What Is Mobile Advertising? Types, Tips, and Examples

What Is Mobile Advertising?

Mobile advertizing is simply a selling method that involves displaying paid promotional messages connected mobile devices similar smartphones and tablets. And aims to person users person (take a desired action) successful effect to the promotional material.

Such arsenic by:

• Purchasing a product
• Signing up for a webinar
• Subscribing to an email list

Mobile ads travel successful galore forms that we’ll spell implicit later. And successful summation to text, they tin besides see images, animations, oregon video.

Mobile Marketing vs. Mobile Advertising

Mobile selling aims to link with and person people audiences who usage mobile devices done a assortment of tactics. Which tin see societal media marketing, mobile SEO, paid mobile ads, and more.

Mobile advertizing is simply a subset of mobile marketing.

But it focuses lone connected moving paid ads that are shown connected mobile devices. 

The Advantages of Mobile Advertising

By moving mobile ads, you tin spot a fig of benefits:

Create More User Touch Points

Advertising connected mobile tin beryllium portion of a broader omnichannel marketing strategy wherever you marketplace to users crossed assorted devices and channels. To assistance nurture users done your selling funnel and thrust them toward conversion.

Let’s accidental your institution is ConvertKit and you’re moving mobile ads connected Instagram to beforehand your email platform. On the ConvertKit website, you tin instal a tracking codification known arsenic a “pixel” to way visitors to the site.

You tin past make a remarketing run that displays your Instagram and ads to ConvertKit website visitors.

So, erstwhile a idiosyncratic browses the ConvertKit website connected 1 device—like their desktop computer—the pixel you’ve added logs their enactment and keeps way of them.

This means that erstwhile the idiosyncratic opens the Instagram app connected their telephone later, they whitethorn spot an Instagram advertisement promoting ConvertKit:

The advertisement reminds them of their involvement successful the platform. Which could punctual them to instrumentality to the ConvertKit website and research it further. And possibly adjacent registry for an account.

Reach Your Audience While They’re connected the Go

The portability of mobile devices lets you scope your assemblage adjacent if they’re not logged successful to their computers.

Bear successful caput that they’ll apt beryllium pulling retired their mobile devices to:

• Chat with household and friends
• Scroll done their favourite societal media platforms
• Play mobile games

In fact, Americans aged 18 and older walk 4 hours and 25 minutes connected their mobile phones each day, according to a survey from Reviews.org.

This gives you a important accidental to prosecute them via mobile advertising.

It besides doesn’t substance wherever your assemblage is. They could beryllium astatine a java store hanging retired with friends. They could beryllium connected the autobus traveling to the airport. They could adjacent beryllium hiking successful the forest.

As agelong arsenic they person their mobile instrumentality and an net connection, your mobile ads tin scope them.

Target Your Audience More Precisely

Mobile devices tin supply information connected their users’ locations.

This lets you prosecute successful “geotargeting.” In different words, tally targeted lone users successful definite areas portion they’re successful those areas. 

Running ads similar these helps you optimize your advertisement fund if your ads are applicable to lone definite geographical segments.

For example, if you tally an aesthetician halfway successful New York City, you could take to tally hunt ads done Google Ads promoting your facials to lone users whose existent determination falls wrong a radius astir a peculiar determination wrong New York City.

Yes, these ads volition scope radical utilizing desktop devices wrong that area. But the existent payment is that they’ll besides scope radical utilizing mobile devices who mightiness lone beryllium successful that determination for a abbreviated magnitude of time.

So, erstwhile these mobile users commencement Googling for places to get a facial, they could spot your ad.And if they find your aesthetician center’s determination convenient, they mightiness marque an appointment.

There’s small constituent successful advertizing to mobile users successful different locations. Because they astir apt won’t marque the travel to sojourn your center. 

As a result, you’d apt discarded wealth showing your ads to radical who are improbable to convert.

Types of Mobile Advertising

Here are 5 communal types of mobile ads and mobile advertizing examples for each of them:

Mobile banner ads are mobile ads displayed connected webpages.

They often look arsenic horizontal rectangles—similar to the carnal banners you mightiness spot outdoors. But they tin besides beryllium shaped arsenic squares oregon vertical rectangles.

Mobile banner ads tin beryllium located:

• At the apical of the page
• At the bottommost of the page
• In the mediate of the page’s content

For example, PCMag displays mobile banner ads passim its slumber tech guide. Including this one:

Mobile banner advertisements placed astatine the apical oregon bottommost of the leafage tin besides beryllium “sticky.” Meaning they stay successful presumption adjacent arsenic the idiosyncratic scrolls.

Take a look astatine this Best Buy merchandise leafage for noise-canceling headphones. Which has 2 mobile banner ads astatine the apical of the page:

The “Don’t miss out” advertisement is sticky. While the “Limited time” advertisement isn’t.

Mobile banner ads travel successful assorted sizes optimized for viewing connected mobile screens. Standard sizes include:

• 300 x 50 pixels
• 320 x 50 pixels
• 320 x 90 pixels

2. Interstitial Ads

Interstitial ads are mobile ads that instrumentality up the afloat surface connected mobile devices.

They often look portion users interact with contented connected the screen. And necessitate users to hold and past adjacent them earlier they tin proceed with the interaction.

For example, erstwhile you effort to play The New York Times’s Wordle crippled connected your mobile phone, you whitethorn archetypal spot an interstitial ad. Which you person to adjacent by clicking “Continue to Wordle” earlier you tin proceed to the game.

Users whitethorn beryllium much apt to prosecute much with interstitial ads than mobile banner ads.

Why?

Because the full-screen quality of interstitial ads prevents users from seeing—or doing—anything other connected the surface portion the advertisement is there.

Users besides person to instrumentality enactment to adjacent the advertisement if they aren’t funny successful it.

Since interstitial ads tin beryllium much effectual than mobile banner ads, advertisers are often consenting to wage much for them.

The mean effectual outgo per mille (eCPM) for interstitial ads—meaning, the magnitude that advertisers wage for each 1,000 impressions of their ad—can beryllium arsenic overmuch arsenic 4,094% higher than for banner ads, according to a survey by Adnimation.

But displaying interstitial ads tin wounded the idiosyncratic acquisition connected your pages. Because they hinder users from accessing the contented they privation to see. 

Especially annoyed users whitethorn adjacent debar visiting your website successful the future.

Google whitethorn besides fertile pages that connection a mediocre leafage acquisition little connected the search motor results pages (SERPs). Their guidelines connected interstitials urge website owners show mobile banner ads connected their pages alternatively of interstitial ads.

3. Push Notification Ads

Push notification ads look arsenic abbreviated alert messages connected a user’s mobile device. Businesses often nonstop (or “push”) these cellphone advertisements to their app users erstwhile they person a timely promotional connection to share.

Here’s an illustration of a propulsion notification advertisement from the ShopBack mobile app:

While users tin person propulsion notification ads from websites, they much commonly get them from their mobile devices’ apps.

The idiosyncratic besides doesn’t request the applicable website oregon app unfastened connected their instrumentality to person propulsion notifications. But the idiosyncratic needs to consent to receiving propulsion notification ads first.

Only Natural Pet gains consent by displaying a website pop-up asking users if they privation to person the business’s notifications:

And the Amazon app contains settings users tin crook connected oregon disconnected to person propulsion notifications astir savings, merchandise recommendations, and caller releases.

Users tin opt retired of receiving propulsion ads anytime. Preventing you from selling to them successful that way.

Social media ads look arsenic users browse contented connected societal media platforms.

For example, here’s an Instagram Story advertisement for Adobe:

Here’s a Facebook provender advertisement for Stripe:

And here’s a TikTok video advertisement for H&M.

Each of these mobile advertizing examples has a antithetic format.

Adobe’s Instagram Story advertisement is simply a static full-screen image. Stripe’s Facebook provender advertisement is an representation post. And H&M’s TikTok advertisement is simply a full-screen video.

The brands person formatted their ads to lucifer the applicable societal media platform’s advertisement format requirements and recommendations. And you’ll request to bash the aforesaid for your societal media ads.

For example, if you are placing an Instagram Story video ad, your advertisement should fulfill requirements similar having a 9:16 facet ratio. And being nary longer than 60 seconds.

If you mean to show an representation advertisement connected users’ Facebook feeds, Meta’s recommendations for your advertisement include:

• Adding an representation of astatine slightest 1,080 x 1,080 pixels successful size
• Writing a header and statement of up to 27 characters each
• Providing superior substance of up to 125 characters

Social ads tin beryllium effective, too.

An awesome 34% of consumers accidental that societal media ads power their pre-purchase decisions, according to a June 2023 PwC user survey.

5. In-App Advertisements

In-app advertisements look wrong mobile apps. 

They tin travel successful forms similar the following:

• Classic banner ad: A rectangular banner advertisement astatine the apical oregon the bottommost of the app screen
• Medium rectangle: A rectangular advertisement that’s taller than a classical banner ad. It’s placed successful the mediate of the app content.
• Interstitial: A full-screen advertisement connected the app surface that users request to manually close. Interstitial ads were the most-encountered benignant of in-app advertisement for 39.1% of app users and marketers surveyed by GoodFirms successful 2023.
• Native advertising: An advertisement that takes connected the quality and format of the contented surrounding it. So it looks similar portion of the contented itself.

For instance, this autochthonal advertisement successful the Todoist mobile app encourages users to upgrade to a Todoist Pro plan.

Further reading: Mobile App Marketing 101: How to Reach Your Audience

What’s the Cost of Mobile Advertising?

The mean eCPM for interstitial mobile ads connected iOS devices successful the U.S. was $13.61 successful the 4th fourth of 2023, reports Appodeal.

According to the aforesaid Appodeal report, here’s the mean eCPM for displaying different formats to U.S. users crossed a fewer instrumentality types:

• Interstitial ads connected Android: $13.23
• Banner ads connected iOS: $0.31
• Banner ads connected Android: $0.43

Tips for Creating a Successful Mobile Advertising Strategy

These champion practices tin assistance you get the astir retired of a constricted mobile integer advertizing budget:

Use Keywords That Are Suitable for Mobile Ads

If you’re moving hunt ads oregon banner ads that trust connected keywords, marque definite the keywords you’re considering are a bully acceptable for mobile. To summation the likelihood your ads volition amusement and thrust applicable postulation to your site.

Semrush’s Keyword Overview instrumentality tin assistance you with this.

Launch the instrumentality and benignant a keyword you’re reasoning of utilizing for your ads.

Select the state and a determination wrong that state if you wish. Then, click “Search.”

The instrumentality volition show a keyword report. Click the “Desktop” mounting astatine the apical and alteration it to “Mobile”:

You’ll past get a mobile-specific mentation of the “Overview” study for your chosen keyword.

This study volition bespeak the keyword’s wide characteristics. Like its:

• Search volume: A higher-volume keyword could assistance much radical spot your advertisement compared to a lower-volume one
• Search intent (the crushed down a user’s query): A keyword with either the commercialized oregon transactional hunt intent whitethorn beryllium an particularly bully 1 for advertising
• Trend: Consider if hunt request for the keyword has been trending upward oregon is cyclical. This volition assistance you find whether utilizing it is worthwhile.

The study volition besides amusement ad-specific accusation like:

• Cost per click (CPC): This is the mean magnitude advertisers are paying for each click connected their ads
• Competitive density: A practice of the fig of advertisers bidding to spot ads connected this keyword. The higher the people (with the maximum being 1.00), the much competitory the keyword is among advertisers.
• PLA (product listing ads): The Google Shopping ads that look for this keyword (if any)
• Ads: The Google hunt ads that look for this keyword

Use each this accusation to determine whether to see the keyword successful your ads. And get an thought of however overmuch your advertizing fund whitethorn request to be.

Optimize Your Content for Mobile

Mobile-optimizing the landing pages you nonstop users to erstwhile they click your ads improves the browsing acquisition connected smaller screens. And makes it easier for users to convert.

For example, here’s a mobile advertisement for ArDrive connected the YouTube app:

Clicking the advertisement directs you to ArDrive’s homepage.

Here’s however the aforesaid homepage looks connected a desktop machine for comparison.

ArDrive has intelligibly optimized its homepage for mobile by doing things like:

• Moving its “Try for Free” call-to-action fastener from the near to the mediate of the screen. To summation its prominence and assistance thrust much conversions.
• Placing its navigation successful a hamburger paper to prevention connected constricted surface abstraction and trim the fig of distractions. Which tin thrust much fastener clicks.
• Removing an further representation to prevention space

Target Your Ads Based connected Your Audience’s Location

It’s a bully thought to amusement your ads to lone users who are geographically adjacent capable to instrumentality vantage of your ads’ offers.

Why?

Because it helps you maximize the fig of conversions you get for your advertisement spend. Especially if your products and services are disposable lone successful a definite location.

Running antithetic advertisement campaigns to suit your audience’s determination besides lets you localize the advertisement originative and transcript to match:

• The connection your assemblage speaks
• The products and services disposable successful their area
• The promotions they’re eligible for
• The currency and units of measurement they use

Here’s a local marketing illustration courtesy of jeweler Tiffany & Co. The marque displays this mobile advertisement to Google users successful Austin, Texas:

And it displays a antithetic mobile advertisement for Google users successful London.

These ads nonstop users to antithetic store locations. Based connected the 1 the assemblage is closest to.

There are besides immoderate connection differences.

The Austin, Texas advertisement uses American spelling for the connection “jewelry.” While its London counterpart spells the aforesaid connection the British way—“jewellery.”

The ads besides nonstop users to the due country-specific website for their location. Being “tiffany.com” for the Austin, Texas audience. And “tiffany.co.uk” for the London audience.

Finally, the London advertisement displays prices successful pounds—the currency utilized successful London.

Further reading: What Is Content Localization? How to Build a Strategy

A/B Test Your Ads

A/B testing is the process of showing your assemblage 2 antithetic versions of your advertisement to spot which performs better.

These ads could look highly akin but alteration by a azygous component. Like the ad’s:

• Copy
• Visuals
• Call to action

Here’s an illustration investigating a antithetic image:

Conducting an A/B trial helps you place which advertisement mentation performs best. Which tin pass aboriginal advertisement campaigns.

Running effectual mobile ads involves having a wide knowing of your options and however to guarantee they’re optimized for mobile. 

One mode to guarantee your ads are well-suited for mobile is to take the close keywords.

Semrush’s Keyword Overview tin assistance you place which hunt presumption to usage and summation immoderate further insights to usher your budgeting.