Tango Finds Engagement Actually Enhanced by Ads in Their Messaging App
The conventional wisdom has always held that, when it comes to P2P apps, most users are too busy in their media experience to be distracted by advertisements. That’s why it’s always been held that P2P communication platforms and advertising don’t mix.
It makes sense as, if you think about it. Who really wants to be distracted when they’re in a conversation, texting, chatting or playing a game? In most of those instances users are loath to be interrupted in any way.
That’s why the latest slew of messaging apps like LINE, SnapChat, WhatsApp, Kik and WeChat are using very little, if any, in-app advertising – except Tango, which has aggressively been using them and, recently, ran some research on the impact that it’s having on their users.
Much to their surprise, the marketing director of Tango, Jen Donahoe says that “We actually found that the user group that saw ads had a higher engagement level than those who didn’t.”
Wait, what?!
Even Tango was surprised. “We had to double check the numbers,” Donahoe said, but they indeed found that, on average, users in their study who were seeing ads were spending more time in the app.
The reason for these numbers is still undetermined but, nevertheless, after only six months in business Tango already has an enviable list of high-end clients like Wal-Mart and has sold out inventory in the US. They also have a bevy of marketing and media partners like Zynga and Spotify, something that may be creating a comfort zone around them that’s increasing user affinity.
The fact that Tango is quite aggressive is even more surprising. For example, after every 5 people they insert an ad into a list of available chat contacts, a core area that Wal-Mart already has taken a liking to. In their news feed they insert ads between every 5 stories and, in their social discovery, Tango has found fertile ground for even more ads,
Match.com, one of the biggest internet dating sites, has already integrated some of the member profiles into this ad space, as well as LifeLock and some game developers.
Whatever the reason may be, Tango certainly seems to have found the mobile ad formula. Analysts expect that other P2P apps will soon follow in their footsteps. If they can determine what those footsteps are, of course.
