The programmatic video advertising industry is full of hardships, and publishers often go through the brunt of them. Whether it’s low fill rates or recurring VAST video errors, you’ve probably experienced some of these difficulties yourselves. Because these common issues equate to leaving money on the table, publishers are always looking for ways to increase their video ad revenue.
That’s why we decided to help out by showcasing several easily implementable tips that are sure to lead to a revenue surge. The best part about these is that most of them will be accessible to publishers of all sizes (with the right video platform, that is).
Without further ado, let’s look at nine actionable ways publishers can increase their video ad revenue and boost their business.
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9 Actionable Ways to Increase Video Ad Revenue
- 1. Don’t Rely on a Single Ad Network
- 2. Sequence Multiple Pre-Rolls Using Ad Pods
- 3. Make Use of Header Bidding Technology
- 4. Utilize All Fallback Options at Your Disposal
- 5. Maximize Ad Viewability
- 6. Optimize Audience Targeting
- 7. Maximize Revenue By Autoplaying Ads
- 8. Always Stay Up to Date With the Latest Video Advertising Trends
- 9. Track Your Metrics and Adapt on the Fly
9 Actionable Ways to Increase Video Ad Revenue
Although video ad revenue generation might seem unpredictable at times, it’s far from that. You can do many things to ensure you get the most out of your video ad creatives.
1. Don’t Rely on a Single Ad Network
One of the biggest mistakes many publishers make is relying on a single ad network. Why is that such a pivotal factor? Because no ad network can realistically cover your entire ad inventory.
Publishers often think that they’ve set themselves up for success after signing a contract with a single ad provider and later get shocked when they see subpar fill rates. Anyone with any knowledge of the online advertising industry can tell you that no provider can achieve 100% fill rates. In fact, regardless of how high fill rates they’re promising, they’re likely to be much lower in reality.
So the best way to work around this issue is to always work with multiple providers. That way, if your ad call from one turns up empty, you always have a backup from another provider.
Luckily, there are many video ad networks out there, so finding multiple won’t be a problem. We at Brid.TV even have our own video ad provider you can use to monetize your videos if you’re looking for backups to maximize your fill rate. Learn more about it below.
2. Sequence Multiple Pre-Rolls Using Ad Pods
Ad pods are a recent addition to the online advertising industry, but most online video platforms quickly implemented them. Why? Because they quickly became one of the most sought-after features in the industry!
Ad pods have proven to be one of the most efficient ways to increase your video ad revenue. “What are ad pods?” you may ask. They are a feature that allows you to queue multiple consecutive pre-, mid-, or post-roll ad tags. In other words, you can play several ads in a row with this feature.
Ad pods are most lucrative when used in the pre-roll position and are particularly useful for short-form video advertisers. In fact, some of Brid.TV’s publishers saw upwards of 50% ad revenue increase since we implemented this feature!
You Might Also Like: VAST vs. VPAID: The Differences Explained
How to set up Ad Pods at Brid.TV
Publishers can seamlessly add as many consecutive pre-, mid-, or post-roll ad tags with a few clicks of a button from our user-friendly CMS. They can do so by navigating the interface as following:
Players -> Monetization -> Pre-Roll / Mid-Roll / Post-Roll.
Here’s an illustration to help you out:
3. Make Use of Header Bidding Technology
Header bidding or pre-bidding is all the rage now in the online advertising industry, and for a good reason. What is header bidding? It is an advanced programmatic advertising technique where publishers offer their ad inventory to several ad exchanges simultaneously. There, advertisers bid for your available inventory, and you sell it to the highest bidder.
You can likely already see why this feature has become so sought-after lately. Publishers can earn more revenue by letting relevant advertisers bid on their inventory, as they will often get a better deal than they would otherwise. In fact, some of Brid.TV’s publishers experienced a 20% increase in ad revenue after they started using our header bidding feature. Publishers can easily implement Prebid.js header bidding and much more through our CMS and avoid having to go through complex on-page implementations.
How to set up Header Bidding at Brid.TV
At Brid.TV, publishers have multiple header bidding options, and they can use multiple of them simultaneously! If you use header bidding with Brid.TV player, you can opt to use Prebid.js, SpotX, or Amazon A9 header bidding. You can enable these options from our CMS by navigating the interface as following:
Players -> Monetization -> Pre-Bidding.
Here’s an illustration to help you out:
4. Utilize All Fallback Options at Your Disposal
A publisher’s worst nightmare is having their ad calls turn up empty. Unfortunately, such scenarios are an everyday occurrence and not something you can entirely avoid. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t minimize the odds of that happening. That is why implementing all fallback options at your disposal is essential to maximizing your ad revenue!
An excellent example of a fallback option would be Brid.TV’s intelligent banner fallback. If publishers enable this feature, it allows them to minimize their losses by displaying a banner ad if all their ad calls turn up empty. Although CPM for banner ads is significantly lower than for your video ads, it is still better than receiving no ad revenue from that impression.
How to set up Intelligent Banner Fallback at Brid.TV
At Brid.TV, publishers can minimize revenue losses from ad calls coming up empty by using our intelligent banner fallback feature. All you have to do to set it up is navigate the interface as follows:
Players -> Monetization -> Display Banner.
From there, you can insert your display banner ad tags to get an additional layer of backup.
Here’s an illustration to help you out:
5. Maximize Ad Viewability
Ad viewability plays a critical part in how much ad revenue your creatives will generate. The higher it is, the more money you can expect to make. That is why doing everything in your power to enhance your ads’ viewability is essential to maximizing video ad revenue.
Ad placement is one of the primary factors that affect an ad’s viewability. Data shows that ads placed above the fold have 73% viewability, while those below it have only 45%. That means you should aim to place your ads as high on your page as possible.
Important: Do note that Google has strict above-the-fold ad policies, so you should never place more than one ad above the fold.
But if you are using outstream video ads (as many publishers do), the best way to increase your ad’s viewability is to make it sticky. A sticky ad unit will follow your user as they scroll down the page, maximizing view time and your revenue.
How to make sticky video ads at Brid.TV
At Brid.TV, publishers can choose to make their video ads sticky to maximize ad viewability. The process is simple — you can enable this option by navigating the interface of our CMS as following:
Outstream Units -> Settings -> Make Unit Sticky.
After you’ve done so, your selected outstream player will follow your users as they scroll down the page and generate more revenue!
Here’s an illustration to help you out:
6. Optimize Audience Targeting
Zeroing in on your target audience and using various targeting options is an excellent way to maximize your video ad revenue. Not targeting your ads adequately is one of the most common mistakes publishers make. If you serve irrelevant ads to your viewers (e.g., serving U.S.-relevant ads to visitors from India), you will receive significantly less ad revenue.
That is why ensuring your audience targeting is on par is essential to maximizing your revenue. Luckily, many HTML5 video players have various targeting options publishers can use, so you’re unlikely to have trouble implementing this advice.
How to enable GEO Targeting at Brid.TV
At Brid.TV, publishers can choose to serve ads only to users from specific countries. The way you can enable GEO targeting is pretty straightforward. You do that from our video CMS by navigating its interface as follows:
Players -> Monetization -> Pre-Roll / Mid-Roll / Post-Roll -> Add New Ad Tag -> Geo Targeting.
From there, you’ll be able to select your desired countries from a drop-down menu.
Here’s are two illustrations to help you out:
7. Maximize Revenue By Autoplaying Ads
Although CPM differs for manual and autoplay video ads, the consensus is that the latter will generate the most revenue in the long run. That is why you should enable the video autoplay option for your ad creatives.
But before you do, there’s one thing to keep in mind! Google’s Better Ads Standards prohibit auto-playing ads with the volume on. So if you opt for this option, ensure your ads will play muted!
How to make your ads play muted at Brid.TV
Making your ads play muted at Brid.TV is a quick and seamless process. All you have to do is navigate our CMS as follows:
Outstream Units -> Settings -> Start Volume.
Set your start volume value to 0, and your outstream ads will play muted!
Here’s an illustration to help you out:
8. Always Stay Up to Date With the Latest Video Advertising Trends
The online advertising industry is a rapidly changing environment. That is why it’s essential to stay up to date with the latest trends, regulations, and advertising features if you wish to maximize your earnings. Publishers who are the fastest to jump onto hot and innovative advertising trends will get the most out of them.
Aside from making use of current trends, it’s also vital to stay informed on the latest online ad regulations and policies. An excellent example of one of the most recent ones is Google’s Chrome’s Heavy Ad Policy, which introduced significant limitations to online video ads. Publishers who weren’t aware of this change have likely experienced substantial revenue losses. Don’t let that happen to you — keep yourselves informed!
Consult our Video Advertising Guide to Ad Formats and Specifications for Publishers to stay updated with the latest ad specs and regulations in the industry.
9. Track Your Metrics and Adapt on the Fly
Every seasoned publisher knows the value of data. Having extensive information about your creatives’ performance is the only reliable way to identify what brings in the most revenue. That is why having access to extensive video and ad analytics is crucial for publishers looking to maximize their income.
Tracking the success of your video and advertising campaigns, comparing different creatives, and finding ways to optimize them will be well worth the time investment in the long run. Just make sure your video platform of choice offers extensive real-time analytics, and you’ll be all set!
How to use real-time video and ad analytics at Brid.TV
Brid.TV’s real-time analytics allow publishers to receive instant data about their video and ad creatives and track their success. All you have to do to access this rich data is navigate to the Analytics tab in our CMS. From there, you can view and evaluate dozens of different metrics you can use to plan out your next advertising move. There is even a handy Reports section publishers can use to receive regular data reports straight into their inbox!
Here’s a preview of what Brid.TV’s analytics look like:
Follow Our Advice and Never Lose Out on Ad Revenue Again
Just because having to deal with subpar fill rates is the reality most publishers have to come to terms with doesn’t mean you cannot take steps to increase your ad revenue. As you have seen from our advice above, there are plenty of things you can try out to make the most of your advertising efforts.
Implementing most or all of the above tips is the optimal way to approach this issue and maximize your revenue. That is where Brid.TV’s online video platform and advertising solution can offer all the tools you may need to achieve that. Our goal is to help video advertisers drive the most revenue from their video creatives while ensuring a technically advanced but user-friendly experience.
Brid.TV platform supports all of the features we mentioned above and much more. But don’t take our word for it — send us an email and get a free trial to test it out for yourself!
