In-App Advertising, a Virtual Takeover

Over the past decade the landscape of the internet and how it is used has shifted drastically with the takeover of smartphones. Over 80% of all internet users own a smartphone, and around 52% of all internet searches and uses are generated by smartphone users according to techjury.net. While this shift has occurred many companies were faced with a new issues, how do we influence consumers to check our websites, and that is where mobile apps and advertisements come into play.

According to this article by business2community.org, not only are mobile phones and devices outperforming desktop devices, but the internet usage on mobile apps such as twitter, instagram, facebook, mobile games, and other apps such as ESPN are now outperforming the internet usage on desktops. The article goes nicely into the major differences behind what is more beneficial, mobile websites or mobile apps as well. The question businesses face however are how are we going to target this audience do get our message out there.

If you go on any mobile app on your phone advertisements are sure to pop up. If you go on twitter and are scrolling down your feed a promoted tweet will pop up, most of the time targeting things that you are most likely impacted by based on your search history or the people you follow on the app itself.

Mobile app advertisements have actually even overtaken mobile web ads in recent years, putting an emphasis on that, even though it is less likely that a user will make an in-app purchase with a success rate for most ads at around 11%.

Mobile gaming is also a big thing on smartphone devices, and with billions of games out there for a user to play, paid game apps have fallen wayside compared to free apps with in-game advertisements according to this article by the manifest. These ads on the free gaming apps also use a good call to action which is highlighted by the textbook, Webs of Influence. Most of the games when you complete a level or want to retry a level flash to an ad for a different mobile game with the word something like, “If you can get to this level you are officially a genius”. This uses a great CTA because most people want to challenge themselves to prove that they are in the top percentage of people and want to stand out.

To add to that, in the article it is found that nearly 80% of our time on our smartphones is spent on apps compared to just the 20% that is spent on the mobile web, making it even more obsolete in the grand scheme of things. As all of these stats are popping up it is evident that while it is essential to target the mobile audience, perhaps targeting mobile apps is the best way to go for companies.

References:

Armour, B., & Armour, B. (n.d.). Mobile App Vs. Mobile Website: Which Is The Better Option? Retrieved from https://www.business2community.com/mobile-apps/mobile-app-vs-mobile-website-which-is-the-better-option-02048068

Comparing Responses to In-App and Mobile Web Ads. (2017, June 19). Retrieved from https://www.emarketer.com/Article/Comparing-Responses-In-App-Mobile-Web-Ads/1016037

MacQuarrie, A. (n.d.). Ashley MacQuarrie. Retrieved from https://themanifest.com/app-development/how-app-advertising-works-app-monetization

Nahai, N. (2017). Webs of influence: the psychology of online persuasion. Place of publication not identified: Pearson Education Limited.