Mobile is one of the biggest opportunities in digital media today. Around the world, smartphone and tablet search traffic is overtaking that of desktop, with digital audiences relying on multiple devices per day.
Despite these high levels of engagement and resulting windows of marketing opportunity, mobile CPMs are still much lower than desktop price points. The takeaway? There’s a huge efficiency gap in the industry, and very few companies—with Facebook being one notable exception—know what next steps to take. Ad Ops teams will play a crucial role in forging the best path forward. Here are the biggest emerging opportunities to watch:
Standardization Between Vendors and Partners
Especially for mobile, the process of finding and setting up new tools to test tags, vendors, and products, can be a clunky one. An ad unit may work on iOS, for instance, but may fall short when trying to display it on the range of popular Android devices. The end result? Discrepancies, client complaints, and blocked ads become major problems. Not to mention, all tech infrastructure needs to work with multiple ad exchanges with ever-changing policies. It’s a mess.
“We need more standardization between our vendors, DSPs, and exchanges,” says Leon Latypov, Senior Manager of Mobile Ad Ops at marketing technology company DStillery who is also IAB Ad Ops Certified.
“They should all conform to the same specs and every DSP, Vendor, and exchange should be on the same page. Dstillery works with 20 different exchanges, 30 different vendors and almost none of them can agree on how a click macro should work, how and when to count an impression, and what kind of content is acceptable.”
This level of standardization will help advertisers, publishers, and technology players test new initiatives and move quicker. Mobile Ad Ops teams will be able to explore new areas of opportunity as a result. Leveraging learning and development opportunities will also help work towards standardization within the industry.
Responsive Ad Units
When it comes to mobile devices, there is no such thing as ‘typical.’ Screens take multiple shapes and forms. Not to mention, audiences engage with ads from different perspectives since no two browsing contexts are the same.
Despite this variation, there is one thing that needs to be uniform: the positive experience that advertisers provide to their audience. That’s where responsive ad units come in.
“There are two components to this,” says Shailley Singh, Director of Mobile Ad Products at IAB. “Responsive ad formats create an opportunity to address size issues, and dynamic ad creatives address multiple device types and user contexts.”
Devices are multiplying, and all of them are on mobile platforms. Even a laptop can be a mobile device. There’s a big Ad Ops opportunity to reach audiences in a number of contexts—all with mobile at the epicenter. Responsive ad units will be key to providing a strong cross-platform experience.
Mobile-First Technologies
Many media companies developed technology for desktop, first. Mobile strategy, as a result, is often an afterthought. How should tech companies navigate and strike the right balance between investments in mobile and desktop? Singh encourages Ad Ops leaders to treat mobile as an entirely separate beast and to develop new, data-driven capabilities. Here are the technologies that he recommends watching:
- Dynamic ad creative for addressing multiple device types and user context
- Ad server capabilities for mobile specific data handling
- Location accuracy in capturing exact location and being able to build geo fences
Mobile isn’t an extension of desktop. It’s a unique ecosystem of its own, which means that new technologies will continue to emerge in the coming years—in other words, there’s an opportunity for Ad Ops to define the space entirely. Teams need to be equipped with the right skills and resources to think on the fly and to adapt their strategies. That’s why IAB launched the Digital Ad Operations Certification program, to ensure that leading media organizations and professionals have mastery of current standards and best practices to innovate and develop with the growing needs of the industry.
Learn more about IAB Digital Ad Operations Certification at iab.com/topics/certification/
