How many times have you scrolled through your social media feeds or encountered a website to find advertisements that don’t display properly on your mobile device? Or how many mobile ads do you see daily that are full of hype or self-serving to the advertiser?

So many advertisements these days are fairly awful. Although statistics show that they might lead to high conversion rates and brand exposure, the reality is that a lot of mobile ads aren’t as effective as they could be. So in this informative piece, we’re going to give you some practical advice on how you can drastically change the way you approach mobile advertisements and thereby increase your overall conversions.

Keep your mobile ads clean and simple to increase click-throughs

One of the most important keys to effective mobile advertising is to make your ads clean, simple, and friendly to the eye without a lot of distractions. If it’s a product you’re advertising, then a shot of the product in action is ideal; and if it’s a service then the picture needs to be related to the service being used. Additionally, incorporating a minimal amount of text is ideal. A headline, sub-headline, and one-sentence description are sufficient in a digital advertisement. The copy needs to give your customer an idea of what the product/service is, what it does/the benefits, and how they can use it. Pricing can also be added to the advertisement if it’s relevant. You can add percentages to show how much it’s discounted or even a price tag if you plan to keep it relatively consistent. Less is more due to space constraints.

The goal here is to make the entire advertisement easy for the consumer to scan. The clearer the picture is, the more meaningful it’ll be, and the more interested your audience will be, which ultimately helps increase conversions. If you add too much text and too many different elements to the picture, it’ll get cluttered, making it hard to look read and process.

Video can be an effective element if used correctly

We’ve all seen those terrible YouTube or Instagram advertisements that just don’t grab our attention. Instead, we go for the skip button as soon as we see them or scroll right over them without giving them a second thought. The important thing to understand here is that there are a couple of seconds before the user is allowed to skip the ad. This is your window of opportunity to draw in the consumer’s attention and make them look at your ad with the hope of getting them to click on the call to action.

There are a couple of ways to catch the attention of the viewer. One such example is by telling a compelling story. By using the first five seconds to establish a story to build a meaningful emotional connection, you greatly improve your chances of having them watch the rest of the video and click through to the website or landing page. Another popular alternative is to use an influencer or celebrity in the video that your audience might know to capture the attention of the viewer.

Partnering with creators or other influencers is another effective way to improve your video reach and size, especially if you’re targeting your video advertisements on YouTube or Instagram. By having creators appear in your ads, there’s a much higher chance that the video will be relevant to your viewer. However, it’s important to understand that this can be expensive and will generally only work for a short amount of time with certain creators. At the end of the day, a high-quality video with a story to tell is going to be far more successful than relying on traditional advertisement concepts that might work on TV or on other advertisement mediums.

To help increase your chances of generating a high click-through rate on your mobile ads, keep these other tips in mind:

• Keep your ads clean and to the point. You don’t want to include a bunch of images or design elements that ultimately distracts the viewer from reading and taking action.

• Use visually-pleasing images that show off the features of your product. One image is usually enough.

• Limit the amount of copy you use in each mobile advertisement. I usually only include a sentence or two to captivate the viewer’s attention and educate them on what the product does. Remember less is more here.

• Include a strong call to action to increase the conversions. “Get Instant Access” or “Book your free demo here” work well.

• Be clear in what actions you want your audience to take in the advertisement.

• Personalize all advertisements across all platforms to create a strong connection with prospective customers.

• Include the price and whether you’re running a sale.

• Make use of targeting options to refine your customer base and increase the chances of conversions.