With mobiles expected to become the primary screen for content consumption this year, in-app advertising is the new golden goose for mobile marketers. Today, New York based mobile ads platform appsavvy is introducing a new feature that attempts to seamlessly integrate advertising into a mobile user’s app activity.
“Transition screens,” are where a branded message will briefly surface in the middle of using an app. For example, if the user is playing a game, the transition screen will display at a natural break, such as completing a level or achieving a certain number of points. Crucially, the transition screen will contain a message that directly addresses the user’s real-time app activity. The screen can compliment the user on their achievement, or contain words of encouragement, while also displaying the brand that is sponsoring the message.
Here are a few examples of what transition screens will look like:
Appssavvy says the key to the success of transition screens is making them relevant to what the user is doing at that exact moment. “Audiences spending time on mobile devices is not enough to satisfy brand advertisers, especially when only offered standard banner ads,” says appssavvy CEO and co-founder Chris Cunningham. “When you offer users context on what they did in an app, we find this generally has a very significant lift in the performance of that ad,”
Cunningham says appssavvy’s research showed engagement rates for transition screens with a message recognizing the activity a user performed, increased 48.5 over regular display ads.
Along with transition screens technology, appssavvy is providing the data to publishers and app developers to identify the right moment to deliver a transition screen. Cunningham says the crucial part of the platform is its ability to tell developers where the natural breaks in the app experience occur, and predict people’s behavior while using the app. This data enables developers to optimize their apps for better branding opportunities. For publishers, the platform gives them the ability to test several different messages for the transition screen.
“As an activity-centric platform, our core focus has been reaching audiences at a time they are most receptive to advertising and aligning ad delivery with the user experience,” says Michael Burke, co-founder and president of appssavvy. “This insight proves that through innovation, there is an opportunity to take mobile advertising beyond its current status today serving mainly direct response and app advertising.”
