Posted by Saurabh Bhatia. Mobile video consumption is proliferating across the globe with daily time- spent watching exploding thanks primarily to better larger-screen smartphones and faster data connections. In addition, mobile video advertising is getting better and better. Still, many brands are in the “curious” and “testing” stages of optimally delivering meaningful and engaging messages through mobile video ads.

Brands must understand that mobile is a much more personal device compared to TV or in fact any other digital platform. So when your ad reaches across to the consumer, it should come across as timely, contextual and actionable. Great mobile video advertising is giving an unobtrusive native ad experience delivered at the right time to the right person at the right place. It is also important that you get the technology right.

Having delivering hundreds of successful video ad campaigns for top brands across the globe since 2011, we know exactly what works best for delivering a perfect mobile video ad experience in terms of technology. Here is a list of MUSTs to assure any (and every) video ad on mobile devices delivers a positive, productive user experience:

1. Consumer Preference Controls – Give user the control of what they see. by including controls like play, pause and un-mute buttons
2. Native Ad Experience – Always look for a seamless and non-intrusive ad experience that does not force the users to leave the site/app. A video should run in-app or in browser without needing to launch a separate video player that takes the user away from their content.
3. Engaging & Customizable – Delight the consumer by adding interactivity in the form of clear calls to action, social sharing, gaming or even UGC that gets the mobile user engaged and participating in the moment
4. Advanced Targeting – Leverage your first party data from the desktop/email worlds to make your mobile campaigns perform better. Go further and mobile test 3rd party audience data providers that get you results on the desktop. Leading mobile sellers have ported over many of the advanced audience targeting techniques of the “old world” and brought them to mobile with good results
5. Measurement and Tracking – The impact of every ad dollar spent should be measurable. Brands, should have a clear insight into where and when their ads run. The industry is quickly developing standardization of campaign measurement metrics, as well as, placement verification, audience verification and attribution. Mobile historically has lagged in measurement, but the buyer should expect a much more mature solution in today’s marketplace
6. Industry Compliance – Many smartphone users are concerned about mobile privacy. Organisations like Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA), Network Advertising Initiative (NAI), AAAA, ANA work towards providing consumers clear guidelines on advertising data collection and usage processes. Companies must address mobile privacy concerns now, giving users what they’re asking for, with more transparency and control over their privacy choices
7. Platform & Device Agnostic – The smartphone market is fragmented with plethora of new devices, as a brand you would like to make sure the ad experience is uniform across all devices. Video ads should be functional across Android, iOS and both mobile web and apps

With audience fragmentation putting pressure on TV video and uncertainty (such as invisible ad views), we can safely assume that mobile video has a great opportunity to become the easiest, more efficient way to reach nearly everyone in the world. It is time to move from testing to mainstream.