Utilizing Mobile Best Practices to Inspire Change and Improve Lives

Background:  In the past decade, the use of mobile devices has continued to grow significantly, playing a key role in the everyday lives of the vast majority of Americans. However, only recently has mobile become the primary source for digital content, with adults age 16-45 spending more time on mobile devices than on a desktop or tablet, or even watching TV. Mobile apps and games have driven much of that growth; for example, more than 90% of Facebook’s 1.71 billion users are on mobile devices. With this digital shift, adopting a mobile-first approach that utilizes each platform’s inherent properties can help public health marketers better connect with target audiences in real-time and inspire behavior change. Alternately, public health marketers who ignore these practices risk having their messages ignored.

Program background:  The Ad Council is a nonprofit that develops integrated communication campaigns around social and public health issues, such as diabetes prevention, drinking and driving, and managing high blood pressure. As people increasingly receive and seek information through their mobile devices, the organization has adopted evidence-based mobile best practices to further the reach and impact of its campaigns. These include selecting relevant mobile platforms based on audience and media insights, developing compelling content specific to how audiences consume mobile content, and optimizing ads by employing very specific executional tactics. In the Fall of 2016, the Ad Council launched a campaign in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies. Beyond traditional ads, the campaign developed interactive website ads and leveraged social media apps to deliver compelling, shareable videos that reach audiences in a unique way. The Ad Council also worked with Goodwill to raise awareness of its job training and employment programs in local communities, creating animated mobile native advertisements that, when tapped, led to a custom gaming unit with geo-location data to show the nearest Goodwill and encourage donations. 

Evaluation Methods and Results:  Utilizing highly mobile-optimized ads and content has helped Ad Council campaigns achieve improvements in audience beliefs and behaviors. For example, 43 percent of Americans reported having searched for information about what they can do to prepare for an emergency, and four out of 10 households reported having a family emergency plan. Ads for the Goodwill game resulted in click-through rates significantly higher than the industry average and led to 56K visitors to Goodwill.

Conclusions:  The Ad Council’s dedication to providing meaningful and memorable mobile experiences for its target audiences has contributed to campaign success. The organization will continue to deliver content that is highly optimized for mobile-devices and incorporates the evolving trends and best practices in the digital and mobile industries.

Implications for research and/or practice:  Learnings from the Ad Council’s case studies on mobile strategies can be used to inform the approach for other public health campaigns. Developing content and ads with mobile in mind allows public health communicators to better break through the clutter, capture attention in a matter of seconds, increase awareness, and ultimately spark action and change behavior.