The global in-app advertising spend will reach US$352.7 billion in 2024.
As advertisers gear up to create advertising campaigns that help them attract and retain customers, publishers and app owners must ensure that these mobile advertising campaigns work just as much for their apps.
Choosing the ideal ad format has much to do with its success in capturing the right target audience and should be a data-driven decision. But before you proceed with that, knowing the various mobile ad formats and what they mean is good.
Let’s look at some of the best mobile advertising formats, and how they can benefit publishers.
What Are Mobile Ad Formats?
Investing in the right mobile ad format can determine how successful your marketing and advertising campaign is going to be. After all, it should be tailored to the preferences and requirements of your target audience.
Here are some of the best mobile ad formats that every mobile app marketer should consider using in their campaigns:
#1 Interstitial Ads
Mobile Interstitial ad format refers to a full-screen image or video ad that is played when users are jumping from one activity to another on an app. For example, when users are moving between different levels of a game or screens in an app.
Moreover, interstitial mobile ad design offers a lot of creative freedom and integrates attractive visuals and compelling copies. However, ensure that the ads are highly relevant to your audience, or else you risk them abandoning the app.
Interstitial ads require users to take a specific action to be able to close it, which may be clicking on a button or navigating to a piece of content.
Winning Factors
- Generates higher CTR and impressions
- Offers more space and duration for advertisement
- Enables visually compelling and memorable advertisements
Example
The app Logo Mania is a trivia gaming app that displays interstitial ads. These ads are highly relevant and play between two questions within a level or when users level up.
To avoid watching the entire ad, users can click the forward button displayed above the ad at all times. Moreover, on the final screen, users can spot a close button and a “Get” button that redirects users to the Play Store listing page.
Effective for: Any kind of mobile app
#2 Video Ads
Video ads are popular for eliciting more conversions and offering a better experience for users when used in mobile ad campaigns. Due to their ability to convey a lot of information in a short period, the consumption of video ads has grown exponentially in recent years.
With video ads, you can expect a high CPM with a shorter ad as they can pop up at any point within an app session. However, the biggest challenge for video ad formats on mobile is the high costs associated with them. Considering the possibility that the ad may not be well-received or liked by users, the cost of running video ads can be high.
Winning Factors
- Higher conversion and engagement rate
- Different kinds of video ads to choose from
- Higher CPMs compared to standard display or banner ads
- Various levels of intrusion to choose from
Example
Daily Themed Crossword Puzzles, a trivia gaming app plays video ads at almost every transition point the user has in the game. This transition could be in the form of changing categories, winning the game and checking the score, or switching between two games.
As seen in the image below, this ad plays with a Mute and Forward option, but not with the option to close it. Once the ad has finished playing, the user will get an option to close the ad or to install the app right away by navigating to the Play Store.
Effective for: Any kind of mobile app
#3 Rewarded Video Ads
The most common usage of rewarded video ads is in gaming apps where the user can get some kind of reward in exchange for viewing ads. As a result, rewarded video ads are highly popular mobile advertising formats.
Rewarded video ads have high completion rates, but comparatively lesser conversion rates as most users will collect their reward and get back to using the app.
Winning Factors
- Requires users to volunteer to watch the ad
- Usually plays in gaming apps
- Enjoys higher reach and completion rates
- Users are incentivized with rewards to watch ads
Example
Stop is a trivia gaming app that displays rewarded video ads in exchange for additional ‘lives’ in the game. Most users volunteer for this option once their three lives are over and want to continue playing the game.
As seen in the images below, users have to watch the entire ad to earn the reward and don’t have the option of closing it till the ad timer on the bottom left runs out. Even then, clicking any button will take them to the advertiser’s Play Store listing and users then exit to earn the reward.
Effective for: Gaming apps
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#4 Carousel Ads
Carousel ads are preferred ad formats on mobile for eCommerce apps and allow brands to showcase multiple products or provide a lot of information. Carousel ads will contain multiple visuals or images that the user can swipe and browse through.
Carousel ads are a mobile ad type most often chosen by brands for advertising on social media apps.
Winning Factors
- Integrate multiple visual and textual elements
- Increased interactivity and engagement levels
- Ideal for showcasing multiple products or storytelling
Example
Tira, an online store selling beauty products, uses carousel ads on Instagram to promote some of its best products selling for discounted prices. Users can click on any of the products to be redirected to the shopping app and go ahead with the purchase at any point.
Alternatively, users can scroll through the carousel to see other products showcased by the brand. As you can see, the caption below the post containing the product description also changes as you scroll through the carousel.
Effective for: Social media apps
#5 Playable Ads
Once again, most commonly seen in gaming apps, playable ads are highly effective mobile ad formats requiring users to play a mini-game or a smaller version that acts as a demo before the users install its full version.
Users can interact with the ad directly while it is playing on the app and it does not derail the overall experience as the user is already playing games on the app. Playable ads generally last between 15 seconds to a minute and are popular due to their ability to convert users.
Winning Factors
- High interactivity among the users viewing your ad
- Increased conversion rate
- Increased engagement rate and user retention
Example
Codycross by Fanatee, is an example of another gaming app that displays playable ads to users between levels. Once users finish a specific level in the game and click “Continue” to move on to the next one, the gaming app displays a relevant playable ad, as seen in the following images.
Effective for: Any kind of mobile app
#6 Standard Banner Ads
Considering the simplicity and possibility offered by mobile display ad formats, it is a popular mobile ad format. You can maximize your CPM and mobile ad revenue simply by getting your timing and placement right.
Standard banner ads can be placed anywhere on the screen and their sizes may vary, depending on whether they are displayed on mobile devices or tablets. Smaller brands can cost-effectively leverage the smaller-sized banners, and the bigger brands can leverage the bigger sizes to offer more information to their target users.
Standard banner ads should strike the perfect balance between being distracting and eye-catching. If you want to increase your brand visibility for a reasonable price, mobile banner ads are the ideal format.
Winning Factors
- Can be adjusted to be played on any kind of screen (PC, mobile phone, tablet)
- Can be executed at a highly reasonable cost
- Lesser investment and effort are required to deploy these ads
- Non-intrusive to the user’s app experience
Example
Stop, the gaming app we discussed before, also leverages standard banner ads. If you look at the transition screen for getting rewards on the app, you can see a banner ad at the top or bottom of the screen.
Effective for: Any kind of mobile app
#7 Native Ads
Native ads, as the name suggests, refer to mobile ad formats that mimic and fit the context of the apps that they appear on. Since these mobile native ad formats do not disrupt the flow of the mobile app they are displayed on, their click-through rates are quite high.
Statista suggests that native in-app advertising delivers an install-to-register ratio of 35%, the highest among all ad formats.
Native ads can be in the form of in-stream ads, icons or feed content and are far less intrusive than most other ad formats. To be effective, these ads need to be contextually relevant and appropriate which can also help you get better engagement and CTR.
Winning Factors
- Higher click-through rates compared to most other mobile ad formats
- These ads are unobtrusive and contextually appropriate
- Increased user engagement rate on ads
Example
An example of a native ad you have seen most often is on a shopping app like Amazon. Open the listing of any product and scroll down. For this example, we consider looking for a Fastrack watch on the app. We clicked on a related product listing and scrolled down.
You will then see a list of similar products listed by Amazon with a Sponsored label. These are native ads in the form of a product listing.
Effective for: Any kind of blogging app or eCommerce app
How to Choose a Suitable Ad Format
Let us look at some of the primary factors you should consider when choosing from different mobile ad formats for mobile app advertising:
Audience
As a mobile app marketer, the most important concern that you should have with mobile ads on your app is that they should be relevant to your audience. If your users have to tolerate too many irrelevant ads, they might get frustrated and abandon the app.
For instance, if your app’s audience primarily consists of car and bike enthusiasts, displaying an ad about beauty products will get minimal engagement and may end up with a lot of friction in their user experience.
Such ads do not benefit the publisher or the advertiser and deliver very little return on mobile ad spend.
Insights from Existing Campaigns
The most objective way of choosing the right ad format for your app is basing the decision on the performance of the existing campaigns and mobile app analytics. By monitoring and measuring the right metrics, you can derive useful insights from your current campaigns and identify ad formats that perform best on your app.
You can also track the engagement rate and conversion rate to narrow down the formats that are most likely to appeal to the audience on your app.
Suitability of the Format
An important factor you need to consider as a publisher is whether the mobile ad types and formats you choose seem suitable for your app. For instance, if you have an OTT app and want to monetize it with ads, you will prioritize video ads over playable ads. On the other hand, if you have a gaming app, you want to choose a format such as rewarded video ads to monetize it.
Summing Up
The success of a mobile advertising campaign heavily relies on the mobile ad formats it utilizes and its ability to engage and win over potential customers. As a publisher, you must ensure that the different types of mobile advertising you utilize for your app are suitable for your audience and won’t end up disrupting their experience on your app.
To get detailed insights about the performance of specific ad formats and campaigns on your app, use a robust tool like Apptrove. With access to advanced analytics and anti-fraud mechanisms to protect your data, the mobile measurement partner will aid you in making data-driven decisions that work for your app. Contact us now to get started!
