Why Regional Companies Should Embrace In-App Advertising

More and more mid-market companies need to find ways to gain a greater share of voice and engage with users on a personal level.

Facebook and Instagram alone attract more mobile users everyday than nearly any other apps. But the engagement doesn’t stop at these popular apps. People turn to apps for gaming, video, dining, travel, transportation, radio and hundreds of other reasons. And why shouldn’t they? Each app is customizable, and the user can develop as personalized a connectivity level as they see fit. With a huge growth rate in app development and usage, why aren’t more regional size companies getting on board with the advertising opportunities they offer?

The two most apparent reasons mid-marketing companies haven’t been utilizing the personal connection are obvious. First, the ability and expense required to create ads for this format isn’t as standard as traditional digital. Many apps are custom designed networks or are platform specific which requires a custom formatted ad to work within each individual app.

The development for the creative on these platforms takes not only more time to complete but money as well. Regional companies with Conservative budgets may not feel this is a cost-effective use of their budget.

The second reason, many mid-market businesses haven’t felt comfortable “playing in this space” is that many apps truly don’t have or share their tracking transparency very well. Often, an apps tracking response isn’t nearly as easy to secure as the tracking of more traditional mobile and digital ads. Because not all ad delivery in apps is cookie based, knowing how often an ad was delivered or the activity that it generates, makes it a less enticing option for advertisers to look at it as a viable option in their media mix. So, while digital apps are quite advanced, the slow growth of in-app advertising has left many feeling somewhat disappointed, unlike the growth that their digital counter parts have seen.

Mobile app downloads are exploding. With more time being spent on them, along with their targeting capabilities, they can be an extremely solid place to allocate a small portion of your advertising budget.

It’s not much different than other traditional forms of media. TV, radio and Outdoor may not be able to tell you everything about each consumer but a solid well-rounded plan still includes these elements and the same should be said about apps.

Now is a very good time to get onboard with this medium. It still isn’t over crowded like so many other options and offers regional companies the opportunity to stand out and be personally engaged with their audience’s personal environments. This gives the mobile user a more intimate experience with an advertiser and will increase visibility and attention. It’s modern day guerilla marketing.