Mobile Banner Best Practices

Mobile Banners: What You Need to Know

If Zenith Media is correct, consumers are using their mobile devices a lot. They estimate that “[c]onsumers will spend 800 hours using mobile internet devices this year.” That’s approximately 33 days straight! By 2021, they forecast that number will end up somewhere around 900 hours. Mobile internet usage is expected to top 3.8 trillion hours collectively, heading for 4.5 trillion in 2021. 

Mobile Banner Ads Are the Way Forward! 

The story is the same worldwide; mobile usage is high and will only increase in the coming years. Apple, Google, and the IAB have all done their fair share to limit the amount of intrusive mobile advertisements. This has helped to increase the sophistication of the mindfully crafted mobile banner ad. According to Forbes, these tiny yet mighty ad formats have proven their efficacy and solidified their place in media buys around the globe. This even surpasses in-app purchases as the primary revenue source for publishers. 

COIVD and Mobile Marketing

As with everything this year, COVID has had a major influence on mobile marketing as well. Bannerflow reports that “[d]uring the first six months of 2020 mobile views grew even further, accounting for 55.7% of total ad views. And June 2020 saw a record 58.2% of all ads served to mobile devices.” So, with more eyeballs on mobile devices around the world than ever before, brands must be ensuring their mobile advertising is spot on.

Mobile Banner Ad Sizes

Creating mobile banner ads isn’t very different from creating other banner ads. But they do require a bit of planning, separate from the other campaign placements. The most common sizes for mobile-only ad units are 300×50 and 320×50, which don’t boast an excess of room for branded visuals or messaging.

As mobile-only banner ads offer such a different space, they need special consideration and often can’t fit all assets from other placements. Clients can often have difficulty advising on the best use of these tiny giants because there’s so much to say and little room to say it!

But worry not! We’ve got our top tricks to creating a mobile banner ad that not only looks sharp but gets your brand message across too.

Making Mobile Banners that Count

Imagery

No matter the graphics and images you use in the rest of the campaign, chances are, your mobile units will need a much simpler image. Due to the small space, busy backgrounds are difficult for the user to appreciate fully. And they can make copy more difficult to read. Rather than a tiny version of the full campaign imagery, opt instead for a clean product shot in your mobile units. This will ensure the product stands out and is seen by the user and allow your message to be clear and legible.

Logo and Brand Assets

Logos and other branded assets are crucial in digital display. We advise our clients to have a logo on every single frame of each creative. That can be challenging for brands with larger logos, an end line attached to their logo, or other branded assets that usually go alongside a logo. This is where we can offer a few different suggestions! If your logo has a condensed form, utilize that logo in your mobile units. If there is an end line or other brand asset that needs to be included, these can be given their own frame after the messaging alongside the condensed logo to give the user a more well-rounded understanding of the brand behind the messaging. Of course, the other option is to opt for a condensed logo and to forgo the other branded assets on this format to make it as compact and instantly understandable as possible.

Copy

There’s often a lot you want to say to your audience, but mobile banners aren’t necessarily the place to do that. What mobile banners are the place for is snappy, short, clear, and decisive messaging. Most often, people are on their phones, watching videos, seeking info, working, or a myriad of these other activities. It’s imperative for your mobile ads’ success that your intended audience can easily digest the copy. Larger formats allow for slightly more copy to be spread out in larger spaces across multiple frames. But this is rarely the case for mobile units. Instead, these units need a mobile-targeted, distilled copy variant highlighting the campaign’s most crucial aspect.

CTA

Mobile banner CTAs often don’t need to vastly differ from the CTAs in the rest of the campaign. It does, however, allow you the opportunity to make the CTA mobile friendly. This could mean possibly shortening the CTA to a word or two if the full CTA is a few words long. Or, changing the language to reflect the mobile setting. For example, “tap here” rather than “click here” gives the user further encouragement to take action on their device. A handy mobile CTA could also be one that goes directly to a product on a retailer’s website for ease of use. Ultimately, you want the CTA on your mobile units to lead to the easiest way for them to close the sale loop on a mobile device.

Going the Extra Mobile Mile

Mobile devices have much less on-screen space than other display units. However, they still have plenty of room for the extras that set your brand’s advertising apart. Mobile banners can still have all the animation the rest of your campaign does. As well as having some animation to draw user attention in its live setting. They can offer some mobile-only extras to your audience based on your brand. Mobile-friendly options such as “find your nearest X” or the option to get directions to a store or restaurant based on their location. These are not only helpful to your users but it’s also indicative that your brand is cognizant of the differences in device settings. You’re offering your clients information based on that information.

Mobile Marketing Works!

Mobile usage worldwide is increasing, even without the effects of COVID, making it a lucrative and essential component of any digital display campaign plan. They require a bit of extra planning and asset reconfiguration for their size. But they can also offer your audience other valuable information specific to mobile customers. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all mobile banner formula—they have this in common with other banner sizes!—but following these tips will help your team plan and design the best mobile banners for your brand.