The need for an optimal app monetization platform is most requisite. According to App Annie, 2020 was a massive Year for Mobile Advertising, as advertisers poured in more than $240 billion. To maximize in-app ad revenues, it pays to have the best app monetization platform in place. Finding the right choice of monetization platforms is crucial for any app publisher before launching an app. With the right monetization platform, you will not bore users with monotonous ads and will be able to acquire new users. It must be noted that finding the right monetization method for your app must be done before publishing the app, not after.
How do you make sure a chosen platform will bring in the best advertisers and optimal revenue?
It’s beneficial to work with a monetization platform with expertise and experience that’s directly related to your app and what you’re trying to accomplish.
Here are a few questions you need to ask to choose the best monetization platform for your app:
- What does the app specialize in?
Different apps require different monetization platforms according to their requirements.
Research successful competition of your app and their ad networks. Tools like MobileAction allow you to see what ads competitors are running on their app, what their impressions are, and what ad platforms they are running on.
- Do they work on all mobile types or a specific category as such?
To get the most monetization from your app, it is most essential to inculcate a monetization platform that adheres best to your app’s needs. Monetization platforms targeted at your needs will offer you the expertise to optimize revenue for your app.
- What ad networks and exchanges does the app monetization platform work with?
Make sure you precisely know the networks and exchanges that your monetization platform is connected with before you work with them. Ad demand, along with various other marketing and advertising technologies, ultimately determines how advertisers reach their audience and what cost. An ad network is a tech platform that serves as a broker between publishers and advertisers. It acts as an intermediary that would efficiently sell inventory (a.k.a ad space) on the publisher’s app to the advertisers.
- What ad formats do they support?
Choose a partner that can support all ad formats that are currently on the app as well as ones you may be interested in leveraging in the future. It will prove fruitful to work with a platform that is constantly innovating, which helps to push forward towards new, interesting, and immersive formats as and when they become available. While banner ads and interstitial ads may be easy to integrate into the app, more immersive and interactive ad formats have come to being, like native ads and reward video ads, which provide a much better user experience alongside a higher ad rate.
- Does the platform offer a mediation platform?
Ad mediation is a technology that consolidates all demand sources and SDKs into one single source. It makes the app easier and lighter to use while increasing your traffic and helping you achieve your goals. It will also save you time by providing one dashboard to see all of your key advertising and ad revenue information, instead of logging into dozens of different systems each day to track progress.
- How do they determine what ads to show?
Without prior insight into how ads are displayed on the apps, it could lead to the app hosting poor quality ads, resulting in the dissatisfaction of both parties. This is done with the help of AI, where technology lends a hand in determining what ads to place where. But alas, this can get a little tricky as well.
In situations where there are multiple bidders on your ad space, many platforms use what’s called the Waterfall technique to determine which ads to be shown. Under such a system, different advertising demand sources/ad networks are placed in sequential order. When the initial ad source has nothing to serve, the next option in this predetermined chain presents its claim. This method is commonly used but is not optimal for app publishers and developers since it can lead to latency, suboptimal ad fill rates, and lower per-impression prices for ads.
- Opportunities for User Acquisition
User traction is an ongoing process for publishers. So why not acquire more users while monetizing? Some monetization platforms help monetize your app through advertising and at the same time, also help you acquire more users while advertising. It’s a win-win situation as it proves enormously useful for both parties.
- How long have they been in business and are they profitable?
The financial stability of your app monetization platform has to be considered. It is always essential to know how long your partner has been in business and how much he can bring to the table. You do not want any unanticipated financial hiccups on the way.
One does not work with a monetization platform for just a little while, it is more like a long-term commitment in order to gauge the desired exposure and results. To maximize in-app ad revenues, it pays to have an app monetization platform that is primarily focused on your revenue and retention goals but isn’t adversarial with the numerous other supply chain players. The monetization platform should be able to help an app run and profit from only the most appropriate ads for you and users’ app experience. It is beneficial to work with a monetization platform with expertise that is directly related to your app and what you’re trying to accomplish.
The article has been authored by Arpit Jain, Co-Founder & CEO, GreedyGame.
