Mobile Ad Effectiveness

© 2014 eMarketer Inc.
made possible by
Mobile Ad Effectiveness
Cathy Boyle
Senior Analyst, Mobile
August 21, 2014

Agenda
 Mobile display ad performance and pricing trends
 Effectiveness scorecard: Where mobile display
advertising excels and where it falls short
 What it will take to improve mobile ad effectiveness
further
Twitter – #eMwebinar

Performance and Pricing
Trends

Clickthrough rate (CTR) and cost per impression
(CPM) remain mobile’s key efficacy benchmarks
1. Most marketers agree neither metric is perfect nor is
each applicable to every mobile ad campaign
2. Still, tracking CTR and CPM rates over time
provides insight into marketer confidence in a
particular ad format
Source: eMarketer, April 2014

The relative strength of mobile ad formats have
not changed significantly in terms of CTRs
0.05% 5.0%Mobile Banners Mobile Rich Media Mobile Video
Spectrum of CTRs
Mobile Social Ads

CTRs for
static mobile
banners have
gone the way
of their
desktop
counterparts:
downward
Desktop Banner CTR Average, 2013: 0.08%
(Sizmek)

CTRs for
mobile rich
media units
have
generally
been above
desktop
norms
Expandable ad units and interstitials were
top performers

CTRs for
mobile
social ads
have been
on par with
mobile rich
media ad
units Facebook’s mobile ads produced a better return
on investment, according to marketers polled in
two surveys. (Cowen, December 2013; RBC Capital,
September 2013)

In-stream
mobile video
ads generated
the highest
response
rates, with
CTRs up to
4.90%
CTRs of rich media ads with embedded
video were five times those without video.
(Pointroll, 2013)
To measure the true impact of
in-stream mobile video ads,
marketers also measure start
rate and completion rate

Mobile display eCPMs—another signal of
campaign performance—have steadily increased
Effective CPM
(eCPM) is a
performance
metric used by
publishers and
advertisers to
understand the
revenue
generated per
1,000 ad
impressions

Mobile CPMs
remain lower
than desktop
CPMs—a
condition
likely to
persist for
some time

An increase in mobile ad spending will not
necessarily result in higher CPMs
Supply will continue to
outweigh demand because
spending on mobile
advertising lags time spent
with mobile devices

Mobile Advertising
Scorecard

In aggregate,
marketers and
digital ad
experts gave
mobile
advertising a
“B-” grade for
effectiveness
Their effectiveness scores for
TV and desktop advertising
were just slightly better

Marketers
graded 16
aspects of
mobile
advertising
in terms of
effectiveness.
Location-
based ads
received the
highest mark
Most
effective
Least
effective

Location-targeted mobile ads
Effectiveness score: A-
Key Insights:
 The combination of location and daypart targeting is proving to be
particularly powerful
 Location targeting enables brands to satisfy consumers’ real-time
needs

Location-based ads are most powerful when the
phone’s ‘use case’ is taken into consideration
“ We see a lot of people that don’t
actually think about a hotel or a car
until they get to where they’re going.
So in that sense location targeting is a
massively good way for us to
reduce friction and say, ‘You don’t
have to search. We’ll find where you
are, we’ll find a property that’s close
to you.’”
—Blake Clark, director of mobile for
Travelocity

Mobile in-stream video ads
Effectiveness score: B+
Key Insights:
 Effective but inventory is still scarce, which puts limitations on
campaign scale
 Short supply also has an inflationary effect on pricing, so at this point
mobile in-stream video advertising is the domain of bigger brands
 The length and style of mobile video ads are also evolving toward
shorter and less polished ads

JetBlue used video assets and location/device
targeting to engage consumers
 For the airline’s “Air on the Side
of Humanity” campaign,
smartphone ads aimed to raise
brand awareness and were
delivered inside a geofence
around public transit centers
during commuting hours
 Tablet ads were designed for
deeper engagement and
included a rich media game
and long-form video Source: Mobile Marketer, April 4, 2014

Mobile sponsorship ads:
Key Insights:
 The form of the sponsorship varies widely depending on the content
environment and the advertiser’s objective
 Clear objectives and key performance indicators are needed

Brand building was the objective of MINI USA’s
mobile sponsorship campaign with UrbanDaddy
“ The [sponsorship] experience was
about brand building, and it
proved very successful for us.
We looked at interactions within the
app, how many people signed up to
be a participant in the ‘MINI Night Out’
program and how many provided
[contact details] to get more
information.”
—Lee Nadler, marketing communications
manager for MINI USA

Hershey sponsored the mobile data needed to
deliver the brand’s mobile video ad in-app
 The Hershey’s Scharffen Berger
brand ran mobile banner ads in
the Pandora iPhone app with a
30-second video on the landing
page
 Copy on the ad explains the
video is sponsored and does
not consume data from the
user’s phone plan
Source: Mobile Marketer, April 1, 2014

Facebook’s mobile ad formats
Key Insight:
The social network’s ads are helping marketers achieve multiple goals,
from generating sales to driving app downloads

Facebook’s mobile ads are closest to closing the
loop for marketers
“ Facebook is certainly the platform
that’s come the furthest in terms of
helping us understand how our
media is driving the business.
We’re starting to be able to do some
things with Facebook’s mobile ads to
drive omnichannel sales, and
we’re very excited about that.”
—Jennifer Kasper, group vice president,
digital/new media and multicultural marketing
at Macy’s

Result reporting process
Effectiveness score: C+
Key Insights:
 The manner in which campaign results are reported for mobile display
ads varies greatly by publisher and ad partner
 The disparate nature of reports makes it difficult to aggregate and
interpret campaign results

Reporting is still in its infancy—a consolidated
view of all results is needed
“ Reporting requires separate plug-ins
and it’s a challenge for
marketers to roll up and
understand all of the results in a
single view.”
—Heidi Browning-Pearson, senior vice
president of strategic systems at Pandora

Measurement and analytics
Effectiveness score: C
Key Insights:
 Low scores for measurement and analytics indicate marketers
don’t have a clear vision of mobile’s true impact, especially on foot
traffic and sales in brick-and-mortar locations
 Methods for understanding what consumers do immediately after
engaging with a mobile ad need work

Need to measure more than ad engagement
“ The analytics are there for
engagement and understanding
impressions. But it’s hard to track
[the ad] to a transaction, and that’s
where it falls down.”
—Laura Jakobsen, senior vice president,
marketing and design at Pinkberry

Mobile creative capabilities
Effectiveness score: C
Key Insights:
 Creative teams have only scratched the surface when it comes to
leveraging the native capabilities of smartphones and tablets
 Creative assets developed for the desktop are often repurposed for
mobile despite widespread agreement that a tailored ad experience
would be more effective

Brands are beginning to push creative
boundaries and leverage device capabilities
Nivea launched Bluetooth-enabled print ads in Brazil
Sources: Ad Age, June 17, 2014,
BEcause Blog May 22, 2014

What Will Improve Mobile
Ad Effectiveness Further?

Answers to this question revolve around four key
areas:
1. Improved creative: Interactive formats that make use of all
device capabilities and are integrated with the content experience.
2. Data integration: The ability to tie mobile users back into other
data sets that marketers already own needs improvement.
3. Standards: Guidelines for creative development, user tracking and
results reporting across devices need to be more cohesive.
4. Measurement tools: Better analytics and measurement solutions
are needed to gauge return on investment and lifetime value.
Off-the-rack-type tools would be ideal.

Cloud-based Software Platform
for Faster Translation of
Websites, Mobile Apps, and
Documents
Matt DeLoca
SVP, Global Sales

Content Creators
Worry about how the content
they create is going to be
translated and delivered
Developers
Have to continuously extract
source content and input
translated content
Translators
Struggle with complex file
formats and version control,
and often lack visual context
</>
Translation Is Complex
It Requires Manual Work & Coordination

</>
Content Creators
Can focus on creating high-
quality content without
worrying about translation
Developers
Their roadmap work is
no longer impeded by supporting
translation projects
Translators
Are able to devote all of
their energy to creating the
highest-quality translations
Smartling Makes It Easier
By Automating the Process

Speed
Increased by automating
otherwise manual tasks
like content collection
Quality
Improved by providing
translators with visual context,
glossaries, and style guides
Cost
Reduced through automation
and effective, proper reuse
of prior translations
Smartling Benefits
Faster, Higher Quality & Lower Cost

hi@smartling.com
@smartling
THANK YOU

Learn more about digital marketing with an
eMarketer corporate subscription
Around 200 eMarketer reports are published
each year. Here are some recent reports you
may be interested in:
Q&A Session
Made possible by
You will receive an email
tomorrow with a link to view the
deck and webinar recording.
To learn more: www.emarketer.com/products
800-405-0844 or webinars@emarketer.com
Cathy Boyle
Mobile Ad Effectiveness
 Mobile Advertising Scorecard: Marketers Give Mobile Display a
B-Minus for Effectiveness
 Mobile Ad Targeting: After Years of ‘Spray and Pray,’ Signs of
Sophistication Appear
 Worldwide Ad Spending: Midyear 2014 Complete Forecast
 US Ad Spending: Q2 2014 Forecast and Comparative
Estimates

Mobile Ad Effectiveness

More Related Content

What's hot

Viewers also liked

Similar to Mobile Ad Effectiveness

Recently uploaded

Mobile Ad Effectiveness