If you just realized you can no longer forego a mobile marketing strategy and are eager to jump into the mobile pool with both feet, you need to first understand designing ads for mobile is much different than it is for PCs. Mobile banner ads need to make just as big of an impact but do so on a significantly smaller screen.
When designing your ads for mobile, you simply can’t rely on the same design techniques you’ve used in the past for your online campaigns. If you want to get those clicks, you need to optimize your banner ads for a mobile audience.
Here’s how:
Choose Your Colors Wisely
Mobile audiences have even shorter attention spans than online audiences so you want to make sure they see your banner ad as quickly as possible otherwise you may lose them forever. Choosing the right colors is one way to get noticed. Remember, your banner ad is going to be displayed within the context of a 
website, so the colors should contrast with the website’s colors.
Bold and vivid colors are ideal, making sure to align with your brand’s colors to create brand identity, recognition, and a cohesive execution with other marketing channels. Once you’ve selected the colors for the banner ad itself you’ll need to select the color for the banner’s call-to-action button. The most important thing here is that at a glance, readers need to know it is a separate element of the ad with which they can interact.
Keep Your Text Clean and Simple
Font size and typeface are important in any piece of advertising but are critical in mobile advertising. Fonts need to be unembellished and instantly readable, and they also need to scale well so they look good no matter what size screen a prospect is using to view your ad. As far as word count, less is obviously more with mobile. A good rule of thumb is, if you can get your message across in eight words or less, do it. This way your audience can grasp and retain your message in a single glance.
Include a Clear Call-to-Action
If you want to get that click-through with your mobile banner ad, you’ve got to make sure your call-to-action is clear and succinct. It should tell readers what they can expect when they do click (never trick them) and it should communicate that your ad is essentially offering deeper engagement with your brand.
There are different schools of thought as to the right position of your call-to-action button, but in our experience, you will get more clicks if your button is at the end of your message. This would mean placing it at the far right, at the bottom, or at the bottom-right of your banner ad.
As for the copy on your call-to-action button, make it as short and active as possible. For example, “Save 50%” is much stronger than “To save 50% you can click here.”
Imagery Doesn’t Always Work
If you do any amount of online marketing, you’re probably used to using a lot of images in your content marketing strategy. After all, human beings are very visual and often you can sell a prospect with one powerful image.
But marketing on mobile is different and images should be used sparingly. Banner ads that are cluttered or involve complex images take longer for people to scan and make sense of and in general, are far less likely to make a meaningful and instant impression.
Also, at the end of the day what’s most important is that your banner ad displays your brand logo. This way, even if you don’t get the click, you will have still generated brand awareness.
Minimize Your File Size
Though mobile browsing speeds are increasing on an almost daily basis, large files still take a noticeably longer time to load. Keep this in mind when creating your banner ad. To ensure yours will appear in your prospect’s browser sooner rather than later, keep your file size between 10k and 40k.
Mobile marketing is here to stay and the technology is only going to keep evolving over time. By following these tips you can leverage the power of this channel and facilitate two-way communication with customers, promote campaigns at rock bottom prices, and generate higher response rates.
RELATED POSTS:
- Real-Time Bidding 101: Everything You Need to Know
- How Do I Know My Online Ads Are Actually Being Seen?
- 5 Steps to Creating a Winning Digital Media Plan for Local Businesses
Image credit: Pixabay
