The Following is a guest contribution from Jonathan Bartov, mobile media buying manager for Matomy.com
One of the most used quotes in advertising
is John Wanamaker’s famous one.
“Half the money I spend on
advertising is wasted; the trouble is,
I don’t know which half “
Many modern online marketers think this is the case in traditional advertising only; in online advertising, everything is measured and transparent. But even with all the insight from the data that online advertising provides, budgets can be easily wasted if you don’t have a smart and effective media buying strategy.
In this guide, I share some important media buying tips that will hopefully save you a few bucks and improve your campaigns’ mobile performance. Keep in mind that it’s not a guaranteed “recipe for success”, but rather a map for avoiding some of the bumps on the road.
JONATHAN BARTOV
Mobile Media Buying Manager
Tip 1 PLANNING
Mobile Compatibility
Check the offer’s mobile compatibility on an actual mobile device or use a mobile phone emulator. One of the most important factors for a successful conversion is how an offer looks
on a device.
- Does it load quickly?
- Are the buttons easy to click on? Does the page open at the optimal size?
- Is it easy to fill out information
These are all questions you need to answer when you choose which offers to run. If the offer is not available in your location, a number of mobile emulators are available, such as: geosurf.com, mite.keynote.com or mobilephoneemulator.com
Tip 2 PLANNING
Less Is More
Campaigns with lower payouts tend to have high conversion rates.
As a result, you are able to acquire more conversion data, which helps you optimize and scale your campaign.
Tip 3 PLANNING
Focus on the Lowest Prices
High price does not equal high performance.
WHEN CHOOSING A MEDIA SOURCE,
BE SKEPTICAL OF SOMEONE WHO TELLS YOU OTHERWISE.
In general, more popular apps and sites cost more, but they don’t necessarily perform any better than the cheaper sources. For this reason I suggest shopping around, and starting with the media source that gives you the lowest minimum prices
Tip 4 PLANNING
Think Outside the Banner
Standard 320×50 banners are the main type of media source available, but this is an outdated way of getting to the user.
These banners tend to have many accidental clicks, and as a result, you will see very low conversion rates. There is no question that the future of mobile is outside the standard banner.
Keep your eyes open for new types of media placements, such as full page ads,
interstitials, rich media, and special formats.
Tip 5 TARGETING
Travel Far and Wide
Emerging markets such as Africa, South America and the Middle East have huge amounts of
untapped traffic.
In many of these countries, mobile is the primary platform for accessing the web, and in general, few advertisers are looking for these geos.The result is markets with huge amounts of traffic at rock bottom prices.
Tip 6 TARGETING
Segment Campaigns When Setting Up
The mobile world opens up a range of new targeting
capabilities.
The same campaign can have completely different results on different types of media :
- App or Site,
- OS (Android, iOS)
- Carrier (T-Mobile, AT&T)
- Device (Samsung, Apple, HTC, LG)
When opening a new campaign you want to be able to get a “taste” of a few different media types. For this reason I suggest segmenting your campaign when setting up. We usually separate OS and carrier for starters.
Tip 7 TARGETING
Be Wary of BlackBerry and Opera Mini Traffic
There is plenty of very cheap traffic, and for a reason.
Because of the different infrastructure of these networks (Blackberry uses its own servers, Opera funnels all data through their servers) this type of traffic is often not targeted correctly.
As a result you will receive traffic from markets or carriers that you didn’t actually target. This in general leads to very poor results.
Tip 8 OPTIMIZING
Self-serve Platforms
Invest time in choosing your media source.
You are going to be opening campaigns with low budgets and varied targeting until
you are able to scale up.
A media source that gives you the flexibility to control budgets, targeting and
campaign details on the fly is critical to be able to quickly and efficiently manage
costs and take advantage of all the opportunities.
Tip 9 OPTIMIZING
Use the PCD Rule
Optimize based on Publisher, then Carrier, then Device.
These are the most important parameters when optimizing.
Tip 10 OPTIMIZING
20% Rule
When opening a new campaign, a good way to measure potential success is the 20% rule.
If after your initial setup you see a 20% return on your investment, there is a good chance you will be able to optimize and scale the campaign to profitability
Tip 11 OPTIMIZING
It’s All About Performance
Don’t mess with what works.
If you have segments that are running on 3G traffic successfully, don’t exclude carriers, but rather duplicate the campaign and target the best performing carriers at higher rates.
FINALLY
Finally and most importantly
be patient
The first campaign you open will probably not be a success,
maybe even your first three.
But if you are patient, thorough and persistent about learning your media sources you have the potential to get huge returns and fantastic margins with Mobile Media Buying
This guide was written by Jonathan Bartov, mobile media buying manager for Matomy.com. You may contact him directly at mobileaffiliates@Matomy.com
