With Advertise Your App, you can promote your app to millions of users  through ads on Fire tablet wakescreens and mobile placements on the Amazon Mobile Ad Network. Getting started is easy; you can create an Advertise Your App campaign in less than 90 seconds, and launch a campaign with as little as $100. And the best part? You only pay when a user clicks on your ads.

Recently we added a new feature to help developers improve campaign performance: custom creative. With custom creative, you can upload your own ad creative and use different images and copy for each ad size. You now have several options: you can continue to use the auto-generated ads that we create, you can create custom ads based on your own creative and copy, or you can combine auto-generated ads and custom ads in your campaign.

To create a custom ad, login to the Developer Portal and in the “Ad Preview” section, click the “Customize ads” button and upload your creative from there. Not sure how to get started? Below are 5 tips to help you create engaging custom display ads.

Get the Size Right

Mobile banners come in a range of sizes, but in all cases they are smaller than their desktop cousins. Keep that in mind when you’re selecting an image for your ad. Small details and text may not be readable once your image is scaled to fit a mobile device. Advertise Your App automatically scales your images to fit three banner sizes: 300 x 250, 320 x 50 for Smartphones and 600 x 90 for tablets.

Write a Strong Call to Action

Keep your ad copy short and crisp and try to convey a sense of urgency to move customers to take action immediately. You banner will need a strong call-to-action button that uses active verbs like “Play Now” or “Get the App”.

Remember Layout & Design Basics

Think about what a potential customer might like to see, not what you think looks good or colors that you like. There are 4 key things every banner should have:

Beyond making sure your ad has these four key components, you should also keep the following in mind:

• Keep images to a minimum. The focus should be on the text, as cluttered ads take users longer to scan and don’t make an impact. Images should be relevant, not too detailed, and should be easy to recognize. Use contrasting colors and legible fonts when integrating text.
• Are files the right size? Having larger file sizes means that ads can take longer to download, particularly if users have a slower Internet connection. Users will be lost if the ad takes too long to load, so ensure this does not happen. Advertise Your App limits file size to 20kb for banners and 40kb for squares and will attempt to reduce the size of your larger images for you. This works best for the JPG file type.
• Is the banner consistent with the post-click experience? Remember that the banner is the user’s first introduction to your app. If the app store description, user reviews, screenshots or the app itself do not deliver what the banner ad promised, those users will not stay install your app or continue to use it.
• Avoid having your app rejected. Including the app price is not allowed, but stating that the app is free is okay. Do not include any references to a promotion, offer, or contest in your ad creative. If including ratings or reviews, be sure to include reference dates. Check for misspellings, typographical or grammatical errors before publishing your ad creative.

Is This the End of the Process?

No! You must constantly evaluate your banners’ performance and you should always tweak them to ensure they perform better.

Ready to get started?

Create an Advertise Your App campaign in less than 90 seconds, and launch a campaign with as little as $100. And the best part? You only pay when a user clicks on one of your ads. For more information check out the following additional resources:

• Click here to learn more about Advertise Your App.
• Learn more about the Amazon Appstore
• Click here to submit your app
• Register for free as an Amazon Developer
• Amazon App Testing Service