Whether you’re a long-time mobile advertising guru or you’re new to the world of mobile ads, you’re probably interested in the ability to target prospective new customers based on their physical location – something that mobile phones make far easier than other forms of advertising. One key piece of advice, however, is that local ad campaigns need to be a bit different and more specific to the locale than your other ads on sites like Google or Facebook. Let’s take a quick look at a few tips for improving the performance of your mobile ad campaigns that target users based on their location.

Have an Offering that is Relevant

It should probably go without saying, but you’ll want to ensure that the offer you’re promoting to local users is relevant to their wants and needs; if you’re a manufacturer of umbrellas it probably doesn’t make a lot of sense to be targeting folks that live in Arizona or Las Vegas. When you build your offer and your local advertising campaign around it, try to give some thought as to what local users would like to see. Try to make reference to local sports teams, landmarks, weather trends and the usual loves/hates that people express about their city or state as this will catch eyes and encourage reading of the ad and clicking through.

As you can see, a survey performed this month by Prosper Mobile Insights shows that relevance is the leading mobile ad factor when it comes to gaining a user’s attention:

source: MarketingCharts.com

Optimize Ad Content to Trigger Local Patriotism

If at all possible it’s an excellent strategy to try to incite a “localist” feeling in the prospective new customer that’s reading your mobile ad – and it will make them a heck of a lot more likely to click. Be sure to mention the city, state or area in the ad copy; something like “Sox Fan? Check Out Chicago’s Top Sports Bar” or “Forget the Seattle Rain – it’s Party Time!” will go a long way in improving both the quality and quantity of visitors who click through your ads.

Consider Rewarding Users Based on Location

Another great way to entice prospects to click your mobile ads is to offer rewards to users based on their location. This can be anything from a discount to prizes that focus on the area, such as gift certificates to local restaurants and shops. “Gamifying” your mobile ads will again help with catching the attention of the viewer and in encouraging them to click through to your landing page.

Have your Lead Capture Process Down Pat

Finally you’ll want to ensure that you have the ability to capture leads that are using any kind of mobile device. Test your landing pages on a variety of Android, iPhone and Windows Phone devices to see how they render and whether entering information is easy or not. After all… there’s no sense in investing in mobile ads if the end result is a poorly-performing campaign! Polish your lead capture until it shines with a very high conversion rate.

Whether you’re running a restaurant or selling blue widgets, if you’re in the business-to-consumer space and you’re considering locally-targeted mobile ads you’ll need to have your stuff together before starting your campaign. Get in touch with our team here at LeadBolt and we’ll share some additional ideas on how you can maximize local mobile traffic to earn long-term new customers.