End cards are a game-changer in mobile advertising, claims Bigabid’s Avi Cohen, but many marketers overlook their importance in creative optimization. Despite being widely seen across mobile games and apps, end cards are often disregarded, which Cohen sees as a significant oversight. A test he conducted with two end cards—one visually aligned with the video and the other more generic—surprisingly showed the generic end card performing better. This counters common sense and exemplifies why marketers must stay data-driven instead of relying on gut feelings alone. In another test for a regulated industry, a simple end card adjustment improved CPI by 20%, with ROI reaching as high as a 50% increase, highlighting the critical impact end cards can have on ad performance.
Testing end cards, however, comes with challenges. Due to the complexity of isolating their performance from the video, measuring an end card’s success independently is tricky. The effectiveness of an end card can be difficult to assess without factoring in its interaction with the video or playable ad, as a powerful video can elevate a weak end card, or vice versa. To navigate this, Cohen advocates for testing various combinations, dedicating about 30% of ad spend to initial testing before deploying the remaining budget for fully optimized campaigns. Despite the extra effort required, Cohen stresses that methodical testing is essential to identify which end card-video combination will yield the best results.
Creativity in advertising also calls for breaking traditional rules, a principle Cohen’s team embraces by dedicating 10% of their time to wild experimentation. This might mean using unconventional ideas like having a child create an ad, featuring unexpected characters, or even telling viewers not to click. This approach can lead to engaging and memorable ads that stand out from more predictable content. In one instance, a child-like, seemingly amateur ad became a hit, proving that creativity often thrives in the absence of strict rules and that a unique, out-of-the-box approach can deliver exceptional results in mobile advertising.