Tool APP advertising monetization optimization plan and operation skills

In addition to giants such as WeChat, Taobao, and Alipay, some tool apps, such as Moji Weather, WiFi Master Key, and Cleanup Master, are also favored by a large number of users and have long occupied a place in users' mobile phones...

However, for tool apps, although traffic may not be a big problem, due to the limitations of their own product form and audience usage habits, it is difficult for them to master the balance between product creation and commercialization and turn traffic into real value.

In view of the pain points of tool apps, the editor has specially compiled advertising monetization optimization plans and operation skills for each sub-category of tool media, providing relevant traffic owners with some practical monetization ideas and strategies to help them successfully find business opportunities and growth space in 2020!

Life tools (such as weather/calendar apps)

1) Industry characteristics

By providing traffic monetization services to multiple weather, calendar and other apps, Meishujun believes that life tool apps have the characteristics of clear user purposes, high frequency (for example, weather apps are basically used multiple times a day), and low duration (use and leave).

2) Pain points of monetization

For life tool apps, the difficulty and pain point of advertising monetization lies in: how to perfectly integrate advertising into the user usage scenarios based on the user's high-frequency but short-term usage habits, maximize the value of advertising exposure, and avoid interfering with the user's normal usage experience.

3) Commercialization suggestions

It is recommended that life tool apps can reasonably explore monetization scenarios based on platform content and environment, as well as user usage habits and behavioral paths (such as opening the app - checking the required information such as weather/calendar - possibly continuing to pull down to browse information - exiting the app) to explore the maximization of traffic monetization value.

Regarding the selection of advertising scenarios and forms for life tool apps, we recommend the following based on our own practical cases and monetization experience:

Design a splash screen ad at startup

• The optimal display time for a splash screen ad is 5 seconds;
• Choose ads that match the tone of the app;
• High-resolution large images are preferred, followed by small images or multiple images;
• The advertising display area should preferably be larger than 75% of the overall screen;
• Support DeepLink to improve direct access rate and conversion rate;
• Consider supporting dynamic and video splash screen ads.

Insert interstitial ads before exiting

• It is best to support click-to-jump direct access;
• Avoid repeated exposure of the same advertisement;
• Consider supporting interstitial ads in the form of videos;
• Incorporate useful information that matches the APP into interstitial ads (for example, weather and calendar apps can incorporate warm reminder content into ads).

Embed Banner Ads in appropriate locations

• The advertising area should not be designed to be too large;
• Animation formats can be supported, but they must not interfere with normal use;
• Advertisements should be integrated with the entire page, but should not closely imitate the page content, so as to avoid confusing users and causing missed clicks due to "confusion and inconsistency".

(If available) Information page embeds information flow ads

• The advertising format is consistent with the APP interface layout;
• The advertising content fits in seamlessly with the contextual content;
• Use technology to intelligently recommend interest-based ads to audiences;
• In addition to a single graphic and text style, you can consider supporting multiple information flow display styles such as video or rich media styles to increase user freshness and attention.

System tools (such as security/cleaning apps)

1) Industry characteristics

There are many types of system tools on the market and the competition is fierce. The use of system tools is usually characterized by purposeful operations by users, limited frequency of use, and short duration.

2) Pain points of monetization

In the fierce industry competition, how to highlight the unique media value and establish monetization advantages (competitive barriers) to attract more advertisers' budgets; at the same time, how to strike a perfect balance between advertising monetization and user experience is a difficult problem that system tools need to solve.

3) Commercialization suggestions

3.1) Reasonably insert advertisements to find a balance between revenue and experience

For a system tool APP, while carrying out advertising monetization, it is important to remember to also take into account the user experience. Only in this way can we stand out in the fierce industry competition, gain higher user favorability and loyalty, and then feed back to the smooth development of advertising monetization. In order to strike a balance between advertising monetization and user experience, it is necessary for the media to first maintain moderation in the "quantity" of advertising. That is, do not set up too many ad slots for the sake of profit and place ads in locations that will affect the user's normal usage experience.

Instead, the ad position should be planned reasonably and correctly in combination with the APP environment and content, user operation habits and trajectory scenarios, as well as the monetization effect of the ad position. It is also recommended to use different ad formats interactively to enhance the diversity of display while improving user acceptance and favorability of the ad.

3.2) Flexibly adapt advertisements to improve user freshness

Due to the low frequency of user usage (for example, some users only clean up or perform security checks on their phones every two or three days or even longer), the flow of advertisers on system tool APP platforms is relatively slow. However, if users are only shown the same creative idea from the same advertiser for a long time and frequently, not only will the monetization value generated by a single user decrease, but it may also cause user aesthetic fatigue and even user loss. Therefore, in order to ensure the continuous growth of user value and user freshness, it is recommended that:

1) Support brands to upload multiple versions of creative materials, and use dynamic creative optimization, intelligent engine recommendation and other technologies to display different creative ideas to users in a personalized way, so as to reduce users' aesthetic fatigue and stimulate clicks and conversions to a certain extent;

2) The media expands its own sales or business teams to develop more advertising purchasing channels and obtain more advertising display and exposure requests, so as to flexibly adapt different advertisers and their creativity to users and maintain the richness and attractiveness of advertising in the long term.

3.3) Repeated testing to improve monetization effectiveness

When system tool apps are conducting advertising monetization, they need to be cautious and conduct repeated testing, such as testing implantation scenarios, advertising styles, material types, exposure frequency (the number of times the same user sees an ad of the same brand; the number of times the same user sees all ads in a cycle, etc.), etc., to ensure the best user experience and advertising acceptance while maximizing the effectiveness of advertising monetization.

Office tools (such as network disk/document APP)

1) Industry characteristics

The main users are business people, white-collar workers, and middle- and high-income groups. Users pay attention to the functional experience of APP. Although the frequency of use is low, the average usage/residence time is long and the loyalty is high.

2) Pain points of monetization

How to insert advertisements in appropriate locations to achieve high advertising acceptance without damaging the user's APP experience, while also bringing considerable advertising exposure effects and attracting more advertisers' budgets is a pain point that office tool apps urgently need to solve.

3) Commercialization suggestions

3.1) Add traffic monetization scenarios

X Center/icon position to insert interactive ads

• Advertisements are native (like a welfare message);
• The interactive activities are rich and interesting;
• Explore more interactive advertising display entrances (icon, buoy, text link, banner, message center, etc.).

X Center or appropriate time to insert rewarded video ads

• Provide real and useful rights and benefits to ensure user experience;
• Choose the right time and scenario for ad display (e.g., insert rewarded video ads when users want more storage space);
• Place ads in locations that users frequently visit, as they are more likely to be seen and clicked.
• Pay attention to the UI interface, pop-up logic, display frequency/interval, etc., and find the optimal scenario solution for motivating participation and video playback volume through repeated A/B testing.

3.2) Strengthen advertising review to avoid damaging the media’s image

As most office tool apps are used by middle- to high-income, middle- to senior-level business people, it is recommended that the media have higher requirements for the content and quality of the materials. That is, we need to exercise all-round control over advertising materials from two aspects: material review and material blocking. Generally, it is recommended to take restrictive measures against industry advertisers and their creative materials that are inconsistent with or seriously contrary to the APP's tone, so as to ensure that the user experience and media image are protected in all dimensions, while also making the advertisements more targeted and effective.

The above are some advertising monetization experiences and suggestions provided by the editor for tool-type media. And if you also want to know the advertising monetization techniques and strategies of other types of media.

Author: Meishujun

Source: Meishu Technology