The ability to access the internet via a mobile device has already changed a lot about the internet — and retargeting ads would have to change as well.
Retargeting ads are ads directed at people who have previously visited your website. In other words, someone arrives at your site, but they leave without converting, so ads for your website are directed at them on the new websites they visit. The aim of retargeting ads is to recapture the 98% of traffic which doesn’t convert first time.
2016 was the first year that more people accessed the internet via a mobile device rather than a desktop device. It’s because of this trend that many businesses are in a mad rush to adjust. Back in 2015, 40% of Fortune 500 companies did not have mobile-friendly websites, so they’ve pretty much been playing catch-up ever since.
As for retargeting ads, they still have a much lower conversion rate on mobile than on desktop. For the latter, total conversion is around 4%. For the former, it’s around 1.5%. This is a shocking statistic considering that, once again, more people spend more time on their mobile devices than on desktop. What’s more, people are more likely to be spending money during their free time (i.e. in the early morning, early evening, and late evening).
Source: ComScore’s 2016 Global Digital Future in Focus
With all that in mind, it’s clear that businesses and marketers need to do more to improve the mobile experience. All of the evidence points to a huge gap in the market: users are on their mobiles a lot, but the mobile eCommerce experience leaves a lot to be desired.
As such, for good mobile retargeting ads, the mobile era presents a huge and unique opportunity.
The New Direction for Retargeting Ads
Retargeting ads on mobile need to recognise the fact that screen size is at a premium for mobile users. While laptop and computer screens are large enough for bad ads to be ignored, the 5-inch to 5.8-inch screens of mobile devices mean that most adverts are seen loud and clear.
This sounds like a great thing, but the evidence shows us that people aren’t converting. After all, exposure for the sake of exposure is not always great. Consider the backlash against U2 when the band’s album was forced onto the mobiles of half a billion people, or the backlash against ads on people’s lock screens. Just because advertisers are able to push adverts at users everywhere they go, doesn’t mean they should.
Rather than being louder and more prominent, the new generation of retargeting ads needs to be targeted and more intelligent. A lot of these needs to come from better ad design, but marketers should also take advantage of the new payment options out there for mobile retargeting ads.
CPC (cost per click), CPM (cost per thousand impressions), CPA (cost per acquisition), and others cost per something models all have their place. However, if your aim is to market an app — a proposition unique to the mobile internet — CPI (cost per install) could be the way forward for mobile retargeting payment.
Of course, not every downloaded app is a guaranteed future customer. 77% of people who download an app never use an app again after first installing. The CPI payment option is helpful, but it needs to be combined with a retargeting ad which connects with the right people.
This is why the vast quantity of data which marketers can use is so important. The mobile internet means that not only can retargeting ads be directed at people from specific geo locations or demographics, but they can also be targeted at people based on their mobile device.
This kind of data is unique to mobile and allows mobile retargeting ads to be a lot more nuanced than desktop ones. After all, you can tell a lot about a potential customer based on whether they decided to splash out for the new iPhone or whether they decided to go for a budget Motorola.
For a retargeting ad campaign which fully embraces the new direction retargeting ads are going, sign up to Adsterra today. With our variety of payment options — including CPI — it’s easy to see why we’ve helped websites like Jumia, Jabong, and Mobvista to succeed.
