samesameAll too often the same advertising strategy is rigidly applied to mobile and traditional channels, although several independent studies show that an unmodified or only slightly adapted TV spot on mobile devices does not lead to the desired success – just as little as a mobile spot on a cinema screen would work. It is therefore important to consider and coordinate the individual channels when creating them. Hence, for a mobile-first approach we recommend considering the following tips:

  • In order to attract users’ attention, it is important to arouse viewers’ interest and encourage them to stay engaged. In addition, the brand or the product should be integrated in a natural way and the creative should trigger certain emotions. Finally, potential customers should be encouraged to buy with a clear call-to-action. In a global study by YouTube, ads that adhered to these guidelines resulted in a 30% increase in short-term sales and a 17% increase in longer-term brand contribution.
  • Since mobile advertising is often consumed "on the go", sound is not always useful or desirable, but subtitles for sure increase the quality of attention in silent ads.
  • Performance branding (brandformance) is growing in popularity – and creativity is just as important at the bottom of the marketing funnel as it was at the beginning. According to a study by Meta Campaigns, which used a combination of still images and videos, they achieved a 17% higher conversion increase than campaigns that included only static images. Product-focused content also efficiently drives business outcomes – it gets 71% more views than content without a clear product focus.
  • Regardless of the platform, the most important thing is to stay adventurous. A test-and-learn strategy finds out what works best for which user groups. Advertisers should act with an open mind here to find out which creatives and strategies work best. Saving file size is particularly important for mobile Internet connections: e.g., the IAB specifications for lightweight ads and their general recommendation of a maximum file size of 150 KB for fast loading times, and a maximum of 2 MB if the user has not initiated the loading process, is useful information you might want to consider.


The advertising industry is spoiled with a multitude of possibilities in terms of targeting, measurability and up-to-date and readily available KPIs. However, it is foreseeable that targeting and measurement will be significantly restricted on the one hand by legislation and on the other hand by relevant market participants, and will therefore be less granular and less timely in the future. Both on the web and within apps, users are increasingly being asked about their preferences. Consequently, sensitivity to data protection is expected to continue to rise.

In addition to ID-based approaches, market participants are developing supplementary models such as contextual targeting, data clean rooms, Google Ads Data Hub and the privacy sandbox. The same applies to mobile marketing which means assessing the measurable part and modeling the remaining part based on the available measurement data or alternative data points. Some of this is already happening in machine learning.

There are also incremental tests of the marketing channels, in which a test group is measured against a control group; however, this method is more suitable for longer-term considerations and not for daily statistical needs. Methods of media/marketing mix modeling are also used over longer periods of time.

Generated installs can still be attributed to a campaign via Apple's SKAdNetwork, but no longer granularly at the user level, and depending on the channel, the returned attribution window is only valid for 7 days.

Developing their own tools and (machine learning) models can be worthwhile for large brands and shops, but most of the industry will probably fall back on existing solutions and special service providers that support them with the topic of measurability and attribution.

Server-side tracking as a possible option is still in its infancy, but larger market players already offer it. However, it requires consent query and is therefore not without data deficits. Possible data points that are measurable and can support modeled insights are first party cookies.

By MediaBUZZ