers face, ad blockers are truly killing advert marketing.
2. Be Appealing
In a very visual world, it is hard to keep anyone’s attention with a standard plain ad but it’s also annoying for customers to have a flashy “in your face” ad, so you have to find a middle ground.
Make your ad appealing and attractive, so it stands out from the crowd but not to the extent where it will become bothersome.
Types of ads to avoid:
- Ads that flash different colours
- Ads that play loud music
- Ads that come up every 30 seconds
- Unskippable video ads
- Spam ads such as “Get xxx product here for $$$$ cheaper, act now!”
- Ads that aren’t “legit” that lead to scam products/websites
A good example of a simple yet visually appealing ad comes from Oreo.
The ad was created in 2014 to tell customers about their new flavours. The ad is simple, visually appealing and tells you what you need to know in very little words.
So you must be wondering now what is a bad ad? Well, this is a classic example of a bad ad.
The reasons to why this ad is bad:
- It’s humanly impossible to lose 25 pounds in 2 weeks as it would be such a strain on the body and very dangerous- therefore misleading.
- There are too many words crowded on the ad- too much to look at.
- It uses news outlets to try and make false claims seem true.
- Uses false “medical breakthrough” to try and ensure it’s safe.
- Not visually appealing.
- “Results not typical” basically saying it doesn’t work.
If you use ads like this, a lot of companies and media outlets will actually ban it due to its misleading nature.
3. When Using Video Ads, BE HUMAN!
It’s all too easy to seem like a robot when speaking on video especially if you script what you are going to say. Remember that you are only human and people want to see that!
They don’t want to see Mr Big Corporate Boss droning on about something while sounding mundane, rather they would see Cheerful Susan who may stumble over her words a few times but she reflects basic human behavior.
If you are advertising your company don’t sit and stare at the camera while telling them the ins and outs of your business, put on a smile, be energetic and tell a story of how your business came to be.
People will pay more attention to this than if you were sat at a desk reading from a piece of paper.
4. Keep Your Word
If you create an ad promising a 10% discount for new customers then you need to keep that promise. Word of mouth is a powerful thing and if you step back on that when someone signs up then not only will it turn customers away from clicking on your ads in the future, but they will also pass the word around and a lot of people will become weary of your ads and your company.
A Chinese company called Wish created an ad in early 2016 offering a free product to new customers who signed up but failed to fall through on this promise. I personally used Wish before this offer but decided to create a new account to see if they followed through with this and like I thought- they didn’t.
This type of deception is going to cause a drop in customers and force your business to take a substantial hit as you will have gained the reputation of being a misleading enterprise.
5. Provide Value
Providing value with your ads is a key element- you can’t just use a line of text saying “Visit my company” and then not give a reason as to why the user should. As the previous ad example I gave from Oreo, their value is letting customers know their new flavours.
Create a quick and catchy one-liner that tells people why they should visit your company and be genuine about it.
A great example of this is Ronseal - “Does exactly what it says on the tin” they use this to show how simple a DIY can be and that their product does exactly what it says it does.
If you own a shoe company and use a line such as “We will make you fly” that only makes sense for a company such as Nike when advertising basketball shoes but for a general shoe company that doesn’t make much sense, does it?
It’s the same with video ads, you have to provide value! One good example I can think of is the Old Spice commercials, they are funny and make no sense but still get their product across.
What To Take Away From This Article
Being overly aggressive and annoying with ads is the wrong thing to do as users will quickly become frustrated and leave. Also, having misleading ads with no value will drive users away and give your business a bad reputation.
Ad marketing is slowly dying and that's the truth, but if you take onboard some of these tips then you can start to draw customers in again!
