Mobile advertising for app installs and on-the-go customers
App campaigns, in-app placements and location-aware mobile ads
Almost all your traffic is already on a phone, so mobile advertising now means two specific things rather than a screen size. Campaigns that produce app installs and the in-app actions after them. And location-aware ads for businesses people physically visit. Both run on the same cost-per-result discipline as the rest of our paid work.
Optimise for the user who stays
An install is not a result. Plenty of campaigns will buy you ten thousand of them from people who open the app once and never return, and the dashboard will look excellent all month.
So for apps we run Google App Campaigns, Apple Search Ads and Meta with Firebase or an MMP wired up first, and we bid towards an in-app event that matters: the completed sign-up, the first order, the second session. Cost per install still gets reported, because you will be asked for it, but it is not what the bidding chases. If retention is the problem rather than acquisition, we say so and stop spending.
For businesses people walk into, it is location-targeted search, display and video with call and store-visit reporting, tuned around the hours you are actually open.
Creative is the variable
On mobile the creative decides most of the cost. Vertical video, the point made inside three seconds, one action, subtitles because the sound is off. We produce those in-house, in batches of four to six variants, and retire whichever stops working. Your store listing has to tell the same story the ad told, which is where app store optimisation comes in.
What mobile advertising includes
App install campaigns
Google App Campaigns, Apple Search Ads and Meta, bid towards retained users rather than the cheapest possible install.
In-app event optimisation
Sign-up, first purchase or second session set as the conversion in Firebase or your MMP, so the platform learns from the right signal.
Location-aware ads
Radius and competitor-location targeting with call reporting and store-visit estimates, scheduled around your opening hours.
Mobile creative
Vertical video and short-copy statics produced in batches, subtitled, and rotated before fatigue shows up in the cost.
Attribution setup
Firebase, AppsFlyer or Adjust configured and tested before the first campaign spends anything.
Store listing alignment
Screenshots and the first two lines of the listing matched to the ad that brought people there, so the install decision is not restarted.
Explore →Getting a mobile campaign to a real number
Attribution firstweek 1
Firebase or MMP events fired, verified on a test device, and mapped to what the business counts as a result.
Creativeweeks 1–2
Four to six vertical video and static variants built from two distinct angles, so the test is about the message.
Launchweek 2
App or location campaigns go live with budget caps and a deliberately narrow start.
Optimiseweekly
Bidding moves towards retained users or store visits; creative is rotated as soon as frequency starts pushing the cost up.
Reportmonthly
Cost per install, cost per in-app event, day-7 retention and store visits, with the honest comparison against last month.
From $500/month
Management from $500/month plus media; attribution setup quoted separately if you do not have it.
Mobile ads, answered
What counts as mobile advertising now?
In practice, two things: campaigns that put an app on a phone and get it used, and location-aware ads that reach somebody near your premises while they are deciding where to go. Everything else is just advertising that happens to be seen on a phone, which is all of it.
How much does an app install cost?
It swings enormously by country and category. Android installs in India can run in cents; a finance app install in the US can cost several dollars. We forecast from your category and market before you commit budget, then report the actual against that forecast each month.
Should we optimise for installs or in-app events?
In-app events, once you have enough of them for the platform to learn, usually thirty or more a week. Optimising for installs alone reliably buys the cheapest users, who are also the ones least likely to come back. Start on installs only while the event volume is too thin.
Can you target people by location?
Yes: a radius around each of your locations, around competitor locations, and audiences who have physically been to a place. Store-visit reporting needs a certain volume before Google will show it, so small single-site businesses often have to judge on calls and direction requests instead.
What does mobile ad management cost?
$500 a month plus the media, which is paid to the platforms from your own account. Attribution setup is quoted separately if you do not already have Firebase or an MMP running, since that can be anything from an afternoon to a fortnight of work.
Does mobile advertising suit every business?
No. Apps and businesses with a physical location get the most from it. For a B2B services firm, search ads and LinkedIn will almost always be a better first spend, and we would rather tell you that than take the retainer.
Reach them where they are.
Tell us whether this is an app or a location. You get back a channel plan with a forecast cost per result.