Navigating the peaks and valleys of mobile gaming is no easy task. In the winter and holiday months, things are great. Money flows in to publishers on the Chartboost network as big companies vie for installs from gamers firing up their new iOS and Android devices for the first time. But once the Christmas tree comes down and the lights are taken off the proverbial picket fence, game developers are left combating the inevitable lull that begins every new year.
We’ve compiled a list of ways for our beloved publishers to fight the seasonality changes and drive up their eCPM at any point in the campaign creation process here on Chartboost.
Integration
Have you thought about where and when your interstitials are showing? Bootup is our favorite spot, but you might also want to try integrating in numerous locations throughout your game. Try dropping several locations after levels, after specific actions are taken, or after specific pages.
Once you’re live, A/B testing locations will be a snap using App Analytics, and you can be confident that interstitials shown after the 4th cow click (see the image below) are driving the best eCPMS.
Our Dashboard at work. Click for a larger image.App Level
If you’ve already locked in integration and are live in the App Store, have no fear! There are still many ways to drive up that eCPM.
You can try limiting the number of impressions that you show per day or per hour. Experiment with this to find the sweet spot of revenue and eCPM.
Limit impressions per day or per hour.If you haven’t already, add a custom frame. It can be simple or more ornate, so long as it keeps the connection between your game and the user. Flaregames saw eCPM increase 53% after adding the frame below!
Flaregames’ awesome frame in Royal Revolt.Campaign Creation
If you have many games, set up a separate publishing campaign for each. That way, you can fine tune your settings and filtered apps to fit the demographic of each game.
Tune those settings!Do your iPhone users behave differently than your iPad users? You might also consider setting up a separate campaigns by device.
Post-Campaign: Filter Apps
With hundreds of advertisers on our platform, there are bound to be some that just don’t resonate with your users; so why waste the impressions? You can identify which games to filter by exporting a csv through the Campaign Analytics page, and grouping your query “by app.”
Once you’ve pinpointed the problem apps, filter them from the campaign, and watch your eCPM rise.
Out with the bad, in with the good.For a step by step guide on how to analyze performance and see an example, check out our help page.
Go Direct
With thousands of advertisers on our platform, there are bound to be some that hit it out of the park. You’ll notice awesome click-through and install rates, as well as eCPMs from some advertisers that make you wish you could give them more traffic…and you can! Seek out your potential partner in the Direct Deal Marketplace, connect, and strike a deal.
Once it’s up and running, be sure to give them highest priority so you can really cash in on the great performance.
We hope these tips will prove helpful to our partners out there! If you have questions, ping us anytime @Chartboost.