Mobile advertising works best when brand and performance marketing combine. Brand ads create awareness and emotional connections, while performance ads focus on measurable actions like app downloads and purchases. Together, they guide users from interest to action.
Key Takeaways:
- Brand Marketing: Builds long-term loyalty with emotional storytelling. Success is tracked through brand awareness, sentiment, and equity.
- Performance Marketing: Focuses on immediate results like clicks, downloads, and sales. Metrics include CTR, ROAS, and conversion rates.
- Rewarded Video Ads: A hybrid format offering in-app rewards for ad views, achieving nearly 100% completion rates and boosting both brand awareness and conversions.
Quick Comparison:
| Feature | Brand Marketing | Performance Marketing |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Build awareness and loyalty | Drive immediate actions |
| Metrics | Sentiment, brand equity, awareness | CTR, ROAS, conversion rates |
| Ad Formats | Video, native, interstitial | Search, retargeting, app installs |
| Timeframe | Long-term impact | Immediate results |
To succeed, combine both strategies: use brand ads to build trust and performance ads to drive results.
The Mobile App Marketing Funnel
1. Brand Marketing in Mobile Advertising
Brand marketing lays the groundwork for future customer relationships by creating emotional connections, unlike performance ads, which focus on immediate clicks and conversions.
Objectives
In mobile advertising, brand marketing aims to build a strong reputation and leave lasting impressions on users, rather than pushing for instant downloads or purchases. Mobile devices offer unique opportunities to engage audiences through multiple touchpoints and deliver timely, relevant messages.
The ultimate goal is to forge emotional bonds that lead to long-term customer loyalty. By staying top-of-mind, your brand becomes the go-to choice when users are ready to make a purchase. This approach requires a different set of metrics to track success, as it’s about creating enduring value rather than quick wins.
KPIs
Tracking the success of brand marketing involves a different playbook compared to performance campaigns. While performance marketing leans on metrics like click-through rates and conversions, brand marketing prioritizes brand awareness, perception, and loyalty.
The return on investment (ROI) for brand marketing unfolds over time, which can make it tricky to justify spending. However, tools like brand recall studies, sentiment analysis, share of voice, and awareness surveys (both aided and unaided) provide valuable insights.
To bridge the gap, some companies are blending brand and performance strategies. As Ido Kirshenboim from monday.com puts it:
"The majority of our efforts are performance marketing because we believe that performance and brand aren’t necessarily disconnected. We assess and measure channels historically seen as ‘brand awareness’ as performance marketing."
Ad Formats
Among mobile ad formats, mobile video ads shine as a powerful tool for brand building. They allow brands to deliver engaging, impactful messages quickly. It’s no surprise that 86% of companies now incorporate video into their marketing strategies.
Native ads, designed to blend seamlessly into app content, reduce user annoyance and boost engagement. They’re ideal for cultivating positive brand associations. Similarly, interstitial ads, with their full-screen format, grab attention and are perfect for storytelling and immersive experiences.
The rise of vertical video, fueled by platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and Shorts, has further revolutionized mobile advertising. These ads feel natural on mobile devices, making them highly effective for brand campaigns.
Benchmarks
The growing importance of mobile-first strategies is reflected in industry benchmarks. Global mobile ad spend is expected to exceed $495 billion in 2024, accounting for more than 66% of total digital ad spending.
The dominance of mobile traffic supports these investments. In 2023, 54.67% of all web traffic came from mobile devices, and over 58% of global website traffic originated from mobile. Additionally, 59% of shoppers prefer brands that make mobile purchases easy. These figures highlight why mobile-first strategies are no longer optional – they’re essential for building lasting brand connections.
Implementation Strategies
To succeed in mobile brand marketing, adopting a mobile-first approach is key. With mobile users surpassing desktop users, your ads need to be designed specifically for mobile viewing.
Focus on creating visually engaging and interactive ads that align with your brand identity. Ensure they are optimized for various screen sizes and load quickly. Video content, in particular, is highly effective. Short video ads perform best on mobile, so deliver your message within the first few seconds and include captions for users watching without sound.
Cross-channel integration takes your efforts further. Omni-channel strategies streamline planning, unify messaging, and provide integrated insights, creating a consistent brand experience across all mobile touchpoints.
The bottom line? Mobile advertising has evolved from being a nice-to-have to an absolute necessity for modern brand marketing.
2. Performance Marketing in Mobile Advertising
Performance marketing takes a different approach from traditional advertising by zeroing in on immediate, measurable results rather than focusing on long-term brand awareness. While brand marketing lays the groundwork for future relationships with audiences, performance marketing is all about turning those efforts into concrete actions – think app downloads, purchases, or new sign-ups. In essence, brand marketing builds the connection, and performance marketing delivers the results.
Objectives
The primary goal of performance marketing in mobile advertising is simple: drive actions that can be tracked and measured. Unlike brand campaigns, which aim to build emotional connections, performance campaigns are laser-focused on achieving specific outcomes. These outcomes might include increasing app downloads, generating sign-ups, driving in-app purchases, or boosting mobile website traffic. Every dollar spent is tied directly to a measurable action, such as clicks, leads, or sales, ensuring that the results are tangible and immediate.
KPIs
To measure success in performance marketing, tracking the right metrics is essential. These metrics, often referred to as key performance indicators (KPIs), provide a clear picture of what your ad spend is delivering. Some of the most critical KPIs include:
- Cost Per Install (CPI): Tracks the cost of acquiring a new app user.
- Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): Represents the total expense of gaining a paying customer.
- Conversion Rates: With about 2% of app installs leading to purchases, this metric is crucial for assessing campaign impact.
- Click-Through Rates (CTR): Measures how often users click on ads.
- Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): Evaluates the revenue generated for every dollar spent.
- Lifetime Value (LTV): Offers insights into the long-term value of acquired users.
What sets performance marketing apart is its real-time tracking, which allows for immediate adjustments to campaigns, ensuring optimal results.
Ad Formats
Not all ad formats are created equal when it comes to driving conversions and downloads. Some formats deliver better results while being more cost-efficient. Here’s how different mobile ad formats stack up:
| Ad Format | Average CPI | Conversion vs. Banners |
|---|---|---|
| Native | $1.80 | 1.6x better |
| Banner | $2.14 | Baseline |
| Playable | $2.38 | 27x better |
| Interstitial | $2.66 | 30x better |
| Video | $2.68 | 23x better |
Native ads, for example, blend seamlessly into app content, delivering a lower CPI of $1.80 and a 1.6x higher conversion rate compared to banners. Interstitial ads, which appear between content, convert 30 times better than banners at an average CPI of $2.66. Similarly, video ads and playable ads stand out for their engagement, with playable ads converting 27 times better than banners at $2.38 CPI.
Playable ads, in particular, deserve attention. By letting users try out an app before downloading, they attract highly qualified leads who are already interested in the product. Unsurprisingly, 28% of respondents ranked playable ads as the most effective in-app format, and nearly half of ad developers expressed enthusiasm for their potential.
Benchmarks
Performance marketing benchmarks highlight the scale and effectiveness of mobile advertising. For instance, 36% of marketers emphasize the importance of data-driven targeting to reach the right audience. Rewarded video ads continue to perform well, demonstrating that ads, when executed thoughtfully, can enhance user experience rather than detract from it.
Implementation Strategies
Effective performance marketing requires a strategic approach tailored to mobile platforms. Success starts with setting clear objectives and establishing robust tracking systems. Attribution tracking is especially important – it helps identify which ads, placements, and audience segments are driving the most valuable actions. This data enables marketers to make informed decisions and adjust campaigns in real time.
Real-time optimization is a cornerstone of performance marketing. Campaigns are monitored constantly, with underperforming ads paused and budgets shifted to higher-performing ones. A/B testing also plays a critical role, allowing marketers to experiment with ad creatives, targeting, bidding strategies, and landing page designs to identify what works best.
A great example of this is Sydney-based Not Doppler, which improved engagement by 38% by optimizing the placement of rewarded ads in their game "Earn to Die 2". Strategic placement of rewarded ads can significantly impact user engagement and revenue, particularly in gaming apps.
What sets performance marketing apart is its speed and adaptability. With daily monitoring and constant fine-tuning, every dollar spent goes toward achieving measurable success, making it a powerful tool in the mobile advertising landscape.
sbb-itb-9ef3630
How Rewarded Videos Work in Mobile Advertising
Rewarded videos blend the emotional storytelling of brand marketing with the measurable results of performance marketing. Unlike traditional ads that interrupt user experiences, these ads offer a value exchange: users voluntarily watch an immersive, full-screen video in return for in-app rewards like extra lives, currency, or other perks.
Because users opt in to view these non-skippable ads, the experience feels less intrusive. This setup allows brands to tell engaging stories while encouraging actions like app downloads or in-app purchases. It’s a win-win: users get something they want, and advertisers get an attentive audience.
The numbers speak for themselves. About 62% of mobile gamers regularly interact with rewarded videos, which often see completion rates close to 100%. Even more compelling, gamers who watch these ads are six times more likely to make in-app purchases, and app retention rates can increase by up to four times.
Real-World Success: Burger King’s "Burn That Ad"
One standout example of rewarded video success is Burger King’s "Burn That Ad" campaign from December 2018. Using augmented reality in its app, the campaign encouraged users to virtually "burn" competitors’ ads, targeting over 14,000 McDonald’s locations across the U.S. The results were staggering:
- Over 1.5 million app downloads
- A 300% boost in mobile sales
- 3.5 billion impressions
- A 37:1 ROI
This campaign highlights how rewarded videos can deliver both engagement and measurable business outcomes.
Why Rewarded Videos Work
Rewarded videos are uniquely effective because they leave users with a positive impression. After watching a video, users immediately receive their reward, fostering goodwill toward both the advertiser and the app publisher. In fact, 61.8% of U.S. gamers find reward-based ads to be the most engaging ad format.
Adam Bauer, vice president of sales at Discord, summed it up perfectly:
"One of the hardest things to do in digital media today is to get people to sit through a long-form piece of content, but we’re able to actually deliver that experience. Why? Because we have these really compelling rewards that our users actually want."
- Adam Bauer, Vice President of Sales at Discord
Beyond Gaming: Rewarded Videos Across App Categories
Rewarded videos aren’t just for gaming apps. For instance, Discord’s first rewarded video Quest achieved an 85% video completion rate. Similarly, 87% of Roblox users expressed a favorable opinion of these ads. These examples show that rewarded videos can work effectively in social platforms, entertainment apps, and beyond.
Strategic placement plays a big role in their success. When rewarded videos appear at the right moments – like during gameplay breaks or natural pauses in app usage – they feel seamless rather than disruptive. Additionally, users often have the option to watch multiple ads for extra rewards, creating a more engaging experience while giving advertisers access to highly motivated audiences.
As we dive deeper, we’ll explore the benefits and challenges of integrating rewarded videos into your mobile advertising strategy. This format’s ability to balance engagement with performance makes it a powerful tool for driving results in today’s mobile-first world.
Pros and Cons
Building on insights about rewarded video, let’s dive into the strengths and challenges of brand marketing and performance marketing. These two approaches play distinct roles in the customer journey, and knowing when and how to use them can make a big difference in your mobile advertising strategy.
| Feature | Brand Marketing | Performance Marketing |
|---|---|---|
| Goals | Build brand awareness, loyalty, and long-term equity through emotional storytelling | Drive immediate conversions, sales, and measurable ROI through targeted actions |
| KPIs | Brand awareness, customer sentiment, brand equity, customer lifetime value | Click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, cost per acquisition (CPA), return on ad spend (ROAS) |
| Ad Formats | Video storytelling, display campaigns, social media content, consistent branding | Search ads, retargeting campaigns, app install ads, direct response formats |
| Measurement | Long-term metrics, brand sentiment tracking, marketing mix modeling (MMM) | Real-time analytics, attribution models, immediate performance feedback |
| Implementation | Focus on emotional connection, brand values, and consistent messaging | Data-driven optimization, A/B testing, and precise audience targeting |
These differences show why combining both strategies can amplify results – brand marketing builds a strong foundation, while performance marketing drives immediate action.
Brand Marketing Advantages
Brand marketing creates lasting value by fostering loyalty and trust. A great example is Patagonia‘s Worn Wear initiative, which involved partnering with eBay to encourage the reuse of worn items. This campaign resonated with eco-conscious consumers, reinforcing brand integrity and attracting new customers who valued sustainability over price. By focusing on emotional connections and long-term equity, brand marketing strengthens future campaigns, especially when rewarded formats are used to boost conversions.
Brand Marketing Disadvantages
The main drawback of brand marketing is the time it takes to see results. Unlike performance campaigns, which provide instant feedback, brand marketing’s success unfolds over months or even years. This delay can make it harder to justify budgets, especially when stakeholders are looking for quick wins. Additionally, the initial investment required to build awareness and sentiment can be significant, leaving less room for real-time adjustments.
Performance Marketing Advantages
Performance marketing shines when it comes to delivering fast, measurable outcomes. You can track exactly which campaigns drive downloads, purchases, or other key actions, making it easy to scale what works and cut what doesn’t.
Its data-driven approach also allows for precise targeting. For instance, CookApps tested rewarded video ads that appeared right after users ran out of lives in a game. This simple tweak led to a 211% increase in session length. With performance marketing, every dollar spent can be tied to specific results, streamlining decision-making.
Performance Marketing Disadvantages
However, relying too heavily on performance marketing can backfire. Take Adidas, for example. Their focus on digital performance campaigns led to a decline in brand equity over time, forcing them to reintroduce brand-building efforts. Another challenge is that performance campaigns often attract price-sensitive customers rather than fostering deeper loyalty. Unlike brand marketing, which builds emotional connections, performance tactics can struggle to create long-term customer relationships.
Finding the Right Balance
Striking the right balance between these two approaches is key. Research by Peter Field and Les Binet suggests that a 60/40 split – favoring brand marketing – can drive sustainable growth while avoiding stagnation. For example, Gousto successfully implemented this strategy, achieving consistent revenue growth.
That said, the ideal mix depends on factors like your company’s age, budget, sales cycle, and growth stage. Using tools like marketing mix modeling (MMM), multi-touch attribution (MTA), and incrementality testing can help you figure out what works best for your business. By blending immediate results with long-term brand building, you can optimize your strategy for both the present and the future.
Conclusion
Mobile advertising seamlessly blends brand marketing, which sparks interest and desire, with performance marketing, which drives measurable actions like app downloads. Together, these approaches guide users from awareness to conversion, each playing a vital role in the process.
The numbers back this up. Global digital ad spending is expected to hit 73% of total advertising revenue by 2025. Advertisers who master this dual approach will gain a strong edge. For instance, brands using dynamic content see 39% higher click-through rates, and short-form videos deliver the best ROI for 35% of marketers.
"Brand marketing can be woven into a performance marketing strategy in a way that preserves the measurability and immediacy of mobile: in fact, the best marketing teams use brand building to make their direct response campaigns more efficient." – Eric Seufert
In mobile advertising, context is everything. Tailoring creatives to match where users are in their journey is crucial. As Benjamin Waters from Jampp puts it, "We see between 6,000 and 10,000 ads a day – so standing out is non-negotiable". This underscores the importance of combining brand and performance elements strategically.
To succeed, U.S. advertisers can take actionable steps based on these insights:
- Leverage AI and automation: Personalization at scale is key. Automated email flows, for instance, generate 30x more revenue than generic campaigns. Apply the same principle to mobile ads by using AI to create tailored, performance-driven creatives that still align with your brand identity.
- Focus on first-party data: With privacy changes impacting attribution models, collecting and using first-party data is essential. Implement server-side tracking to better understand user behavior across the funnel.
- Adopt an omnichannel strategy: Mobile ads don’t operate in isolation. Integrate data from email, social media, and offline interactions to create a unified customer journey.
- Partner with micro-influencers: These collaborations yield 3x higher engagement rates than macro-influencers. Combine micro-influencer campaigns with user-generated content, which drives 29% higher web conversions than branded content.
Ultimately, mobile advertising thrives when emotional branding lays the groundwork for measurable performance. Brand marketing builds trust and connection, while performance marketing transforms that into actionable results. By understanding and applying this balance, advertisers can maximize their ROI in today’s competitive mobile landscape.
"Start with brand strategy to make people aware of your brand, then leverage product marketing to push people down the funnel, then use programmatic to go in for the kill." – James Peng, Coinbase
This integrated and step-by-step strategy is shaping the future of mobile advertising success.
FAQs
How do brand marketing and performance marketing work together in mobile advertising?
Brand marketing and performance marketing are two essential components of a strong mobile advertising strategy, each serving a distinct purpose. Brand marketing focuses on creating awareness and trust, fostering a connection with your audience that encourages long-term loyalty. Meanwhile, performance marketing zeroes in on driving specific, measurable actions – like app downloads or purchases – delivering quick, tangible results.
Rewarded video ads serve as a unique bridge between these two approaches. By offering users incentives, these ads not only encourage engagement and drive conversions but also reinforce your brand’s message, leaving a positive impression. When combined, these strategies allow advertisers to attract new users, increase engagement, and cultivate meaningful, long-lasting relationships – an approach that’s crucial for thriving in today’s competitive mobile market.
What metrics should I track to measure the success of brand marketing versus performance marketing?
To evaluate the impact of brand marketing, pay attention to metrics such as brand awareness, which indicates how many people recognize your brand, and brand sentiment, which measures public perception and emotional connection. You can also track your share of voice (SOV) to understand your presence in the market and customer lifetime value (CLV) to predict the long-term revenue a customer might bring.
When it comes to performance marketing, focus on tangible results like return on ad spend (ROAS), which shows how much revenue you earn for each dollar spent, and cost per acquisition (CPA), which calculates the expense of acquiring a new customer. Keep an eye on conversion rates as well, to determine how effectively your campaigns are driving actions like purchases or sign-ups.
While brand marketing aims to create lasting value and emotional ties, performance marketing is all about achieving immediate, measurable outcomes. Tracking these metrics ensures you can fine-tune strategies for both approaches effectively.
How do rewarded video ads help boost both brand awareness and app conversions in mobile advertising?
Rewarded video ads have reshaped mobile advertising by creating a win-win for both users and advertisers. These ads motivate users to watch entertaining content by offering perks like in-app currency or bonuses. The result? Most users stick around to watch the entire video, leaving them with a memorable brand impression that boosts recall and loyalty.
Beyond increasing brand awareness, rewarded video ads excel at driving conversions. Users who engage with these ads often feel the value of the rewards, making them far more likely to make in-app purchases. This combination of engagement and tangible results makes rewarded video ads a powerful tool for any mobile advertising campaign.