MMA Establishes Industry Standard for Mobile Video Ad Units

This week the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) published the MMA Mobile Video Lexical Framework defining terminology associated with mobile, video communication advertising. The MMA identified three distinct mobile video advertising units:

• Pre/Mid/Post-Roll Linear Video Ad Unit – a mobile video ad that runs before, during or after video content.
• Interstitial Video Ad Unit – a mobile video ad that runs between non-video content and occupies a majority of the device screen.
• Value Exchange Video Ad Unit – a mobile video ad that runs on user intuition and is viewed to completion in exchange for a digital reward such as points, goods, coins, coupons, or pay wall-gated content that would otherwise be earned or purchased.

These definitions were created to help the advertising industry gain direction, uniformity, and better serve clients within the fast-growing mobile video marketplace.  The MMA’s new guidelines do not differentiate between smartphones and tablet devices.

In response to the rapid growth of mobile video communications and advertising, Forrester issued a new report into how users interact with mobile devices, how tablet ads should differ from mobile phone ads, how to capitalize on best practices to increase conversion rates and ROI of tablet and mobile ads, and building brand loyalty and reputation through engaging immersive video content and experience.

Mobile video with advertising integration is not new, but it is it getting very hot because the proliferation of tablets and mobile smart phones and customer demand for unique, cool, and fun experiences.

States Anne Schelle, CEO of Acta Wireless:

“Even in its infancy, mobile video offers such [sic] a valuable investment for marketers.  Mobile video is at a tipping point and now is the time for advertisers to make a strong commitment to follow their customers as they migrate from PC to mobile.”

Other useful factoids related to mobile video marketing and mobile devices include:

• Tablets are used primarily in the home and may be shared among multiple users.
• Almost one-third of US adults with a laptop, smartphone, and tablet multitask while watching television.
• American tablet users surf the Web, research products, and watch online videos.
• Smartphones are less likely to be shared.  Users access this mobile device on the go and in the home.

Forrester noted that the most effective video marketers take advantage of the mobile arena by creating “ immersive experiences” tailored to the “touchscreen interaction” and rely on robust analytics and reporting to decipher the most prevalent mobile devices being used.

The most effective mobile marketing campaigns are ones designed specifically for a mobile user experience.   This means simple designs that can be accessed quickly.  Here are five tips to keep in mind when developing mobile content:

1. Develop a direct navigation and limit the number of page links to 7 or fewer
2. Layouts should be simple and to the point
3. Create concise and succinct content
4. Features need to be “swipe” friendly
5. Minimize page loads

Any company, organization, or person wanting to reach and engage their audience in real time cannot ignore the prevalence of mobile device communication and demand by consumers for engaging, interactive, and immersive content.

Our team is excited by MMA’s findings and the new Forrester Report because the Flimp Media video communications platform provides the solutions to effective mobile video and advertising engagement, tracking, and follow up prescribed above.    Give us a call and see how we can assist!

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Jenn O’Meara is the Director of Client Services at Flimp Media.  With a diverse digital marketing communications background, Jenn enjoys working directly with Flimp Media’s clients.  A graduate of Providence College and Boston University, Jenn can be found rink side most winter weekends cheering on the PC Friars Hockey teams.  In the summer, look for Jenn at the beach.