The Real Power of In-App Advertising: Tried and Tested Tips for Publisher Success

Everything is now mobile-first! Mobile apps are taking over, capturing an increasing number of consumers' mobile-device attention – roughly 90% of users spend their mobile time using apps.

"Mobile will ultimately be the way you provision most of your services. The way I like to put it is, the answer should always be mobile first. You should always put your best team and your best app on your mobile app." – said Eric Schmidt.

Have you ever wondered how many apps there are in the world? More than five million is the total number of apps currently available on Google Play, Windows, Apple, and Amazon. It's the most extensive doorway of opportunity for in-app ads and mobile app advertising. It is gradually becoming an impactful tool for user acquisition and a great way of monetization for any publisher.

Have you ever wondered how many apps there are in the world? More than five million is the total number of apps currently available on Google Play, Windows, Apple, and Amazon. It's the most extensive doorway of opportunity for in-app ads and mobile app advertising. It is gradually becoming an impactful tool for user acquisition and a great way of monetization for any publisher. 

Let’s take you through a step-by-step guide about in-app advertising and share some tested tips to help you monetize better.

What is in-app advertising?

Let's go through some basics first. In-app advertising is both a revenue and marketing strategy for app developers and brands. It’s an efficient monetization strategy for mobile publishers, where app developers get paid to serve ads within their mobile apps. These in-app ads are served through app advertising networks that allow ad publishers, developers, or advertisers to collaborate via programmatic ad buying.  

It also helps publishers keep their content accessible to their users, encouraging downloads while making scalable revenue. Apps also drive mobile usage and media consumption globally. Hence, it makes in-app advertising a vital marketing channel or tool for both brands and agencies.

In 2022, mobile advertising spending is projected to reach a record of 327.1 billion USD worldwide. This figure marked an increase of 17.2% compared to the previous year, and according to the latest data, spending will amount to nearly 399.6 billion by 2024. 

Global Mobile App installs advertising expenditures: (2017 to 2022) 

In 2019, the advertising spending on installed apps reached 57.8 billion US dollars worldwide. Driven by mobile user addition in developing countries and regions throughout Africa, India, China, and Indonesia, global app install advertising spend will grow to 118 billion U.S dollars by the end of 2022. 

Mobile Websites vs. Mobile Apps 

Mobile websites and mobile apps share numerous parallels. Both support DSPs, marketers, and advertisers to reach engaged audiences/viewers on mobile devices. Mobile ad apps offer advertisers a dynamic and engaging environment to capture customers' attention and encourage them to interact and view their content. However, there are some crucial differences between mobile websites and mobile apps:  

How can you use in-app advertising?  

Mobile in-app advertising serves two purposes: 

In-app ads for mobile publishers: Basically, in-app ads are just like how free apps make money; similarly, app publishers use various ads to monetize their products and audiences. Mobile gaming apps and free apps rely on ads to generate revenue. In-app ads can be used effectively in parallel with various types of monetization. For instance, a free mobile game may use in-app ads and the ability to make in-app purchases, letting the game monetize users irrespective of whether they purchase or not.

In-app ads for brands/marketers/advertisers: If you are a marketer or an advertiser planning to deploy in-app ads as part of your mobile marketing strategy, your priority should lean towards using mobile ads to build brand awareness and drive downloads and sales. For example, a trading app looking to acquire new users may advertise or promote a trendy fintech app, where users are more interested in investment, digital banking, and trading. 

How does in-app advertising work?

1. The app on the user's mobile sends a request to the mobile advertising network to serve an ad 

2. The ad network takes several factors into account, comprising user data, and runs an algorithm to identify the best and highest-paying ad from several advertisers 

3. The ad or advertisement is then delivered and rendered to the targeted mobile app in real-time, which users can see on their mobile 

What are the different In-App Advertising formats? 

These ads come in multiple formats and types to suit the viewable space, and developers can select between various ad types to optimize their app monetization process. 

These include in-app display ads, interstitial display ads, native ads, rewarded videos, and more. The correct in-app advertising format makes the difference in delivering the best user experience and content. 

Here's a quick look at the trendy ad formats available: 

They are non-intrusive, blend in ads, impersonating the look of the editorial content present on a website, and it can be a video or textual ad in nature. 

‍Banner Ads 

They are simple static ads that can be displayed at the top or bottom of an app. They are universally supported and highly affordable ads. 

‍

Interstitial Ads 

They are full-screen banner ads that appear amid different in-app events or levels of a game.

Rich Media 

They are mobile in-app ads that use HTML, CSS, JS, and other image files to serve in pop-ups and banners. 

Native Video Ads 

They are a great way to engage with users. It is a mobile video format that is skippable after a few seconds. 

Rewarded Video Ads 

‍

They attract users with incentives and offers by making them watch video ads. 

Playable Ads 

They are used to deliver a small demo. Plus, they are gamified versions of a gaming app. 

Tips to improve the effectiveness of in-app advertisements: 

1. Identify whom you want to reach: Always identify your target audience and then display the ad. Gather and study the data based on the users' device, operating system, demographics, preferences, age, gender, and wireless carrier.

2. Pick the advert agency carefully: Always choose your agency sensibly after studying its pricing models, quality standards, and various protocols. 

3. Give importance to better viewability and engagement: Choose more prominent, full-screen banner ads for better engagement and viewability. Full-screen banner ads lead users to the desired app or website and enable conversions. You can also select video ads for boosted engagement.

4. Go for Programmatic deals and Private marketplaces: They ensure complete transparency and control. They are practical tools for pricing, inventory, and optimizing data/insights. Always focus on optimum usage of these tools for effective in-app advertising. 

5. Always determine the goals and the budget for your ad campaign. 

6. Always select your creatives after testing them. Images, GIFs, videos, text. Set a minimum budget for testing each of them and understand what best suits the app.  

7. Never forget to optimize your ads for more conversions. For example, you can choose more noticeable formats or diverse ad placements.

Use In-App Advertising to Monetize More Effectively

Tapping suitable ads in the proper context gives users an experience more relevant to their needs. It will eventually amp up the CTR, engagement, and conversion rates. The key to using in-app advertising for monetization is implementing the right monetization solution, which will automatically fetch you better ROI. 

How do you do it? Here are a few tips:

Always pick the right solution for your app: Remember, not all ad networks are alike. Some solutions emphasize banners more; others are more directed to gaming apps. Make sure the monetization solution compromises ads that match your targeted audience. 

Pick relevant ad formats: When selecting the ad format, pick the most relevant and place them in front of the target audience within the app workflow. The less an ad seems like an ad, the better.

Always opt for the correct vendor: Find a vendor that works for your business. Remember which platforms you display the app on and find a vendor that works with all of them.  

What's next?

Mobile app publishers should lean towards in-app advertising as a fundamental advertising and revenue-generating strategy. Whether an in-app advertisement is suitable for your mobile app depends on various undeniable factors, such as your app developer, personal business model, and the genre you serve. 

However, gauging your user acquisition efforts via in-app advertising is essential. In-app advertising is the most efficient way to monetize a smartphone application and enable various brands to reach the desired viewer, players, and audience for more sales, downloads, and ROI (Return on Investment). Publishers can select the top ad network for their applications by keeping the information mentioned above.

If you want to scale your revenue via in-app advertising and reach the right audience, then iion's next-generation monetization solutions are ideal. iion offers comprehensive control over your ads, enabling you to choose the best formats.

Ready to explore iion’s in-game advertising solutions, contact us today!

FAQ: 

1. What is in-app advertising?
   ‍In-app advertising is both a revenue and marketing strategy for app developers, brands/advertisers/marketers. It is an efficient monetization strategy for mobile publishers, where app developers get paid to serve ads within their mobile apps. ‍
2. What are the different in-app advertising formats? 
   ‍These ads come in multiple formats and types to suit the viewable space. These include in-app display ads, interstitial display ads, native ads, rewarded videos, and more.‍
3. What are the tips to improve the effectiveness of in-app advertisements? 
   ‍Identify whom you want to reach, pick the advertising agency carefully, give importance to better viewability and engagement, go for programmatic deals and private marketplaces, and more.