As mobile app developers, ad revenue can either make or break your company. That’s why it’s crucial to make sure you address what’s keeping your ad revenue lower than it should be. Here are 10 mistakes you and your team might be making that is hurting your app.
Failing to Measure Ad Performance
If your ads aren’t performing then your monetization will suffer. Every app and Ad SDK is different, so you and your team will need to define metrics that suit your specific targets. Measure them, adjust, and then improve your ads.
Restricting Competitors’ Ads
Sometimes your competitors’ ads can have a high eCPM which you might miss out on because of a fear of competition. This mindset can actually get in the way of the success of your app. You should always evaluate these types of ads on a case by case basis by using metric tools in your SDK.
Showing Every User The Same Ads
Each user has different tastes so you should display ads that cater to them personally. Ensuring your Ad SDK has a way to track their profiles and match the proper ads to them accordingly is a huge step in increasing your ad revenue.
Not Investing in New Ad SDKs
Ad SDKs like Google AdMob will make up the majority if not the entirety of your ad revenue in most cases. You may be happy with how your ad revenue is performing with the current SDK(s) you’re using, but don’t get complacent. You should always be on the lookout for which publishers are going to perform best for you and your bottom line. If it does involve additional coding from your team, if it makes sense to perform the required work to integrate it, then definitely don’t be afraid to do so.
Relying Too Heavily on In-App Purchases
Most customers will purchase your app to remove ads either initially or when they feel their usage warrants that. However, giving them that option is actually counterproductive to your revenue. Recently discussed at a panel of ad experts, there are users who earn between $30-100 in ad revenue throughout their app usage. When compared to the one-time purchase of your app, you can see why you might want to forgo the paid option.
Delaying Incentive Videos
Your users are likely going to decide whether to leave or continue using your app within their first week of usage, so it’s important to capture their interest inside this time frame. Incentivized reward videos have become a proven way to earn ad revenue as well as engage users, so the practice of delaying them outside of the first week can hurt your app.
Not Offering Worthwhile Incentives
If you’re offering users a minuscule amount of in-game currency for viewing your ads then you can’t expect them to keep up with them for long. By tracking and adjusting user retention and ad revenue as you tweak the rewards system, you can discover which methods increase your app’s ad revenue.
Not Negotiating Ad Rates
Ad Publishers are often making just as much revenue from your ads as you are, so if you see a type of ad is performing exceedingly well with your app you should use that to your advantage. By negotiating for an increase in impressions to the advertiser, you can get a better rate as well as more consistent ads to your users.
Failing to Recognize High Revenue Users
If you narrow down who is earning you the most ad revenue to an exact profile you can begin targeting these users specifically with the best kinds of ads. This also allows you to actively try to gain new types of these users to your app. When used effectively, this data can also help you in negotiating for better ad rates.
Not Approaching Advertisers Directly
If you’re always going through an Ad Network for your ads, you’re missing out on the additional revenue that you could earn by reaching out to advertisers yourself. If you can give them a discount that beats what they pay the network to reach your app or offer exclusivity for their niche, you provide a deal they can’t get anywhere else.
When it comes to evaluating and increasing the ad revenue of your mobile apps, you can never take too few precautions. By adjusting your process from the top down and eliminating oversights along the way, you can create a better ad experience for your users and earn more profit as well. Avoiding these 10 mistakes is a good start to doing that.
