in-app video ads

In-app video ads: Why your brand should be taking advantage of mobile video

There are many opportunities available through in-app video ads of which brands should take advantage. Video is by far the most popular medium for consumers and is shared 1200% more often than text or image posts. As consumers’ viewing habits shift to mobile, mobile video advertising is proving to be an ideal path to increase engagement and sales.

The opportunities in the in-app video advertising category are virtually endless. Rewarded videos entice consumers by offering low-cost incentives that get them to listen to a brand’s message. Interactive formats drive engagement and increase brand affinity. Virtual video greetings can even work to welcome consumers to the store at the start of their shopping trip. These methods leverage video while traveling with the consumer to increase sales and market share.  

Rewarding Viewers With Affinity-Building Incentives

Almost half of consumers consider rewarded video the best type of video advertising brands can deliver. This medium uses in-game loot or rewards points to incentivize the consumer to watch an advertisement. The process works as follows:

  1. Gaining permission: While using the app, the consumer receives a notification or sees an Easter egg that offers a reward. The consumer must opt-in to see the video, which helps to establish trust between them and the brand.
  2. Delivering an experience: The consumer watches the advertisement for the allotted time, usually around 30 seconds. Technical accuracy is paramount here, as a video that buffers non-stop or freezes the consumer’s phone will damage brand reputation rather than improve it.
  3. Providing a reward: Following the advertisement, the consumer should receive a reward automatically. Again, this is an area where technical issues can cause reputation damage. If the consumer doesn’t receive the anticipated reward, they will likely associate the brand with that poor experience.

The quality of the rewarded video experience is imperative, which is why brands should only work with reputable companies that deliver seamless options.

Enhancing the Mobile Video Experience With Interactive Features

Brands can increase the impact of their mobile video advertising through interactive video. The typical example of interactive video comes from polls embedded into video content, but brands can get more inventive. An excellent example of an interactive video marketing idea comes from the QSR industry and Buffalo Wild Wing’s “Foodoo doll” campaign.

leveraging in-app video adsThe chain featured their “Foodoo” doll in a series of mobile ads and encouraged consumers to try and catch it by tapping it with their finger. Once captured, the doll opened a new screen which provided details on locations or an option to join the restaurant’s loyalty program. Buffalo Wild Wings reported 46 million overall interactions with a 93.4% completion rate for the campaign.

Through this campaign, the brand gamified the video experience by creating an opportunity to catch one of the characters on the screen. This type of gamification is also something Shopkick leverages in multiple ways. Consumers can essentially “unlock” features like videos and rewards points by visiting locations and scanning product UPCs. The interaction aspect in the app encourages retention and builds brand affinity.

Creating a Welcoming Atmosphere With Virtual Greetings

Many retailers desire a way to welcome consumers to their locations without the need to hire someone specifically for the job. Video greetings can replace the traditional door greeting and enhance the customer’s shopping experience. There are a few ways to use these greetings. The most well-known is setting up a central monitor where a video plays when someone approaches, but this can be impersonal and difficult to maintain.

The other option is mobile delivery through an app. Consumers download a retail or shopping app, and then when they enter a participating location, the greeting plays automatically. In some cases, it’s even possible to customize the experience using the consumer details available in the app. This strategy personalizes the video greeting process even more and allows brands to scale the experience.

In-app video ads offer brands an opportunity to target their messages to the right individuals.

In-app video ads offer brands an opportunity to target their messages to the right individuals. Developers provide a wide range of choices for marketers to leverage, from rewarded opportunities to interactive and gamified programs. In cases of video greetings, these in-app video ads can even take the burden off sales personnel on the floor. Brands should consider adding these mobile video advertising options to their marketing mix to create more personalized, conversion-focused messages.

Shopkick offers our partners the opportunity to use features like rewarded video and virtual greetings to enhance the customer shopping experience. For more information on how our app can improve your marketing efforts, contact us.

Image courtesy of Nhungboon

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Dima Volovik

EVP of Product and Engineering

Dima Volovik is the EVP of Product and Engineering at Trax Retail — Shopkick.

Dima Volovik is the accomplished product and engineering leader who led teams to deliver innovative and commercially successful e-commerce products, marketplaces, and enterprise solutions for Amazon, Comcast, Fandango, and Universal Music. Before joining Trax, Dima was the Director at Amazon, where he led product development and Engineering for Amazon Appstore and Amazon Prime Video, CTO at Fandango, and Paciolan, head of technology at Golf Channel/Golf Now, and Global VP of Direct to Consumer Technology at Universal Music Group. Dima’s expertise includes developing consumer products, marketplaces, and enterprise solutions.

Dima grew up in Baku, Azerbaijan, where he received his MS in Electrical Engineering from Azerbaijan Oil Academy, and he currently resides in Los Angeles, California, with his family.