5 Tips for Mobile Direct Advertising

By Saad Munir, Mobile Performance Expert, @Jumptap, @saadmunir1

With more than 121M smartphones in the US¹, it’s critical for direct marketers to reach consumers on mobile, but that hasn’t always been so easy to do. The good news is that in the last year, targeting, tracking and scale have dramatically improved, making mobile campaign success a reality. Follow these tips to maximize the ROI on your mobile ad budget:

1. Test Different Conversion Events
   Try out a short lead-capture form as well as click-to-call. By doing so, you’re able to take advantage of all inventory and see which audience groups complete which actions on which publishers.
    

2. Set Up Your Campaign for Collecting Data
   In an auction-based marketplace you need to balance scale (clicks) and efficiency (cost). The more clicks you get early in your campaign, the better you’ll be able to optimize. Bid accordingly and keep a close eye on clicks.

3. Don’t Rely on a Single Banner
   Create multiple banner sizes with varied calls-to-action and change them after at least twice a month. This keeps your campaign fresh and ensures users won’t get used to your offers.
    
4. Use Mobile Conversion Tracking
   Determining a CPA is necessary in order to maximize ROI. To determine a CPA, you need to examine beyond the click, which is where conversion tracking comes into play. Leading mobile platforms allow you to track, optimize and learn from your conversion events, empowering you to make educated choices on campaign adjustments.
    
5.  Consider a Premium Campaign Extension
   If you’ve found a certain audience that’s particularly receptive to your mobile campaign and want to lock-in more impressions, consider a premium campaign extension. The leading mobile platforms have packages and technology design specifically to meet these different campaign goals. Typically these campaign extensions are sold on a non-bidded cost per impression (CPM) basis.

Now that you’re armed with this mobile direct advertising advice, start a campaign today. If you have questions, comments or feedback, please feel free to comment on this post or reach out to me directly on Twitter at @saadmunir1.

¹comScore MobiLens, comScore, December 2012