10 Tips For Designing Highly Effective Mobile Ad Creatives
The most effective mobile ad creatives are a balance of art and innovation vs. data analytics and blueprints. That’s because ad creatives, defined as advertising materials designed to generate leads (like banner ads, browser ads, and promoted social media posts), are most successful when tailored to the interests of specific consumer segments. Unlike some other kinds of marketing materials, ad creatives are designed to motivate conversion and are not successful if it merely increases awareness of or drums up interest in a brand; viewers must become buyers.
Almost every mobile ad creatives guide and ad creatives kit provides a formulaic approach to their design. Below, you’ll find the most empirically proven strategies for designing effective mobile ad creatives. Though it’s not necessary to include every design element listed in our mobile ad creatives guide, you’ll likely find that following these tips increases the measurable success of your mobile ad campaigns.
1. Effective Mobile Ad Creatives Rely On Targeted Audience Profiles
Ad creatives with targeted content and visibility settings lead to 700% more clicks and 400% more conversions than generic ad creatives designed to be seen by a broader segment. Plus, targeted ad content (including keywords) tends to be less expensive than more generic ad content.
2. There’s Some Truth To The Math In Many Ad Creatives Kits
Nearly every mobile ad creatives guide limits the length of different text fields and the size of ad images. This is because different platforms, ad networks, and browsers have different display requirements. Specific image dimensions/resolutions apply in different contexts, yet across the board, short headlines (5 words long) and brief text (19 words) are endemic to effective ad creatives.
3. Don’t Use Too Much Text, But Do Use The Right Words
When it comes to text in ad creatives, especially on social media, the less text, the better. Social media giants like Facebook make it clear that ads containing more text will have less reach, making low-text ads more cost-effective. Nevertheless, most ads need some text — whether a headline, promotional offer, or call to action — and the most effective mobile ad creatives use very specific wording, including “free,” “new,” “instantly,” and (surprisingly) “because.”
4. You Should Always Use Images, But The Most Effective Ad Creatives Use Some Very Specific Imagery
Strangely enough, unrelated imagery (as long as it is eye-catching and unique) and images of smiling women tend to have the highest click-through rate of any other image-based ad. Compared to text-only ads, any image-based ad tends to outperform by as much as 94%.
5. Successful, Effective Mobile Ad Creatives Include An Interactive Call To Action Button
A call to action (CTA) button motivates more engagement with ad creatives than a site link or navigating customers directly to a brand’s social media profile, alone. What’s more, the best CTAs are audience-specific, focused, and repeated in the headline.
6. Ad Creatives Are Defined By Urgent Language
Given that click-through rate (CTR) and conversion rate are the markers of effective mobile ad creatives, it’s no surprise that urgent language is almost always recommended in any ad creatives kit. Language like “now” and “limited time” can motivate even casually interested viewers to act.
7. Effective Mobile Ad Creatives make Good Use Of Social Proof & User-Generated Content
Consumers trust user-generated content, like customer ratings and reviews, more than brand-created messages. Consequently, highlighting customer reviews that state a product or service is exceptional is more effective than stating it is outright in ad creatives.
8. The Most Effective Ad Creatives Kits Are Packed With Pre-Planned Color Psychology
There’s a wealth of research about the psychological impacts of using different colors in advertisements. That’s why ad creatives kits often feature pre-planned color packages, with different packs recommended for different moods and industries. That said, contrast tends to be more important than color, with high-contrast palettes making more effective mobile ad creatives.
9. Run Multiple Simultaneous Versions Of The Same Ad To Identify Elements Of Highly Effective Mobile Ad Creatives In Your Business Space
One of the most significant benefits of creating niche ad creatives is their lower cost, which enables companies to run multiple ads without expanding their budget. Running multiple versions of the same ad (using different elements and targeting different customer segments) is a great way to hone in on what makes effective mobile ad creatives for your business.
10. The Most Effective Mobile Ad Creatives Link To Unique, CTA-Driven Landing Pages
Across the board, one of the most significant elements of effective ad creatives is their destination. If the ad features eye-catching imagery, ideal colors, urgent language, and an compelling CTA, then redirects the viewer to an App Store page that lacks momentum, viewers are likely to navigate away without completing the task.
