They say a picture is worth a thousand words — and it’s true. So although words are essential, choosing images that convert is also very imperative. One poignant, beautiful, or stunning image can capture an action, evoke emotions, and tell a story that would take Hemingway or Hawthorne pages to portray. When you’re advertising on mobile devices, you want to maximize every precious second a user’s eyes are focused on your ad.
You want your ad’s images to tell your bank or credit union product or service’s story, and with mobile, as with other channels, you only get one chance to make a first impression. Here are a few tips to make that first impression one that makes smartphone users click on your ad to learn more, open an account, or find your nearest location to visit.
Humanize your ads
When realtors stage a house, they always put dining tables in dining rooms, desks in areas that could be offices, etc. People don’t want to use their imaginations to figure out what they’re supposed to do with something. They want to picture themselves using a product or service so they can see how it will help them. Using faces and images of humans in your ads helps them do that. They see a happy family holding a “Sold!” sign in front of a home and see themselves doing the same if they get a mortgage from you. They see an image of a friendly, smiling customer service representative and believe that’s who they’ll talk to if they call you. Pick happy, upbeat images of diverse humans that will tell the story you want potential customers to know.
Use high-quality images
You really don’t want someone to have to zoom in on a smartphone to understand what they’re looking at in your mobile ad. But if they do zoom in, you’ll want your image to maintain its clear, crisp, and non-pixelated quality. Psychologically, high-quality images create the perception of higher-quality products and services, and that will lead to more clicks. iPhone pics are fine for on-the-fly social media posts, but when it comes to your mobile marketing ads, invest in high-resolution, professional photos for the best results.
Pick the right colors
Your brand has (or should have) a standard color palette of specific primary and complementary shades. The more consumers see these colors, the more they’ll associate them — even subconsciously — with your bank or credit union. Color psychology is a legitimate science. Certain colors evoke different emotions in people; for example, red evokes a feeling of urgency, power, love, excitement, and vitality. Green is a popular choice for financial institutions because it reminds people of money. Keep color psychology in mind when you pick images. Dull, drab, grayscale, or black-and-white images probably won’t get someone interested in your college checking account or HELOC.
Mirror your target audience
Since you’ll need to use people in your bank or credit union’s ads, be sure you’re using the right people — people who look like the audience you’re targeting for that particular product, service, or location. For example, you wouldn’t put a teenager’s face on an IRA ad or feature all Caucasian faces in an ethnically-diverse market area. A great idea that’s worked well for some financial institution is using images of their actual customers, along with testimonials that tell their stories.
These are just a few of our dozens of best practices for choosing the right images for your mobile marketing ads. Let RAIN Local help you find the best images and create the most powerful, highest-converting ads to grow your community bank or credit union. Reach out to RAIN today!
