Mobile advertising platform Mobsmith has published a list of five best practices for working in mobile. The recommendations are based on a study of the companys data and metrics generated by campaigns running on its platform across iOS, Android, mobile web and apps in 2011. 

The five best practices outlined by Mobsmith are as follows:

1. Calls to action must be clear and kept to a minimum. The companys data show that a users action rate drops off significantly when presented with more than three calls to action. Watch video, See how, Try now, and other direct call to action approaches increased engagement by 40 per cent.
2. Videos should be 30 seconds or less. The average video view time across all Mobsmith campaigns was 30 seconds, and half of the video view times were 16 seconds. Therefore, advertisers need to capture a users attention and deliver key messages within the first 16 seconds of their video clip, says Mobsmith.
3. Advertisers should use at least one non-immediate call to action in ads that have more than one call to action: Mobsmith says that 37 per cent of actions taken by users are non-immediate, so advertisers should not ignore the importance of non-immediate actions taken by users. Actions such as Email this to me, Email to a friend, Send me a text reminder generate clicks and long tail engagement, especially for ads with offers or information about a product or service.
4. Banner teaser and moderate animation increases engagement by 40 per cent: Rich media attracts attention, but it has a negative effect when done to excess, according to Mobsmith. “In other words: skip the flashing text and dancing people,” says the company. The combination of a clear banner teaser such as Watch video, See how, or Try now, with a minimalist, one-time animation of text and image, or an animated video thumbnail teaser attracts the attention of users without compromising their experience. An A/B test of this approach versus static banners revealed a 40 per cent lift in mobile ad engagement, says Mobsmith.
5. Location works: Geo-targeting and dynamically adapting ad creative to the users location (for example automatically showing driving directions or different product offers by location) increased click-through engagement by 27 per cent, says Mobsmith.