Viber is a free messaging app that lets users make calls and send texts, images, and videos to other Viber users. With more than 1 billion users spanning 190 countries, Viber is fast becoming one of the most popular instant messaging software solutions around today.
Through Viber for Business, you can reach this mass audience by displaying targeted ads (within the app) to users worldwide, helping to increase brand awareness and visibility. And you can also use Viber to improve communications with your existing customers.
Benefits of using Viber ads
Many companies are now using Viber as part of an interactive and digital marketing strategy. The app is built for VoIP texting and calling, as well as bulk messaging, the latter allowing you to send a targeted advertising campaign to hundreds or even thousands of subscribers simultaneously. Other benefits of Viber ads include:
- Global reach, with a 70% penetration rate in the CIS and CEE regions.
- Facilitation of one-way and two-way communication with customers.
- Promotional, transactional and conversational messages.
- Easy media and file-sharing.
- Being available in multiple languages; messages are automatically translated into the language the user's Viber app is set to. To see other languages, users can use the 'tap to translate' feature.
- Different methods of communication: 'Groups' for private discussions, 'Communities' for interactive chats with like-minded members, and 'Channels', which let you broadcast to an international audience.
Imagine your business offers a body-positive clothing line, and you want to support your customers and anyone else who worries about body image. Members could freely join your community to get help and advice, and share body-positive clothing images with other members.
How does Viber advertising compare to the alternatives?
When comparing Viber with other messaging platforms, such as SMS or WhatsApp, there are several factors you might want to consider.
User base and demographics
Viber has over 1 billion users, with a particularly strong presence in Eastern Europe and Northern and Southeast Asia. Now, let’s take WhatsApp, for instance. While it may have over 2 billion users worldwide, its largest markets are Latin America and South Asia, which are vastly different from Viber’s biggest audiences. So, if you want to target major parts of Europe or Asia, Viber ads may be much more effective than many other platforms.
Ad formats
While we will discuss Viber advertising methods in the next section, let’s go over them briefly for the sake of competitor comparison. Viber offers many different ad formats, such as in-app banners, pop-ups, branded stickers, and AR lenses. You might not get these with its alternatives. For example, WhatsApp offers click-to-chat business message templates, and no native banners.
Engagement
The way Viber ads can help you engage with your target audience also differs from its alternatives might allow. The features that Viber offers, such as stickers and AR lenses, encourage organic sharing and viral reach. On the other hand, WhatsApp ads, for instance, offer features like interactive messages with buttons and lists that help more with driving direct one-on-one communications.
What type of ads does Viber have?
In addition to its ability to send promotional messages, Viber offers various ad formats, too, each suited to a different stage of the customer journey, that'll further boost campaign performance. Through Viber advertising, you can build your brand from the ground up, engage your audience, grow your reach, and generally enhance your presence on the app.
Here’s a quick overview of the three main types of ads Viber offers.
- Ad placements: In 6 in-app locations, namely the Chats tab, Calls tab, post-call pop-up, More tab, Explore tab, and desktop app. These can take the format of banners, videos (with/without audio), animated visuals, text ads, and CTA buttons. You get various configurations as well, where you can set your target demographics, device, language, app behavior, and ad-frequency capping
- Branded sticker packs: These include static and animated stickers (sound effects being optional), and can either be distributed for free to boost awareness or be gated (e.g., subscribe to your chatbot/community) to drive engagement. These are highly effective at amplifying your brand’s voice because they travel organically in chats
- Branded lenses: Interactive AR camera lenses with overlays, beautification filters, and expressive masks. Users can not only apply them inside the app but also share externally, further extending campaign reach.
How do I advertise on Viber?
The first thing to know about Viber as an advertising tool is that it offers sophisticated contact management and market segmentation options to help you optimise your advertising performance and costs. You'll also get advanced data insights from in-app analytics to inform your campaigns.
Let’s dive deeper into the three main ways to utilise ads on Viber: ad placements, stickers, and lenses.
1. Ad placements
Viber ads are displayed in six locations within the app and can be targeted according to user demographics, e.g., age, gender, location, app usage behaviour, interests, device type, and language. These are six high-traffic screens with maximum opportunities for conversion. Viber also considers the number of times a particular user has already been shown an ad to prevent advertising fatigue.
Viber ad placements consist of various formats, including banner images, videos (with or without audio), animated visuals, and text-based ads. These appear either natively or as a display ad, as follows:
- In the ‘Chats’ tab – within the user's chat lists (the most visited screen).
- In the 'Calls' tab – the ad is placed above the user's recent calls.
- Post-call – after the user finishes a call, a pop-up banner appears that links to a landing page.
- In the 'More' tab – users manage their accounts in this section.
- In the 'Explore' tab – where users go to find brands and content.
- In the desktop app – rather than displaying ads on mobile devices, you can choose banner or video ads on the PC version of Viber.
To make the most of ad placements, here are some tips you can follow.
- Be creative. Come up with catchy visuals, headlines, ad copy, and CTAs. But don’t get carried away with the visuals. Make sure your ads load quickly and smoothly so you don’t miss any good opportunities.
- Pick the best, most suitable format. For example, banner images would be great for quick brand recall if placed at the top of the Chats tab or on post-call screens, and animated visuals can help grab attention in the Calls or More tabs, where static banners may be overlooked.
- Employ viewing frequency capping. Consider setting caps at three to five impressions per user per day to avoid ad fatigue and keep your CPM efficient.
- Consider A/B testing your ads to make sure that you can find the most effective version. Experiment with different headlines, visuals, or copy, and run the test ads for at least 48 hours to gather enough data. You can easily compare CTR and conversion data in Viber’s analytics dashboard.
2. Branded sticker packs
Stickers are a fun way for users to express themselves on Viber. In addition to the library of free and premium pre-made stickers, businesses can create and publish their own custom-branded sticker packs, which can be static or animated with custom sound effects.
Just as Viber users share photos, they also like sharing stickers, adding them as visuals to text to convey emotion. Thus, stickers can organically boost your reach and may even go viral. Here’s how you can maximise their impact.
- Design characters or icons that reflect your brand personality well, whether it’s funny, casual, luxurious, tech-savvy, or something else entirely.
- Encourage users to share your stickers by embedding them into common conversational scenario. For example, you can make stickers saying “Great job!” or “Congratulations!”.
- You can let people download your sticker packs for free (and achieve brand awareness through those stickers being shared), or you can ask for something more tangible in exchange. For example, why not ask people to subscribe to your chatbot or join your community in return for downloading your stickers? This way, you’ll increase engagement and interaction.
- Content that goes viral often also quickly loses its hype. So, refresh your branded sticker themes every few months to keep your audience engaged and your brand top of mind.
Finally, there are Viber Lenses, which are interactive augmented reality (AR) lenses. Users can overlay images on top of backgrounds, add beautification features like lipstick and hair colours, and select expressive masks that follow facial movements.
You can create branded lenses for your target audience, which they can use through Viber's camera feature. These can be shared both inside and outside the app, allowing you to reach an even greater audience.
Here’s how you can use AR lenses intelligently to strengthen brand interactions.
- Focus on utility. Add a practical tool (e.g., virtual try-on for sunglasses) to give users a reason to use your filter and share the results.
- Feature your lens in other places, such as in-app banners, to raise awareness before users even open the camera.
- Launch new AR masks around holidays or product launches to keep audiences trying something new.
- Keep it light – make sure lenses load quickly and don’t lag too much.
How much do Viber ads cost?
Viber follows a cost per mille (CPM) pricing model, which means cost per 1,000 impressions (views). The actual CPM varies depending on the countries where your ad will be viewed. To get an accurate quote, contact Viber's advertising team.
Leverage the power of Viber marketing with Messente
Viber is a fast-growing messaging app with 1 billion users worldwide. It offers a suite of innovative marketing tools for businesses, including three types of messages, different chat features, and in-app advertising.
If you're already using Viber Business Messages, highly visible ad placements and shareable sticker packs or branded lenses will optimise your advertising efforts and boost brand awareness and engagement.
Messente is an approved Viber partner and can help you architect, launch, and optimise every aspect of your Viber advertising campaign. We can help you get set up with business messages and provide unique and high-value advice on your advertising campaigns. Our team will guide you through best practices, ensure seamless implementation, and help you hit your engagement and ROI targets.
Talk to us today to get started on a Viber ad campaign that truly stands out.
