Choices and rewards key in mobile engagement, says Forrester study

A recent Forrester study says mobile users are more likely to interact with ads and marketing messages if they can expect a reward.

If you’ve been using mobile devices for a long time, you would probably be familiar with how free content and apps have proliferated. Sure, developers want to reach as wide an audience possible, and so the nominal one dollar price has been reduced to zero, but in exchange for mobile advertising.

But mobile advertising is not all a bed of roses, says a recent study commissioned by Tapjoy. Users are increasingly becoming averse to advertising. At the very least, there’s ad “blindness,” or the tendency of users to simply ignore ads.

This is where a recent study by Forrester Consulting comes in. Commissioned by mobile ad platform Tapjoy, “The Mobile In-App Marketing Opportunity” (PDF download) delves deeper into consumer insights and preferences, and has determined that users will respond better if there is something in it for them. Incentive-based advertising will increase engagement and improve relevancy in both content and the marketing message.

Another point that the Forrester study has raised is that users want control over their content. Giving users the ability to select from among different ads empowers them, and in turns, increases the engagement rate.

Here are a few highlights.

• 70% of surveyed users found in-app ads to have interrupted the user experience.
• Only 17% found the ads interesting, while 14% found these relevant. Only 12% found the ads engaging.
• Still, about 33% of U.S. consumers prefer free apps in exchange for ads, rather than having to pay an outright fee to download an app.
• Almost 60% of users want to be rewarded in exchange for interacting with an ad.

Tapjoy’s platform addresses the need for rewards in exchange for engagement by offering premium content and virtual rewards. Users can gain points by subscribing to services, watching videos, installing apps and participating in other marketing activities.

Mobile is vastly different from web, after all. Tapjoy chief marketing officer Peter Dille notes that “advertising tactics that worked for the web aren’t optimal for mobile.” As such, the company highlights that the value-exchange model “can dramatically increase the relevance and level of engagement of an advertisement.”

With this in mind, app developers should likely take heed. Whether you’re going for premium or paid apps, a freemium model, or ad-driven model, the key is giving value to the user, so that they will in turn give back in terms of engagement.

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