What is Mobile Video Advertising

What is mobile advertising?

In a broad meaning, this term includes any type of advertising on mobile phones, up to short text messages sent by your local grocery store. However, usually, mobile ads are in-built short videos, sponsored posts, or interactive pop-ups.

The invaluable advantage of mobile advertising for companies is that it's almost always native. While a user is "googling" for information or scrolling through news on social media, smart algorithms collect this data and use it to show relevant video ads to a target audience.

This way, companies get much better user engagement, resulting in better CPM (cost per thousand impressions) and more purchases.

Another point: browsers usually have ad-blocker plug-ins, while mobile users can't turn the ad off right away or block it, they have to wait till the closing "X" appears.

Types of video advertising

Businesses can utilize various forms of video advertising to promote their products or services.

The most traditional way of online advertising. While it's almost non-intrusive, users can easily ignore or block it.

One of the most popular app commercials. They usually appear during a screen transaction and take the whole screen, preventing the viewer from using the app for a set period of time (usually 5-30 seconds). They may have different forms: text ads, short videos, and even interactive mini-games. After seeing such a commercial, a user often gets a reward: access to paid functions in free or freemium apps, additional lives in mobile games, etc.

This type of mobile advertising is mostly used on video streaming platforms, such as YouTube, Vimeo, etc. The clip is interrupted by an ad from time to time, also there are often commercials before a video starts.

These commercials appear as in-feed video ads, not as a part of another video. They are often organic and may not even look like advertisements. Usually, platforms mark them as "sponsored", and users can easily scroll them down without watching.

Regardless of the type, the ads can be simple text, animated GIFs, short videos, mini-games, rich media, etc.

Mobile video advertising networks

A mobile video advertising network is a mediator between an advertiser and an app that provides ad inventory (space for advertisements). In other words, it's a marketplace with a win-win scheme: app developers can monetize their products, and app publishers get news from their target audience.

There are hundreds of such networks on the market, the most popular ones are Google AdMob, Digital Turbine, Amazon Publisher Services, SmartyAds, and others.

Mobile advertising best practices

1. Choose your advertising network wisely. As there is a wide range of options, you can find the one that fits your preferred advertising format and budget best. Also, pay attention to the platform's analytic tools, bidding options, provided support, and ad partners.
2. Mind the attention span. An average viewer will not watch anything longer than 15-20 seconds, so make sure your video doesn't exceed these limits. Also, it's important to grab the audience's attention immediately, within the first seconds. It may also be a good practice to place your message in the beginning to give the viewers a clear picture of what you're offering.
3. Don’t underestimate the video editing stage. Do you remember what we've just said about gripping the attention? Make sure your ad is impeccable and remarkable. Don't forget about technical moments as well. Resize your recording to make it vertical, as it's the most convenient orientation for mobile phones. Then, it's always better to add some captions, as users can use the app with your advertisements in a public place with sound off.

FAQs

What is mobile video advertising?

Short videos, shown to a user before, after, or in the middle of the actual content or the app flow. They may be interactive or not, intrusive or not, rewarded or not.

Why is video advertising effective?

Because people spend more and more time on their phones, surfing the Internet and using various apps. Also, this type of advertising is usually well-targeted, based on the user's search queries and content consumed, so high ROI is guaranteed.

How to make video ads?

As with every other video: decide on a script, shoot the recording, edit it as you need, and make sure it meets our recommendations. Then choose a mobile video advertising network and launch your campaign.

Conclusion

Mobile video advertising is extremely effective, as people prefer videos over texts, and mobile app usage is becoming increasingly popular. In-app advertising is profitable for all parties involved: developers can monetize their product, and advertisers get unlimited access to the target audience. At the same time, users gain additional functionality in freemium apps.