Why Your Mobile Ads Aren't Converting

If you're like me...you're sick and tired of being duped by mobile ads.

You know what I'm talking about - the ads that fool you into accidentally clicking them.

The companies placing the ads are clever. More and more of them are being designed in a way that increases the chances that users will click them. Makes sense from a reporting perspective if the goal is to show a large number of clicks. But are they converting?

Here's one example for you - it's a screenshot from my phone.

Smack dab in the middle of the slideshow I was looking at - JUST above the actual "next" arrow - was this arrow. Sure, as we closely inspect it we can see "advertisement". And I know it's a little difficult to see from this quick screenshot, but it's easily confused with an arrow on the slideshow that looks exactly the same.

Then, of course, there are the little floating bars just above the "back" button that interfere with your ability to actually hit "back" on the mobile browser. I've ended up on some useless ad countless times because of this little trick.

Or how about the ads that are SO big and not even mobile friendly when you hit a website that you have NO CHOICE but to click them?

Sadly this is one of the BETTER ones. Two ads take over the entire screen of the article I'm trying to read. At least in this case, I can close them off - or try to. Fat fingered people like myself usually end up clicking them as opposed to closing them.

Here's another one for you. When I clicked the ad in the top for "cycwallusa" - it brought me to a website...that wasn't even slightly mobile friendly. Hell - I couldn't even find a phone number to call until I pulled it up on my actual computer. And even then - the website didn't have pricing or the ability to order online. Fail, fail, fail.

Today's message is simple - and comes from an agency with no skin in the game (although we do act as a third party and oversee SEM campaigns, we don't actually run them and have no desire to ever do so). Just because you're spending money on mobile ads...and the company you have hired to spend your money is showing lots of clicks...are those clicks converting into traffic? Or are they doing more harm than good?

Posted By

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Kyle Reyes is the President and Creative Director of The Silent Partner Marketing, New England's #1 Marketing Agency. We're a boutique marketing firm focused on helping businesses grow in an age of exploding technology. You can find him on Google+, Facebook and Twitter. He's the Chuck Norris of marketing. It's outrageous - we know. That's kind of the point. Outrageous marketing - extraordinary results.