FactorsMobileAdSuccessThe pandemic, in which people were temporarily in lockdown and therefore used computers or tablets more frequently, has enormously accelerated the trend towards going online with smartphones. Many people who never shopped on their smartphone before the pandemic have changed their behavior during this time, making a good user experience on mobile devices more important than ever for business success.

Mobile advertising campaigns are basically suitable for all goals along the marketing funnel, provided they are adapted to the campaign goal and optimized in terms of design for the end device. According to the Bundesverband Digitale Wirtschaft (BVDW), suitable campaign examples for the different communication phases are:

  • Brand Awareness: In the upper funnel, awareness or branding campaigns aim to increase awareness of a brand or product. The primary KPIs here are brand lift, sales lift or ad awareness. Hero videos in landscape or square format or TV creatives intended for this are most suitable for this.
  • Consideration: Mid-funnel advertising aims to convince potential customers of the benefits of a product or brand. That requires highlighting reasons to buy, actively engaging the audience, or driving qualified traffic to a landing page. Products and services must be presented to a relevant audience and interaction with the advertising medium must be guaranteed. Interactive and innovative advertising media that stand out from the crowd through their creativity or functionality should be used so that users can actively engage with the advertising. Various video ads in square or portrait format are suitable for these communication goals, such as video 3D cubes, shoppable or scroller videos, i.e., display formats that encourage corresponding interactions by scrolling, swiping and touching the smartphone functions.
  • Traffic Acquisition and Conversion: At the bottom of the funnel, advertisers are primarily concerned with acquiring new customers and converting traffic into sales, downloads, leads or specific actions. They aim to initiate interaction with the brand; thus, making the integration of a call-to-action (CTA) essential. In the case of the so-called performance campaigns, it is also important to ensure that they are highly personalized and are played out cost-effectively and specifically for the target group. Social media with user-generated content (UGC) is therefore an ideal environment.


When planning a campaign, it's also important to remember that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Consequently, the media and creative planning must be carefully coordinated with the campaign goal and the usage situation as well as customer and usage expectations to achieve the best possible result.

Higher click-through and conversion rates, as well as lead generation, is the main goal of any ad, showing us clearly that the classic display ad is obsolete. There are simply more attention-grabbing ads available that drive clicks by arousing user curiosity and showing them the benefits of the advertised product in a multi-sensory way.

Here’s a list of reasons why users come to a platform or want to use a product:

Playable Ads: These are interactive ads that allow users to try out the core functionality of an app or game like a free demo. This allows for a playful test before committing to a download, rather than just looking at a static image or passively watching a video ad. Playable ads have proven to be effective in increasing conversion rates, user retention and ultimately boosting download rates significantly. It also reduces uninstall rates since users get a good idea of what to expect in advance. The advertiser, in turn, can collect data on user behavior from the playable ads and gain insights from it. We currently only see playable ads on social media but expect to see such mechanics for other products in the future too.

Shoppable Ads: In the past, consumers were made aware of a product by seeing it on a billboard, in a magazine, or in a TV ad. If they wanted to buy the product, they had to hope that it was available at a store nearby. Today, products can be bought online literally within seconds of seeing them for the first time.

In addition to being at the top of the sales funnel, ads can also lead to a direct conversion. The following ads are currently offered: (1) Facebook & Instagram Collection Ads, (2) Pinterest Collections, (3) Instagram Shopping Ads, (4) YouTube Video Action Campaigns with Product Feeds, (5) Teads inRead Shoppable. They all have one thing in common: the advertiser appears with his products in the buyer's area of interest, even pre-filtered according to interest without major purchase hurdles, such as:

  • Scroll-driven Ads: They work like any other animated display ad with a story, but the story doesn't play automatically, rather its progression is controlled by the user's scrolling motion. A/B tests show, for example, that click rates of around 1% can be achieved with scroll-controlled ads, which is five times higher compared to classic display ads.
  • Experience Ads: This kind of ads work by offering added value by including, for example, photo galleries and videos which helps arouse users' curiosity. In addition to galleries, other added values such as situation data (traffic jam data or real-time sports results) can also be offered, from which users benefit. Large-format forms of advertising such as half-page ads are particularly suitable for connecting galleries and videos.
  • Immersive Ads: The 5G network enables significantly faster data transmission than its predecessor and makes three-dimensional product models tangible via the smartphone camera. The sofa can be placed virtually in the living room to check that the size and color match the rest of the interior before heading to the furniture store. But we have devoted the entire last month to this topic.


A real buzzword of the new generation of mobile communications is the personalization of content in real time, the so-called HyperTargeting, which is set to become even more granular in the future. 5G will also deepen the way advertisers can communicate with consumers and offer richer options. It remains exciting!

By Daniela La Marca