Since the restriction of the IDFA, creative optimization has become a key lever of performance for mobile marketers’ growth campaigns. Going forward, crafting a creative strategy to build engaging mobile ads and drilling down on the details of their performance will be critical.
The mobile creative challenge
As more focus has been placed on creative design, the challenges of building high-performing mobile ads have also been revealed. According to Data.ai and Consumer Acquisition, 95% of ads fail to outperform the best current ads in a design portfolio. Furthermore, it can take 30 tested ad concepts to yield a winning ad.
As creatives grow in importance to mobile campaign strategy, so does the potential for creative burnout. According to Consumer Acquisition, the average ad lasts just ten weeks before burning out.
To tackle these challenges, here are five hot tips for maximizing your retargeting conversions through winning creatives.
1. Build an efficient creative process
Given the data, it's important to build a process that generates new creatives efficiently. To do this, identify your app’s competitive position and unique selling point (USP) to build a creative strategy map.
- Step 1: Identify your audience and what motivates them
- Step 2: Pinpoint your app’s position in the marketplace
- Step 3: Establish your app’s USP
- Step 4: Build your creative strategy map (see below)
For more detailed information and examples on building an efficient creative process, read our blog.
2. Design enough creatives to limit brand burnout
As noted above, the average lifespan of an ad is 10 weeks before it faces creative burnout. To confront this, make sure to design a variety of mobile ads. This should include creatives that feature evergreen messaging like “Come back to the app and subscribe”; as well as creatives that promote a seasonal theme or special event. Here’s a quick creative checklist to get you started:
- Evergreen creatives: these creatives stay relevant for longer periods of time. Provide at least 2 versions that can run for 3-6 months.
- “Special” creatives: these creatives can be seasonal or tied to specific promotions. Provide at least 1 version that can run for a minimum of 4 weeks.
For more information on designing creatives, check out our Retargeting Creative Best Practices tip sheet.
3. Create retargeting-specific mobile ads
As this is a guide to maximizing conversions with your retargeting creatives, you should make sure your mobile ads are optimized for retargeting campaigns. With the deprecation of the IDFA, mobile marketers now only have access to contextual signals versus user level data.
Unlike device level data which gives historical background on who an ad is shown to and what their tastes are, contextual signals give present-moment context — such as where and when the ad is shown. This means it's critical to marry the context of where an ad is shown to the messaging of the ad creative to successfully engage a user in the present moment.
Since you’re retargeting users that are already familiar with your app, craft creatives that promote a new product, deal, book title, show, etc. Leverage seasonal messaging and shopping trends to keep your designs relevant. Don’t forget to consider regional-specific trends (for example, avoid using winter weather-related messaging when targeting users in warm areas).
Finally, design your CTA buttons with retargeting messaging in mind. If you’re adapting retargeting creatives from UA creatives, make sure to update the CTA to “Subscribe Now”, “Buy now” or “Start a free trial” rather than “Install Now” or “Download Now”. This meets users where they are in their experience as they’ve already downloaded your app and are familiar with its offerings.
4. Optimize your mobile ads for different channels
Whether it’s Facebook or a DSP, it’s important to optimize your creatives to align with the specs of different platforms. Also keep in mind that certain DSPs have specific specs for the creatives they serve. Figure out what ad formats you need for each of the platforms you’re running ads on — whether, static, interstitial, banner or video — and then within that, figure out the different sizes for each type of ad.
Before you launch your campaign, it’s also helpful to know if you can delegate creative optimization to your DSP partner. On the other hand, if brand safety is a top concern — organize the internal resources you need to design and optimize your own creatives as needed. Setting these resources aside beforehand can limit the risk of campaign delays later.
5. Use video and rewarded ad formats
Both video and rewarded ads continue to be two of the highest-performing formats across ad types. According to Ironsource, 48% of consumers have been influenced by rewarded ads for gift ideas, leverage rewarded ads to get your brand noticed and drive conversions.
For video ads, make sure to enable view through attribution (VTA) to track performance. VTA credits actions to users who might have viewed your video and converted through a different channel without actually clicking on it.
Takeaways
As creatives grow in importance to mobile campaign strategy, so does the potential for creative burnout. Ninety-five percent of ads fail to outperform the current best ads in a design portfolio and it can take 30 tested ad concepts to yield a winning ad.
Five tips for maximizing your retargeting conversions through winning creatives:
- Build an efficient creative process: Identify your app’s competitive position and unique selling point (USP) to build a creative strategy map.
- Design enough creatives to limit brand burnout: design a variety of creatives to the average ad burnout rate (ten weeks).
- Create retargeting specific ads: Optimize messaging and CTA buttons to engage users that have already met your brand.
- Optimize your creatives for different channels: Figure out what ad formats you need for each of the platforms you’re running ads on and the different sizes for each type of ad.
- Use video and rewarded ad formats: Leverage top-performing formats to maximize conversions. Enable VTA to track the performance of your video ads.
Maximize your retargeted conversions with Appi Studio
At YouAppi, we offer free custom mobile creative design solutions to our clients as part of our Appi Studio service. For help maximizing your retargeted conversions with high-quality creatives this Q4, schedule a meeting with our team.
