Mobile advertising takes up a small amount of space by default, which means that the words you choose to represent your game or app are vitally important. You have only a small space and a short amount of time to capture the attention of your prospective customer as they glance at your messaging – here are some ideas for how to choose the right words to maximize your chance of success and drive mobile advertising effectiveness.

The fundamentals of mobile advertising copywriting include:

• Keep it short: Space is at a premium with mobile advertising, so you have to be concise. Try to capture the essence of what your message is all about in only 5 words or less. The simple fact of the small size of a mobile device screen makes it necessary to strive for and clarity.
• Keep it simple: The good news is that because the space is so small, you don’t need to convey a complicated sales pitch. Just try to engage the consumers attention, catch their interest, and make them want to click the ad to learn more. Your landing environment (most likely an app store) does a more detailed job of explaining the value of your app or offer and shows the person why they should take the next step. The goal of your mobile advertising campaign is just the front door to open the conversation.
• Appeal to the emotions: Think about how you can write mobile advertising that “fascinates” your reader by appealing directly to their most powerful emotions. How much fun do users of your app have? How can your app help your users feel better about themselves, feel more in control and powerful, feel more organized, or feel that they are achieving mastery over some part of their lives? These strong emotional components need to be the focus of your ad copy. Try to put people in the right frame of mind just by reading a few words on their mobile device screens, with quick powerful phrases like, “Energize your workout” (for a fitness app), “Simplify your kitchen” (for a kitchen-related reciple-organizing app),  “Kiss the sun,” (for a discount travel app) or “Kill more dragons,” (for a fantasy game).
• Focus on your campaign goals: What are you trying to accomplish with this mobile advertising campaign? Do you need more downloads, more paying users (well, everyone needs those), more members of your social media community, overall brand awareness? Whatever your most important goals might be, make sure that your mobile advertising copywriting reflects those goals with clear call-to-actions. Such as, “Play for free,” “Unleash the Kraken,” et al.
• Test, test, test:  One of the most frequently encountered mobile advertising mistakes is failing to test your ads. This is puzzling, because it’s cheaper than ever before to try multiple versions of a mobile ad, and then track the results so you see what works and what doesn’t. Try multiple combinations of different ad copy plus different offers.

The 5 words (or less) on your mobile ads might turn out to be the most important words you write. Choose wisely. Try to engage the consumers emotions in a way that is relevant to the purpose of your app. Make sure your call to action is connected to your biggest mobile ad campaign goals. And keep testing and refining your mobile ad copy along the way – see what works and do more of it.

What’s your take on this? What are the catchiest mobile ad banner headlines that you’ve ever seen? 

By Ryan Morel