Here’s the thing, Harvard Business Review insists that the “best way for marketers to communicate through mobile will be with apps. Apps will trump traditional ads in part because consumers don’t perceive them as advertising—they value them for their functionality and thus don’t find them intrusive. For marketers, apps will also be attractive because they’re actually more cost-efficient than traditional ads, and they sometimes create entirely new revenue streams.”
For those in the banking industry, this makes excellent sense because a native app is essential. Yet, marketing can go beyond the app used by existing clients and new acquisitions. For one thing, and as many experts advise, marketing cooperatively with partners can be an effective approach. For example, partnering with college scholarship organizations and allotting space for their program ads or having them supply you with ad space on their app is a very savvy concept.
However, not all apps are a good home for a financial firm’s advertising. Here, let’s consider a basic “blacklist” of the apps you don’t want to advertise on. Before we jump into the list, we want you to understand that we are not going to be “calling out” specific apps. Instead, we are going to look at the apps you may be offered some affordable or low-cost advertising space in, but should kindly decline.
Apps to Avoid in Your Marketing Efforts
If you spend any time in Google Play or the App Store, you’ll know that there are mountains of apps available and new ones appear each day. If you are new to the game of in-app ads, take time to search for apps related to your industry or goals. You’ll find at least a handful of good options with a quick search.
Should you take steps to find out about ads from all of them? In a word: No. Below we offer a point-by-point explanation of which to avoid altogether.
Copycats
Five minutes of browsing for apps and you’ll soon discover that there is a great deal of copying and near-pirating at work. Go ahead and look for a popular game, like Angry Birds, and you’re sure to find a handful of games that emulate this model and almost copycat it right down to colors and fonts.
That alone is enough of a reason to avoid certain options, but you should know that many of the copycats are also packed with adware. They are little programs that can steal a device’s number or alter the search provider, it can also become a more serious threat to data on the device. Don’t affiliate with such risk.
Freebies That Cost
There are a lot of apps that load for free and then ask for a subscription or payment to be of any use for their expressed purpose. Diet and calorie counting apps, for example, give only a few bits of useful information away and then demand an upgrade. If your bank is considering advertising on free budgeting software or another similar entity, be aware of the risk.
Money Earning Scams
Something that might seem like a natural partnership – a financial firm and a local gig or money-earning app – can be a disaster. The easy money or even free money apps that offer all kinds of benefits are usually just a way for the app to use the phone’s SMS capabilities free of charge. This means the device is vulnerable to fraud and you may find yourself in full violation of your carrier’s contract.
Avoid any dubious antivirus apps, and those that fail to deliver on their promised function should also be on your advertising black list.
Do you want to appear on relevant apps and advertise to a very select audience? If so, RAIN can help you design your ads and choose the most effective apps for your goals.
(Source: https://hbr.org/2013/03/for-mobile-devices-think-apps-not-ads)
