Mobile devices have long surpassed desktop computer systems when it comes to browsing the Internet. When considering how many households and businesses utilize full-sized computer systems, this is quite an astounding feat.
It’s the heavy use of mobile technology that has changed the way many businesses promote their content online. The results gave way to rich media advertising for these small hand-held devices.
Rich media goes beyond simple two-dimensional graphics for advertising. It can be more of an interactive system giving the user control over what he or she experiences.
For example, one advertisement for vacation hotel room bookings can incorporate several key locations which can be selected by the user. Since about 77% of all Americans own a smartphone, this kind of advertising can be worth the investment to reach a broader audience.
This is in addition to making sure your website is mobile-friendly. After all, what good is a mobile-based advertisement if your website cannot support smaller screens and touch interactions?
With all of the ways you can promote a business online, why should you invest in rich media advertising for mobile devices?
1. Higher Engagement Rate
What makes rich media so impressive is the amount of flexibility the ads present. Instead of a basic banner image or text link, rich media can be as interactive as you want it to be.
Some more elaborate ads are so interactive that they could be viewed as a functional temporary app of its own. This promotes greater engagement by the user, which has a better chance of connecting him or her to the content.
The more engaged people become with any particular advertisement, the greater the rate of conversion. This has the potential to increase sales and leads beyond many different forms of ad placement.
Ads can offer a bit of entertainment value in order to entice consumers. For example, some ads use animated images of characters that seem to crawl onto a smartphone’s display to promote movies or games.
2. Vastly Customizable
Rich media programming is far more responsive as opposed to other forms of advertising. There is nearly no limit for customization while keeping within the constraints of mobile technology.
Video, animations, sounds and integrated controls can be developed to deliver a myriad of different capabilities. For instance, you could incorporate an embedded sound of jingling bells for your ad to promote the holidays.
People have been found to be more receptive to ads that deliver options and controls. This was seen in the 2000s when animated banners offered engagement as users could control what happened within that small window.
An example of this were ads developed that simulated a game where users had to click on a moving object. Today, many of the rich media ads offer buttons and selections to further engage users.
This level of control allows people to feel more empowered. In this aspect, you’re only limited by the imagination. That is, as long as the device can use the ad.
You may not be able to deliver a truly three-dimensional image if the display isn’t equipped for 3D.
3. Greater Target Audience
Currently, more than 55% of online users browse the Internet from hand-held devices. From a marketing standpoint, these are people you can reach with mobile rich media advertising who don’t have computers to see your other online campaigns.
This means you could potentially increase your marketing results by merely having an interactive ad specifically focused on mobile users.
Most people who own smartphones use them to browse the Internet. Even the elderly are becoming more tech-savvy as 73 percent of those between the ages of 50 and 64 own a smartphone.
This doesn’t count how the younger audience had adapted to new technologies. And millennials are among some of the more important people to market to today.
4. Mobile Usage Is Continuously Growing
Each year, the number of phones activated increases. Even those that have smartphones today are more than likely to buy the next upgrade in six months. It’s a device that has proven to enhance personal and business functionality. Because of this, mobile marketing is one of the most popular and fastest-growing methods for advertising.
By 2019, approximately 24.3 exabytes worth of data will be distributed to these units. This is roughly more than 24 billion gigabytes of information. With this kind of increase, investing in mobile ads now has the potential to serve your business well for years to come.
As technology becomes more affordable, these numbers will only continue to increase.
Get on the Mobile Train Before it Leaves You Behind
What it all boils down to is the excessive amount of time people spend on their smartphones. Whether it’s to look up directions or research a company, mobile technology is widely used in most of the world. If you want to get a greater response from consumers with these units in their pockets, take a closer look at what rich media can do for you.