Everyone uses applications on their phones.
The expression “there is an app for that” was new, aspirational, and eventually overused until Apple patented it. It is almost true now, with millions of apps available, which explains why the average American has eighty apps on their smartphone. Even though they do not use all of them every day, they do use nine or ten of them frequently for a variety of purposes, including playing games and checking the weather, banking, chatting, planning their day, and keeping an eye on traffic.
Owners of smartphones use apps for 85% of their screen time, which adds up to a quarter of their daily idle time. That amount of time is expanding annually on a global scale.
Given all of this information, one must ask why fewer firms are using mobile applications for advertising.
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The justification for in-app marketing
Now that you are aware of how much time your target spends using apps for everything from holiday planning to commuting planning to relaxation, let us talk about the additional benefits of in-app advertising. High level examples of these are:
- Engaging ad types frequently fill the screen. Interstitial advertising, playables, and full-screen videos are all offered in addition to in-app banners.
- Brand security is innate. You should not be concerned about low-quality inventory or proximity to unfavorable user-generated material because, aside from social media, the majority of applications only show one advertisement at a time.
- People are paying attention. Mobile apps are effective and draw in users who are motivated by a certain goal. Their attention is glued to the app, whether they are using it to monitor the weather or calculate how much more protein they should eat today.
- There is a lot of viewability. For video, in-app ad viewability is approximately 78%, and for display, it is over 85%. That is far higher than the 63% viewability on the mobile web and the 45% viewability on online displays. It is also crucial to remember that in-app advertising is unaffected by ad blockers.
- Above all else, aiming is superior. With in-app ads, targeting is increasingly exact; additionally, with AI powering advertising for the major platforms, targeting is becoming more automated and accurate.
You can see why in-app clickthrough rates are twice as high as those of digital display advertising, given all these advantages.
Because these advantages have the potential to greatly help brands, let us take a closer look.
To begin with, the advertisements themselves present a nearly unrivaled chance for marketers to engage with consumers. The whole screen can be used as a canvas for creative and video adverts in numerous apps, free from rivalry for users’ attention. More significantly, they can have a call to action that viewers can answer without opening another app, unlike traditional TV. Without any obstacles, they may just tap to shop, purchase, enroll, or download, whatever the desired action is.
Speaking of interactivity, playable advertisements are no longer limited to video games; in fact, the IAB has been discussing this idea for years. An example of a Shein advertisement that fared better in a playable format may be found in this year’s Creative Trends report. Nevertheless, this tactic is becoming more and more common in all verticals; McDonald’s and LEGO are among the supporters.
The playable’s appeal should not be difficult to comprehend. By letting app users design their own burgers, construct their own costumes, or test their knowledge of world geography, brands can establish a memorable, pleasant, one-to-one contact with their customers. Make it an enjoyable and unforgettable experience for them. The possibilities for “surprise and delight” are virtually limitless for advertisers, and they will undoubtedly result in a profitable return on investment.
The argument in favor of in-app over in-feed
The benefits of in-app advertising versus search and social media are easily apparent. Still, let us go over them quickly.
Lookup marketing
In-app advertising is actually a “supplement” to search rather than a “replace with.” Users can be targeted at every stage of the purchasing process with a well-managed search campaign that strikes a balance between long- and short-tail terms. Brands can affordably encourage action with well-crafted copy and calls to action.
Search, however, does not actually present you with a lot of original ideas. It is quite difficult to stand out from the crowd in search engine results because there is so much competition for the top rankings. It is also important to remember that longer-tail, more general phrases might have absurdly high cost per clicks. Regarding expenses, optimizing a website for search engines can be a laborious, costly, and time-consuming procedure.
Social networks
While many brands find that having an organic social media presence is essential, paid promotion on social media sites is less necessary. The competition, unfavorable proximity, dynamic algorithms, and the competition for attention cast doubt on the investment made by numerous advertisers in this media.
In 2021, luxury designer Bottega Veneta and cosmetics business Lush bowed out of social media, claiming issues with the culture and management of the networks. Starbucks removed its Facebook page later that year in response to nasty remarks. A Q3 2023 Integral Ad Science survey confirmed the fear of social media among financial sector marketers. According to the findings, over 50% of customers would no longer use a brand if its advertisements were displayed next to offensive material. It is challenging to reduce such risk on social media sites.
Viewability on Facebook and Instagram is far lower than traditional display and much lower than in-app when it comes to the economic case for social ads. Metric shows that just 11% of video ad impressions in the newsfeed could be viewed.
One beneficial modification—or addition—to the media mix is in-app advertising. By definition, apps are a lean-in medium that captures more attention than social media users’ “doom-scrolling” habits. With captivating, interactive, full-screen rich media formats, brands can take control of that attention.
Impressive targeting capabilities are available for mobile ads, and AI advancements enhance targeting to reach existing audiences and find new ones. Additionally, mobile advertising delivers size and reach comparable to social media in terms of daily active users. In addition, a lot more applications are used by users than simply social media, therefore would not it make sense for your business to be present in a wider range of apps as well?
