5 Ways to Optimize Paid Social Campaigns for Mobile
By Lindsey Allen
Intended audience: digital marketers, Creatives
Tone: Easy breezy
Today, 60-100% of all paid social clicks occur on mobile — the exact device share is dependent on the platform and objective. This means optimizing paid social campaigns for mobile devices is crucial for reaching and engaging target audiences effectively. Here are five quick ways to optimize campaigns for success.
1. Prioritize the Text-to-Image Ratio
Maintaining an optimal text-to-image ratio is important for creating effective mobile ads. Mobile screens have limited space, and overcrowding ads with excessive text can hinder comprehension for scrolling targets. Additionally, platform algorithms favor images with minimal text. Some social media companies even show the advertiser a quality ranking based on how the platform perceives the ad. Although specific text-to-image ratio suggestions are no longer published by most social media companies, platforms still explicitly insist on a low-text image for optimal performance.
A strong guideline to follow in social advertising is the 80/20 rule, meaning the ad image should contain no more than 20% text. Keep text concise, clear and impactful. If there’s more information to convey, utilize the post copy and headline spaces.
To further reduce ad image text, remove CTAs and full logos from the images. A clickable CTA button is already present outside the image and does not need to be duplicated within it. The same applies to full logos. The logo and company name are already positioned outside the image, usually at the top of the ad and next to the brand handle. Consequently, including the company name within the image becomes redundant and affects the text-to-image ratio. Instead, opt for a small icon-version of the logo for use within the image itself.
2. Ensure Quick-Glance Readability
Marketers have a maximum of 1-2 seconds to engage a scrolling target. This makes ad readability paramount for paid social campaigns. Digital marketers should communicate the mobile nature of planned social ads to their creative teams. Creative professionals will take it from there! But for digital marketers creating their own ads: opt for font sizes that are easily readable without zooming in, and utilize contrasting colors between the background and text to make important information stand out.
3. Avoid Truncated Copy
When crafting ad copy for the post copy and headline copy areas, ensure it remains fully visible and non-truncated on mobile screens. I often see social media ads with long sentences that get cut off. This leaves targets confused or disinterested. Like a highway billboard for which nobody drives backwards to view a second time, paid social targets won’t scroll back up to see what ad text was missed.
In the rare case that a target does fully engage with the long copy, it can be costly. This is because the additional click on “see more” to expand the truncated copy can result in a charge, depending on the campaign, bid type and platform.
Each platform has public documentation on copy counts, including the maximum copy counts for avoiding truncation. Before launching a campaign, preview the ad in primary mobile placements to confirm visibility.
4. Include Video Captions
As videos become an increasingly popular ad format on mobile, practicality and accessibility must be prioritized. Including captions in video ads is essential to serve users who watch videos without sound and/or are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. Captions can also benefit blind users who utilize text-to-speech features, though such functionality is often platform dependent.
Many platforms auto-play mobile videos without sound, and a majority of paid social targets never change these settings or turn on sound specifically for an ad. Captions enable viewers to understand the message even in silent environments, leading to improved engagement, message retention and spend efficiency. Captions should be accurately timed and prominently displayed.
5. Direct to Mobile-Friendly Landing Pages
A seamless user experience doesn't usually end with the paid social ad itself. In many campaigns, the target will be directed away from the social platform. Ensure that campaign landing pages are mobile-responsive, so that they adapt to different screen sizes. Landing pages should be intuitive to navigate, and page text should be relatively short (or extremely organized) to prevent long mobile scrolling. Ideally, a CTA would be placed near the top, for ad engagers who are ready to action. To create a cohesive user journey, landing pages should maintain the branding tone and messaging from the ad.
By implementing these optimization strategies, digital marketers can maximize the effectiveness of paid social campaigns on mobile devices.
Please note: I don’t cover or answer questions about specific platforms, personal performances or real-world examples. This blog covers high-level fundamentals applicable to advertising in general. The opinions expressed are my own, and not advice. Thank you!