In-App Ads & In-App Purchases: Two Monetization Strategies Are Converging

Are you a mobile app developer looking to better monetize your app via in-app purchases? Or are you a mobile advertiser wishing to make money through in-app ads.

To succeed in the multi-billion dollar mobile app business, you need both of these monetization strategies. Here are a few statistics that will make it clear why both in-app advertising and in-app purchases are essential to win in this competitive mobile app landscape.

• Only 5% of mobile app users spend money on in-app purchases. The total sales from in-app purchases are projected to increase to $37 billion by 2017.

• There are two million apps in two major app stores: Apple and Google. The mobile device your audience owns can have a great impact on how much you will earn from mobile app monetization strategy. A survey has found that iOS app users spend 2.5 times more than Android users on in-app purchases.

• The options for mobile in-app ad formats have increased as well as improved in the past few years. From rewarded video to designed banners, in-app ads are available in rich media formats, which app publishers in partnership with mobile advertising companies can use for better conversion.

• Since more and more Internet users are moving from desktop to mobile device, brands are also shifting their branding strategy to mobile app advertising. A recent survey has found that mobile ads are 2-3 times more effective than desktop ads in raising brand awareness.

From the growing trend of in-app purchases to great app advertising format options, the app monetization opportunity has increased than ever before. App publishers and mobile advertising companies can now better monetize their mobile apps utilizing both in-app purchases and in-app ads strategies. So, what’s your app monetization strategy? Let us know in the comments section below!

3 Critical Mistakes You Should Avoid in Your App Monetization Plan

Your mobile app is now ready, but has it been able to create enough buzz in the mobile landscape? Only app developers & advertisers who have the right strategy are able to earn in thousands per day from their app. As an app developer, you too want your app to get into the ‘top ten’ app list of major mobile app stores and give you higher returns.

Going after revenue through a paid app can be a risky endeavor for your mobile business. If you are an app developer or marketer and have an ambition to make money from your mobile app, then you need a solid monetization plan. But are you making these egregious monetization mistakes? Check them out below so that you can avoid them in future:

Mistake 1: Choosing wrong monetization partner
Don’t just go for any monetization partner in your mobile marketing journey. Choose your partner wisely to monetize app well. Do make sure you have a clear strategy of how to monetize your app before launching it: either through paid app or through in-app ads. Carefully choose an ad network that has highest global & local reach, extensive network of demand partners, provides high fill rates and better ad inventory.

Mistake 2: Not segmenting ad inventory
Categorize your ad inventory well for better ad placements. You can place in-house ads for existing loyal users to sell them app items and place ads from your partner ad network to all types of users for better ROI. Systemic ad placement will help you generate higher eCPMs.

Mistake 3: Not monitoring ad placement approach
Though you have partnered with the best app monetization company, but still you should monitor the ad placement approach. It is directly linked to your relationship with your app users. How? Advertising in app must not be intrusive or distract attention of your app users. This would defy the original purpose of your app and adverts placed can negatively affect user’s relationship with your brand.

The only way to monetize app correctly is to avoid these mistakes. In short, create a strong monetization plan and partner with a reliable app monetization company to get higher returns from your app.

Fill Rate – The Game Changer in Mobile Advertising

There is no doubt mobile advertising is booming today. The mobile advertising industry is earning revenue in billions annually. When you think about grabbing opportunity in this growing business, one thing that comes to mind is mobile ads. For mobile app developers and publishers, mobile ads are a new stream of revenue generation. However, before starting the mobile monetization game, you must understand the real game changer of this industry – Fill Rate.

What is Fill Rate?

It is not a new term in the mobile ad world. Mobile ad networks have limited number of advertisements available, so they can provide you certain number of mobile ads every time when you send an ad request.
Fill Rate = Number of ads delivered by ad network/Number of ads requested by developer/publisher

Factors Affecting Fill Rate

Fill rate is important in the mobile advertising world as it helps to calculate the wasted ad inventory. An app publisher can achieve maximum click rates for its placed ads by reaching close to 100% fill rate. When requested ad is not displayed in an app when a user is using the app, then publishes loses the chances to make revenue. There are certain factors that affect the fill rate.

• Type of Ad Supplied:
  
  There are two types of advert format: video and banner/image. An advert in a banner format have a fill rate closer to 90% while video ads have a fill rate of 40-50%.

• Monetization Network: Different ad networks utilize different strategies to supply and distribute ads to publishers and mobile advertisers. eCPM is not the only criteria to select ad network. Do consider how many other publishers and advertisers are utilizing the same network as this may result in higher demand and lower supply of ads, resulting in lower fill rate.

• Technical Problems:
  
  Fill rates are also affected by technical problems, but they happen at any one time and not most of the times.
  
  So, how can you fetch higher fill rates for your mobile advertising and monetization game plan? Mobile advertisers and publishers can send parallel ad requests, select the best ad network, carefully monitor ad campaigns & optimize them in order to attain an excellent fill rate and higher revenue optimization.