by Game Marketing Genie, on 22-Dec-2021 12:05:58
Advertising is a crucial part of the mobile gaming industry. However, the ad formats you choose to deploy in-game will determine if users continue playing or abandon your game forever.
Players aren’t opposed to seeing ads in their games, but they must fit seamlessly into their gameplay experience. Otherwise, they'll drop your game and move to others that aren't as intrusive.
To help you avoid this, we're highlighting the best mobile game ad formats to generate additional gaming revenue without damaging your user experience.
Let’s get started.
Importance of ad formats in advertising
In a world saturated with ads, most people have found ways to tune out the ads they see. They will mindlessly close pop-up ads on their screens and skip past video ads without thinking. This creates a problem for marketers who depend on ads to inform consumers about their products and services. So, how can marketers grab people’s attention in today’s ad-saturated online market? Through innovating ad formats.
Innovative ad formats help marketers break through the clutter and inform consumers about their products. Such ads quickly grab user attention and encourage engagement. In addition to piquing consumer interest and increasing engagement, innovative ads retain customer attention for longer. Moreover, when you give your target users a positive ad experience, your chances of creating a loyal customer are much higher.
Innovative ad formats also have a good track record for delivering the desired performance for marketers. A huge 88 percent of marketers who’ve used interactive marketing content say it successfully differentiated their brand from their competitors. With interactive ads outperforming their static counterparts, you must actively consider the ads you display in your video game since they set people's expectations about your game. You want more interactive ads that complement the game and encourage engagement. Your game monetization depends on how effectively you display ads in your game, and you need to get innovative with your ad formats and placements if you want to generate a large number of impressions and clicks.
Different types of ad formats to use your game's advertising
Now that you know the importance of innovative game advertising to your company’s bottom line, here are the best game ad formats to boost your revenue.
Playable ads
One video game ad format that has become very popular with developers is playable ads. Playable ads merge interactivity and gamification to provide viewers an enhanced ad experience. These ads allow users to play a game and understand the gameplay experience before installing. Unlike spammy and intrusive ads, playable ads are less likely to ruin the user experience, and users like them.
Figure 1: Playable ads. Source: Smartyads
This is excellent news for advertisers because playable ads reach high-quality users who continue using the advertised app after downloading. On the other hand, mobile game publishers can generate more revenue by serving the ads to the right audience.
There are three things a playable ad should contain for it to be effective. They include:
- An introduction on how the game is played
- A short demo for the user to experience the gameplay
- A CTA to invite users to install the game after the demo
Interstitial ads
Interstitial ads are full-screen ads that are displayed at natural breaks in the game. This can be during organic transitions in the game, such as during pauses or when a player completes a level and is ready to move to the next one. Interstitial ads don’t interrupt the user experience and take advantage of natural pauses in the game.
Interstitials offer advertisers a full-screen ad experience that is complemented with rich interactive media and animated content. They generally generate strong impressions, conversions, and a good monetization rate.
Rewarded ads
Figure 2: Rewarded Ads. Source: Game Analytics
Everybody loves rewards, and that’s why rewarded ads are popular with players. Rewarded ads reward players for interacting with an ad. The players can receive virtual currency, in-game assets, or extra points for watching the advertisement to the end.
Because of their design, rewarded ads have the highest view rates and show positive traction for advertisers. Rewarded ads are less intrusive, and players look forward to earning valuable in-game extras to help them progress.
When incorporating rewarded ads into your game, give great rewards that incentivize users to engage with the ad. Also, find appropriate instances to show the ads without disrupting the gameplay.
Push notification ads
Another effective mobile game marketing strategy is to use push notification ads to distribute advertising messages to players. Push ads are delivered to users' mobile devices in a manner resembling push notifications. The ads offer a non-intrusive, highly engaging, and user-friendly way for advertisers to expand their audiences.
To enable push notification ads on your mobile game, join a traffic source platform to supply ad inventory for advertisers' demand.
Expandable banner ads
Expandable banner ads are interruptive ads that take over the entire screen when a player taps on them. Sometimes, the taps happen accidentally depending on how the ad has been positioned, so advertisers shouldn’t assume every tap equates to positive user interaction.
Figure 3: Expandable video ads. Source: Game Analytics
While expandable banner ads aren’t everyone’s favorite when it comes to the player experience, they do offer an immersive ad experience that can be successful if the ad is deployed wisely. To start with, inform viewers that the ad will expand when they click it. This way, a player wouldn’t be mad when the ad takes over the entire screen and disrupts their gameplay.
Story-based video ads
Story-based video ads have a full-fledged scenario that unfolds when they play. The scenario usually combines visual, audio, and text-based information that users interact with at the same time. The ads are usually full-screen and must be shown at the start of the game or at some logical intervals in the game such as transitions to a new level.
Static in-game banner ads
Static in-game banner ads are inserted into a game during the development phase and cannot be updated in the future. Static ads are a lot like product placement in films and music clips. When integrating static advertising into your game, insert the ads organically into the storyline to ensure players can make a real connection with the ad in question.
Figure 4: Static in-game advertising. Source: Business of Apps
For example, if you have a racing game, you can incorporate static banner ads along the race track, as with real-world races. The billboards in a FIFA game are a great example of how static ads can be implemented. Ads in the game have been contextually placed in a manner similar to how users experience ads in a real soccer game.
Dynamic in-game ads
Lastly, you can consider dynamic in-game ads for your mobile game advertising. Dynamic ads are placed across game elements but can be updated in real-time. The ads are similar to display ads on other online properties that can be scaled, targeted geographically, and traded in the programmatic ecosystem. The ads can be shown in a 3D environment or on objects within the game, such as posters and billboards, to help brands with their game marketing strategies.
Ad networks serve dynamic in-game ads using an ad server; in the same way, banner ads are delivered on websites and blogs. Work with a game marketing agency to leverage this technology to dynamically place ads in your game to earn additional recurring revenue.
Paid advertising for game devs
Organic marketing is great, but it won’t take you all the way to game marketing success! Don’t be afraid to invest in paid advertising, as it can help you generate the reach and engagement you need. Still not convinced? Check out The Complete Paid Marketing Guide for Video Games!
With more than 3 billion gamers worldwide, video games are an effective advertising channel to reach consumers.
But most developers need to learn how to execute effective in-game advertising campaigns. You must be wary of your in-game ad formats, as they affect how people see your game. Remember that different games demand different ads, and no one size fits all.
Game Marketing Genie is here to help you incorporate the right mobile game ad formats into your game to generate additional revenue.
Get in touch to talk to our marketing experts today.
