Mobile Monetization: Three Key Considerations

Mobile is no longer an accessory, but an essential part of everyday life. Smartphone adoption rates are expected to triple over the next five years, meaning more than six billion people will own a smartphone by 2020. Global mobile internet spend has already overtaken other media platforms this year, so savvy businesses aren’t just ensuring they have a mobile app or website in place, they are making sure they monetize it too. 

Mobile advertising brings huge benefits to advertisers. They can access consumers anywhere, anytime, as smartphones are always to hand, and they can use location data to ensure personalized, relevant messaging. The intimate nature of smartphones makes it easier for brands to build a one-to-one relationship with consumers, and increases audience engagement. 

For these reasons, investment has rapidly increased, and is expected to account for 14% of all media ad spend this year. Advertising is an easy way to make money from mobile apps and websites, and the rise of programmatic advertising has helped to make it an efficient and profitable practice.  

So if you are planning to use programmatic advertising to monetize your mobile app or website, what do you need to consider? Here are three key points to bear in mind: 

There is little point in advertising if the ad cannot be seen, so brands need to know you offer good page positioning for their ads. Viewability standards have been established for desktop display ads, although as yet there is no standard for mobile advertising. You should be transparent with your inventory and offer different advertising packages priced according to the position on the page. 

The issue of whether ads are above or below the fold is less crucial on mobile than on desktop, as smaller screens mean users have to scroll down to view the majority of content.  However, higher placements can still command higher prices. Also consider offering different ad formats such as native, video, and rich media ads, as well as display advertising to further drive user engagement. 

Partner with an ad technology platform that allows inventory to be classified as mobile specific to ensure the ads displayed are suited to mobile and promote a seamless brand message. Brands may be wary of wasted impressions and ad fraud, which are hot topics in the world of programmatic advertising, but many ad tech providers and publishers are working to combat this. By using technology to minimize these issues, you not only keep advertisers happy, but also guarantee the quality of the ads on your app or site, allowing you to filter, review or block unwanted ads and maintain the integrity of your content.  

Advertisers want to hold a one-to-one conversation with consumers and reach them with mobile ads that are effective, engaging, and highly relevant. Audiences are a great selling point for mobile inventory, and the more you can tell brands about your audience, the more interesting your mobile app or website will become for advertisers, so use any data you have about your visitors to your advantage. 

Most ad campaigns use multiple creatives targeted to different audience segments, so your audience data can be used to select the most appropriate creative for your mobile app or site. The more information you have about your audience, the more relevant the advertising on your app or site will be, therefore improving the experience for your visitors. 

For advertisers to measure the success of their campaigns, they need to determine the impact of each marketing touch point along the consumer’s path to conversion, including the ads served to your mobile app or website. The insights gained from this allow advertisers to understand which platforms and touch points work – and which don't – to help inform future campaigns. By using an ad technology platform with advanced attribution functionality and the ability to track across mobile environments, your advertisers can easily measure the success of their ads, and you can view reporting for your mobile inventory.     

Programmatic advertising offers brands scale, efficiency, and effective targeting, and monetizing your mobile inventory programmatically is simple and profitable. By being transparent with your inventory, and by providing enough data about your visitors to allow specific audience targeting, you can achieve high fill rates, CPM’s, and reap the rewards of programmatic advertising. This better understanding of mobile advertising on your site or app, alongside an effective measurement solution, will profit advertisers, boost your ROI, and provide a positive experience for your mobile visitors.