Validating your assumptions with data
Once you’ve identified the right surfacing points in your game loops and implemented the ad formats that complement the player’s experience, it’s important to use key metrics to get a good understanding of how your ads are performing.
A few metrics you can consider tracking are: cost per thousand impressions (CPM), impressions per daily active users (IMPDAU), and average revenue per daily active user (ARPDAU). These metrics will help you track performance and optimize your strategy based on data rather than your assumptions.
Optimize by further rewarding progression
No monetization strategy is perfect right off the bat. In order to encourage continuous player engagement and retention, you’ll need to look for opportunities to improve.
There were a few optimization areas we identified within EverMerge. The first was to include rewarded video ads after a player completed a level to further reward celebratory moments in gameplay. Placing rewarded video ads at level ups, end of levels, or other moments of progression further rewards players who have completed progression loops.
The studio had already done a great job of implementing ads within natural pauses in game play. However, one area that could be optimized further was the performance of their call-to-actions (CTAs).
We suggested changing the color of the rewarded video ad CTAs to make it pop for players as you can see below. Making ad experiences clear and easy for players makes it simpler to engage with at their will. CTA optimizations can increase the performance of your ads and requires minimal development resources.
Source: Unity Technologies Blog