Rewarded video ads have become a popular and effective monetization strategy for app developers and advertisers. They provide a non-intrusive way to engage users by offering in-app rewards in exchange for watching video ads.
As digital advertising becomes increasingly competitive, ensuring that rewarded video ads are seamlessly integrated into the user experience is crucial for maximizing engagement and retention. High-quality visuals, strategic placement at natural pauses, and clear value propositions enhance user satisfaction and drive higher conversion rates.
For the maximum benefits of rewarded ads, building trust and encouraging repeated interactions are crucial for advertisers. By delivering rewards immediately and maintaining transparency, advertisers can create compelling ad experiences that not only capture user attention but also deliver substantial business results.
In this blog, we’ll discuss the best practices for the design, placement, and implementation of rewarded video ads for 2024:
What are some of the best practices for using Rewarded Video Ads?
Many factors affect your ad’s performance, such as implementation, design, and placement within your app. Here, we’ll share tips and resources to help you succeed with rewarded ads.
Best Practices for Rewarded Ads Design
The rewarded ad funnel has four stages: the ad prompt, the ad impression, the ad reward, and the moment the item is used.
In this section, we’ll discuss some guidelines about the ad prompt and ad reward.
Things to consider before designing an ad prompt for a rewarded video ad
Clear Message: While offering the rewards to the users, ensure your message is clear. Ensure that after watching the prompt, users can understand what they’ll receive once they finish watching the ad.
Relevant Content: Ensure your message addresses your audience’s needs, problems, or desires.
Tone and Language: Use language and tone that resonates with your audience. For a younger audience, this might mean casual and trendy language; for a professional audience, it might mean more formal and authoritative.
Cultural Knowledge: Advertisers should respect and consider their audience’s diverse preferences by being aware of cultural nuances. This sensitivity will enhance their connection and make their ads more effective.
Optimize Ad Design for Visual Appeal: Use colors, images, and fonts that attract your target audience. Bright colors and dynamic visuals are best for younger audiences, and the designs must be more subdued and professional for business professionals.
Clear Call-to-Action (CTA): Your CTA should be clear, compelling, and tailored to your audience’s needs and behaviors.
Things to consider before designing a reward for an ad
Design rewards that will retain users
While designing the rewards for your app, you should first understand your users, their requirements, and their interests because the rewards should encourage users to continue using the app over time. Knowing your audience allows you to design the best rewards.
Providing a diverse range of rewards at different points in the user’s journey through the app, you can extend the amount of time users spend within the app during each session.
The rewards you offer should strike a balance
They shouldn’t be so valuable that they undermine your in-app purchases (IAPs), but they should be tempting enough that users are motivated to watch ads in exchange for them.
This means offering rewards that enhance the user experience and provide value without devaluing the app’s premium features or items available for purchase. By finding the right balance, you can encourage ad engagement while still driving revenue through in-app purchases.
Also Read: Self-Serve Ad Platforms Benefits for Advertisers!
Ideas for a Reward: What type of rewards can we give while creating a rewarded ads unit?
To encourage users to engage with ads, provide rewards they genuinely want, such as in-game currency, power-ups, or exclusive content.
Also, ensure that the effort required to watch an ad matches the value of the reward offered, maintaining a fair and balanced user experience. Here are ideas to get you started:
Extra time
Similar to extra lives, a bit of additional game time can help a player complete a level, offering satisfaction and a positive user experience.
Extra lives or power-ups
Offer a small number of additional lives or a health boost so that the player can continue playing without having to restart the level.
Unlock new characters
Reward gamers with new characters that might be better suited for certain levels or aren’t selling well due to their price tag. This could be for a limited time, such as to complete one level.
Hints and tips
Offering instructions, hints, or clues can be helpful when the user is struck within a game. This reward can be easily accessible in a menu or shortcut rather than making players wait until they reach a certain checkpoint or stage in the game. For example, if the user has spent some time on a level without progressing, you may show a prompt that offers a clue or tip as a reward.
Item upgrades
Sometimes, entry-level items aren’t sufficient to keep the users interested. You can keep them engaged by providing an upgraded item as a reward.
In-game currency
Topping up in-game bank balances empowers and encourages users to make purchases using rewards or to buy items without spending their real money.
Resource refills
Users can lose interest and motivation if they sense their low chance of winning the game. So, you can keep them hooked by replenishing their ammo, health, or other in-game resources.
Character customization
We can’t ignore that personalizing characters gives users a sense of ownership. However, as this doesn’t provide a tactical advantage, it’s unlikely they’ll spend their own money on it. So, reaward can solve this problem.
Ad-free game time
Popular with streaming services but also common in the mobile gaming world, securing ad-free game time can satisfy users by removing the annoyance of additional ads.
Mystery box
To build suspense, marketers can consider offering mystery rewards to users for watching rewarded video ads. For example, once a user finishes watching a video, you can offer multiple treasure chests and prompt them to select one. This approach is more engaging as it builds suspense and increases user satisfaction when a high-value reward is unlocked. Users who want a specific prize might watch several ads to achieve their goal. This is another element to test and learn from, ultimately providing the data needed to maximize your rewarded video ads’ impact and engagement rates.
Also Read: Offerwall Ads Guide To Enhance User Retention And Monetization In 2024
Best Practices for Rewarded Ads Placement
When considering the timing and placement of rewarded video ads, the primary focus should be on the user experience. For example, avoid showing a video ad when the user is in the middle of gameplay. Instead, ensure that your video ad appears when the user is more likely to engage with it, not when it may disrupt the user experience. Also, it may ruin the user experience to include rewarded video ads just before a pivotal moment in your mobile game.
How you integrate Rewarded Ads can greatly influence the user experience, positively or negatively. To ensure a positive impact:
- Place Rewarded Ads in high-traffic areas within your app. To maximize visibility, You can place rewarded video ads in an app’s in-game store and on the home screen.
- Use pop-up prompts to prompt users to discover ads more effectively. You can prompt users whenever they have acquired in-game items and offer a boost.
- Positioning ads between levels can give the user an opportunity to take advantage of rewarded ads to progress further in the game.
- Allow users to choose when to watch an ad rather than forcing it upon them, enhancing user satisfaction and engagement.
Best Practices for Rewarded Ads Implementation
Rewarded video ads provide an opportunity to satisfy advertisers and users simultaneously. While implementing the rewarded video advertising format, it is not necessary to sacrifice the user experience for revenue generation. Instead, your user experience should be a top priority, and these ads should contribute to users’ satisfaction.
By keeping this in mind, implementing ads that contribute positively to the user experience will produce the desired results. The below-mentioned points contribute to the user satisfaction with rewarded video ads:
Visible Rewards: Clearly display the reward users will receive for watching the ad.
Immediate Gratification: The reward users receive for watching the ad should be granted without delay. This instant gratification not only reinforces the positive experience but also makes the user feel valued for their time.
Seamless Integration: Ensure the ad format fits seamlessly within the app or game environment, maintaining the overall user experience.
Optimal Frequency: The key here is finding the right balance. Avoid bombarding users with excessive ads, as this can lead to frustration. Instead, aim for a frequency that keeps user engagement high without annoying.
Optimal Duration: Ads should be short and to the point, typically around 15-30 seconds, to maintain user interest and avoid fatigue.
Also Read: Mobile Advertising Types, Benefits, and Best Practices!
Rewarded Ads Optimization Tips
Segmenting Users
Segmenting users into different audience groups based on behavior is essential for optimizing rewarded video ads. Frequent app users can be offered less valuable rewards since their engagement is already high; boosts to enhance existing purchases can encourage further in-app purchases. For infrequent users, providing high-value rewards can incentivize them to engage more often and potentially lead to initial in-app purchases. This strategic segmentation ensures rewards are tailored to user behavior, maximizing engagement and revenue.
A/B testing
It helps you experiment with different ad formats, reward types, and placements to identify what works best for your audience. Based on performance data (KPIs) such as completion rates, click-through rates, and retention rates, you can continually refine your approach. You can also collect and analyze user feedback to understand their experience and make necessary changes.
Conclusion
By refining ad design, placement, and implementation, developers can enhance the impact of rewarded ads, benefiting everyone involved. Also, consistent testing and improvements in ad formats help compare which is working better. These ads not only increase downloads and boost revenue but also build user loyalty, making them an essential tool for app developers aiming to thrive in the competitive mobile market.
