Rewarded video is one of the most effective forms of monetization available to publishers but like much of mobile monetization, the devil is in the details. Between rewarded video caps, eCPM, use rate, and impressions, it can be a little daunting to figure out how best to implement this most lucrative and rewarding experience for users.
We’ve already published a quick breakdown of the basic of monetization, but all those terms and knowledge of the basics need actual implementations to make publishers and developers money.
What is rewarded video?
Simply put, a rewarded video is an ad zone that grants a user a reward when they’re done watching the ad. Things can get more detailed; interactive end cards, if a user clicks the ad, and so on, but fundamentally when a rewarded video is completed (a key step!), the user gets a reward.
Rewards typically take the form of in-game currency. When deciding how much to give as a reward, publishers should take some time and consider their options.
Keep in mind how often a user can access the offer, and how much users find most enticing without tipping the scales too far. The amount being rewarded shouldn’t undermine the overall in-app economy.
Rewarded Video Capping
One of the misleadingly obvious methods for increasing income from rewarded video is to raise its frequency cap. While it could be successful in the immediate short run getting the cap right can be very tricky.
By default, rewarded video has a cap to protect publisher eCPMs. This may seem odd, but publishers should remember that there’s an advertiser on the other end of those video ads.
That advertiser may be a big brand, or even another publisher. Advertisers are constantly on the other end of ads monitoring spend, performance, and other statistics. If certain ad inventory isn’t converting or performing well, those ads may be priced lower when shown to your high quality users.
We’ve found that the ideal daily range of videos shown to a user is between four and six videos per day. This default cap is in place to preserve eCPMs for publishers, whilst still maintaining desired performance for advertisers.
Put simply, it’s better to have 50 people watch 1 video, than 1 person watch 50.
Publishers CAN increase that cap, but before moving forward with increasing a cap it’s important to examine an app’s performance more closely.
Integration Tips
More long-term success and ad engagement can be found by improving your ad integration instead of simply increasing rewarded video caps. When planning rewarded video implementation, publishers should keep these key points in mind:
- The video option should be highly visible to the user – People can’t engage with an ad they can’t view!
- The reward should be something valuable within an in-game economy – It could be in-app currency, or more immediate direct power ups.
- The reward should prompt or entice the user to engage with the ad – Some users need a push to engage.
- The reward should be immediately useful to the users – There should be an immediate impact for watching the video. For example, if the rewarded video is promoted after a game over, there should be enough rewarded currency to purchase a continue or extra life.
Conclusion
Rewarded video is another ad format that rewards data and diligence.
By some counts, rewarded video already gets 90% engagement rates. It makes no sense to ruin that awesome rate by lowering eCPM, and ends up being the digital equivalent of robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Publishers who integrate intelligently understand the metrics advertisers use to run their campaigns, and are often advertisers themselves with user acquisition campaigns. They’re comfortable with small, incremental experimentation on both ends. Finding a sweet spot, instead of huge swings in one direction or another will see huge success over a publisher that throws implementations and caps at the wall to see what sticks.
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