Ads that subtitle the experience work best on mobile

As per a study in the US by AI company GumGum, a number of widely used mobile ad formats go unnoticed, what is more, users are not at all appreciative of intrusive ads that increase the page load time.  Another global report State of the Blocked Web 2017 – Global AdBlock report indicates that 600 million devices were running ad blocker devices globally two years back and 62% of these ad blockers were being used on the mobile. The Asia Pacific leads the way here!

Suraj Nagappa
Suraj Nagappa

Moot point here is, are the marketers using mobile to the optimum in the mobile first universe? Is there an overkill? Is it the case of ‘I have to be there because I don’t want to be left behind’ or ‘I have to be there effectively’? Suraj Nagappa, VP, Isobar India expresses, “Ads can be annoying, especially on mobile, optimized format ads which fit with the mobile display are always welcome… along with timing, mobile users also don’t want the ad to take over the content or their screens.  This means mobile ads have to be more about quality than volume so as to not irritate the audience and have them resort to ad blocking.  ‘Less is more’ when it comes to successful mobile advertising.”

 

 

 

Venkat Shankarnarayan
Venkat Shankarnarayan

Mobile, being a constant companion of the customer, is a great temptation for marketers. A quality mobile ad not only helps in enhancing brand recall but also is a wonderful way for the last mile interaction. Quality, here, of course, refers to much beyond the visual appeal of an ad. The moment the ad gets intrusive, it loses a lot of its sheen, and the outcome is not really brand positive. Venkat Shankarnarayan, AVP – Paid Media, iProspect India, explains, “Mobile advertising plays an important role in the consumer purchase making journey and is responsible for a higher ratio of conversions from an advertiser's perspective. That said, there is a very thin line that separates intrusive from effective mobile advertising. With second screen ad-tech and the evolution of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence across digital marketing channels, the average consumer today is exposed to advertising on mobile platforms like never before. Our recommendation would be to keep messaging on mobile to the point and avoid hyper personalization to a level where it gets intrusive for the consumer.”

Venugopal Gaganna
Venugopal Gaganna

Venugopal Ganganna, CEO, Langoor, makes a very interesting observation, “Mobile advertising, like all advertising is about the user experience. Most users appreciate that advertising is an outcome of free services or content that they consume. While that is acceptable, consumers can be lost easily if advertising takes over the user experience and it becomes a constant barrier.” True that, channel surfing during the ad breaks is quite common on television unless the ad is captivating, and viewers consider it worth a watch! It is so much easier to ignore an ad on mobile, where the user has to pause scrolling to really interact with an ad. To quote Ganganna again, “Any format that exists subtitling in the experience and doesn’t take over the whole screen tends to be acceptable. That includes fixed, small popups at the bottom of the screen (like the privacy notices) and in content advertising. But also aspects such as native advertising (content feeds), influencer advertising on Instagram or content marketing (paid articles) are a good way to engage users and being discovered instead of getting in the way.”

Video as per our other two respondents is the best way to connect with the consumer on mobile – least intrusive but still engaging and effective. Shankarnarayan states, “Video ads optimised for mobile viewing are very effective and least intrusive. In stream ads on platforms like YouTube, Facebook and Instagram work best to get the point across and are least intrusive. Some other popular and effective ad formats include Interstitials and Engaging HTML 5 innovations.” Nagappa echoes similar thoughts, “Mobile video goes side by side with desktop video ads… It’s no secret that video remains the most engaging format but more importantly, it helps clients to employ advertising in the most non-intrusive way possible.”

Do our experts at TMMS 2018, have similar views? What do they have to say about what really works in the mobile space? Come, be with us at TMMS 2018 to hear their perspective.

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