For marketers, online retail efforts should focus on increasing relevant traffic and sales. One of the best ways to do this is by leveraging different types of in-app advertising, meaning you can pay app developers to display your advertisement within their mobile app.

Consumers are spending far more screen time per week using mobile apps than using mobile websites (which are susceptible to ad blockers). Brands should strongly consider utilizing in-app advertising as a new way to gain exposure with a target audience.

If you’re not using in-app advertising, your CPG brand, QSR, or eCommerce site is missing out on a critical marketing channel. In-app advertising is quickly becoming one of the most effective spaces for raising brand awareness because it offers tools that gather data and measure campaign efficiency through the use of user targeting and data tracking.

Another great advantage of using the various types of in-app advertising is that apps appeal to very specific markets. Brands that choose the right app can target the right audience. In a saturated media landscape, not many marketing channels can make that claim.

The Types of In App Advertising That Can Raise Brand Awareness

Mobile apps give advertisements an organic-feeling environment where they can blend in with the user experience. Done right, in-app ads feel seamless, achieving one of marketing’s greatest challenges; a fully comprehensive and integrated brand experience. The user starts to experience the ad as simply more of the app’s own content, making the two inseparable. This strategy produces the most successful form of marketing; content that’s fun and entertaining to consume.

To leverage this technology, brands must understand how consumers will use their mobile devices to experience an advertisement. Then, brands must choose the most appropriate ad format. Here are types of in-app advertising formats that have been proven effective.

Video Ads

You can take an ad format users are highly familiar with—the commercial—and tailor it to appear in-app. Although the screen is small, video ads are still extremely effective when correctly placed.

• Rewarded video ads: Users can choose if and when to watch rewarded video ads. They offer incentives when a user watches the video in its entirety, such as in-game currency. Because these ads are optional and require the user’s attention until the video’s end, they produce informed clicks that lead to high-quality conversions.
  
  Apps that use rewarded video ads displayed in a vertical format helps make the ads less intrusive. Giving consumers control over the ad increases trust and deepens the brand relationship. When consumers watch an ad on Shopkick, for example, they receive reward points that can be cashed in for digital gift cards.
• Outstream video ads: These videos are placed within the app’s actual content, such as between blocks of text or within a cluster of images; like on Instagram and Facebook. This type of video automatically plays when it appears on the user’s screen such as while they are scrolling through their timeline on social media; there’s no need to click the ad or have it open in an additional window which increases viewability.  
• Instream pre-roll video ads: Pre-roll videos are those that play before user-selected content begins. They require viewer attention in order to proceed with app usage. These can be intrusive, which is why some pre-roll advertisers give users the option to view only a few seconds of the video and skip the rest.
• Interstitial video ads: These are ads placed where they don’t interrupt the user experience. For example, if the app is a game, you can fit interstitial video ads in whenever there is a lull in gameplay, such as between levels or at the conclusion of a task.

Display Ads

Among the most traditional types of in-app advertising available is the display ad. This tried-and-true method of advertising is just as effective within the mobile app environment as it is in print. Although small, these ads have a robust ability to increase brand awareness. They fit within the app’s landscape and blend in with the user’s behavior.

Banner-shaped display ads make good use of the mobile screen’s limited space, while rectangular display ads also provide strong viewability that’s less expensive. No matter what shape you choose, be sure to limit your word and syllable counts. Too much lettering can overcrowd a small screen, obscuring your message.

• Native ads: These ads are unobtrusively placed, and are designed with a look and feel that makes them match the non-advertising areas of an app. Native ads blend in with the overall app and feel like organic content.
• Interstitial ads: Interstitial display ads get attention and make an impact. They are full-screen ads that appear whenever there is a natural content break. Use them when you really want to grab a user’s attention.

Finally, brands should take the time to learn about their audience and find out what apps they love using most. Social, gaming, and news are the three most popular app categories.

Leveraging Effective Types of In App Advertising

In marketing, brands should always aim to reach the customer where they are. While consumers are spending a majority of their screen time using apps, many companies fail to include in-app advertising within their marketing budgets, causing them to miss out on the opportunity to reach their target audience.

In marketing, brands should always aim to reach the customer where they are.

Finally, brands should leverage different types of in-app advertising because of their ability to create an intimate, one-on-one environment. PCs are shared by multiple users, and the mobile web is far less personalized or engaging. So try launching an in-app campaign. The mobile device is connected to a single user, their daily life, and routine which offers the perfect, attention-grabbing space for delivering a targeted message.

Shopkick partners use our app to improve their personal connections with consumers while they’re using their favorite apps. To leverage our app and improve your consumer’s experience, contact us.

Image courtesy of astarot