Facebook Audience Network: How to Monetize Your Mobile App with Facebook Ads

By Cepy 10/21/2023 Post a Comment

Hi Online Friends,

If you're looking for a way to monetize your mobile app with Facebook ads, you might want to consider using the Facebook Audience Network. This is a platform that allows you to extend your Facebook advertising campaigns to thousands of high-quality mobile apps, especially in the gaming category. In this article, I'll share with you my experience with the Facebook Audience Network, and how it can help you grow your app business.

What is the Facebook Audience Network?

The Facebook Audience Network is a tool that allows you to show your Facebook ads on third-party mobile apps that are part of the network. By doing so, you can reach more people who are interested in your products or services, and increase your chances of conversions. You can use the same targeting capabilities, ad formats, and management tools that you use on Facebook platforms, such as the Facebook app, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp.

The Facebook Audience Network was launched in 2014 as a way to help app developers and publishers monetize their apps with Facebook ads. Since then, it has grown to become one of the largest mobile ad networks in the world, reaching over 1 billion people every month[^3^]. According to Facebook, the Audience Network delivers up to 30% higher value for advertisers compared to other sources of mobile traffic[^1^].

How does the Facebook Audience Network work?

The Facebook Audience Network works by matching your ads with the most relevant apps in the network, based on your targeting criteria and ad objectives. For example, if you're running a campaign to promote your online store, your ads might appear on shopping apps that have similar audiences to yours. Or, if you're running a campaign to drive app installs, your ads might appear on gaming apps that have users who are likely to download your app.

When you create a campaign on Facebook Ads Manager, you can choose to include the Audience Network as one of your placements, along with other options like Facebook News Feed, Instagram Stories, Messenger Inbox, and WhatsApp Status. You can also choose to use automatic placements, which means that Facebook will optimize your ad delivery across all available placements, including the Audience Network. This way, you can maximize your reach and performance without having to manually select each placement.

What are the benefits of using the Facebook Audience Network?

The Facebook Audience Network offers several benefits to advertisers:

Greatly increases reach: You can access a large and diverse inventory of mobile apps that cover various categories and genres, such as media, games, education, entertainment, sports, and lifestyle. This means that you can reach more people who are interested in your products or services, even if they're not using Facebook platforms at the moment.
Offers native ads: You can use native ads, which are ads that blend in with the look and feel of the app where they appear. This improves user experience by making ads feel less intrusive and more natural. Native ads also tend to have higher engagement rates and lower cost per action than other ad formats[^6^].
Allows cross-device remarketing: You can use the Audience Network to remarket to people who have interacted with your ads or website on different devices and platforms. For example, if someone saw your ad on Facebook on their desktop computer, but didn't take any action, you can show them another ad on their mobile device when they're using an app that's part of the Audience Network. This way, you can increase your chances of conversions by staying top of mind with your potential customers.
Provides brand safety and fraud protection: The Audience Network has strict policies and systems in place to ensure that your ads are shown only on high-quality and relevant apps that meet Facebook's community standards. It also has measures to combat fraudulent actions and prevent invalid clicks or impressions. The Audience Network has gained the TAG "Certified Against Fraud" and JICWEBS DTSG accreditations for its efforts in maintaining a safe and transparent environment for advertisers[^3^].
Leverages Facebook's data and optimization: You can use the same targeting capabilities that help you connect with people on Facebook platforms, such as interests, demographics, behaviors, custom audiences, lookalike audiences, and more. You can also use the same optimization tools that help you improve your campaign performance, such as automatic placements, campaign budget optimization, dynamic creative optimization, and more.

How to monetize your mobile app with the Facebook Audience Network?

If you're an app developer or publisher who wants to monetize your app with the Facebook Audience Network, you'll need to follow these steps:

Create a Facebook Business Manager account: This is where you'll manage your app monetization settings, access reports, and control your ad inventory. You can create a Business Manager account here.
Add your app to Business Manager: You'll need to add your app to Business Manager and verify your ownership. You can do this by following the instructions here.
Integrate the Audience Network SDK: You'll need to integrate the Audience Network software development kit (SDK) into your app. The SDK is a piece of code that allows your app to communicate with the Audience Network and show ads to your users. You can download the SDK and find the integration guides for different platforms here.
Choose your ad formats and placements: You'll need to choose the types of ads that you want to show in your app, and where you want to show them. The Audience Network offers various ad formats, such as native, interstitial, banner, rewarded video, and playables. You can browse the ad formats and find the implementation guides here.
Set up app bidding: App bidding is a way of monetizing your app that allows multiple ad sources to compete for your ad inventory in real time. This means that you can maximize your revenue by showing the highest-paying ads to your users. The Audience Network supports app bidding with multiple demand partners, such as Google AdMob, ironSource, MoPub, and more. You can learn more about app bidding and how to set it up here.
Test and launch your ads: Before you launch your ads, you'll need to test them to make sure that they work properly and comply with the Audience Network policies. You can use the testing tools and checklists provided by Facebook here. Once you're ready, you can launch your ads and start earning money from your app.

Facebook Audience Network Revenue Breakdown

One of the most common questions that app developers and publishers have about the Facebook Audience Network is how much money they can make from it. Unfortunately, there is no definitive answer to this question, as the revenue depends on various factors, such as:

The size and quality of your app's user base
The type and performance of your ad formats and placements
The demand and competition for your ad inventory
The seasonality and trends of your app's category
The optimization and testing of your ad settings

However, Facebook does provide some benchmarks and estimates based on its own data and research. According to Facebook, the average eCPM (effective cost per thousand impressions) for the Audience Network in Q4 2020 was $3.71 for iOS apps and $1.88 for Android apps[^2^]. This means that for every 1,000 ad impressions that you show in your app, you can expect to earn $3.71 if your app is on iOS, or $1.88 if your app is on Android.

Of course, these are just averages, and your actual eCPM may vary depending on the factors mentioned above. To get a more accurate estimate of your potential revenue from the Audience Network, you can use the revenue calculator tool provided by Facebook here. You'll need to enter some information about your app, such as its category, platform, user base size, user retention rate, session length, ad format mix, and more. The tool will then calculate an estimated range of revenue that you can earn from the Audience Network based on these inputs.

FAQs about Facebook Audience Network

What is Facebook Audience Network?

Facebook Audience Network is a platform that allows you to show your Facebook ads on third-party mobile apps that are part of the network. By doing so, you can reach more people who are interested in your products or services, and increase your chances of conversions.

How does Facebook Audience Network work?

Facebook Audience Network works by matching your ads with the most relevant apps in the network, based on your targeting criteria and ad objectives. You can use the same targeting capabilities, ad formats, and management tools that you use on Facebook platforms.

What are the benefits of using Facebook Audience Network?

Facebook Audience Network offers several benefits to advertisers, such as:

Greatly increasing reach
Offering native ads
Allowing cross-device remarketing
Providing brand safety and fraud protection
Leveraging Facebook's data and optimization

How to monetize your mobile app with Facebook Audience Network?

To monetize your mobile app withFacebook Audience Network, you'll need to follow these steps:

Create a Facebook Business Manager account
Add your app to Business Manager and verify your ownership
Integrate the Audience Network SDK into your app
Choose your ad formats and placements
Set up app bidding with multiple demand partners
Test and launch your ads

Conclusion

The Facebook Audience Network is a powerful platform that can help you monetize your mobile app with Facebook ads. By using the Audience Network, you can reach more people who are interested in your products or services, and increase your chances of conversions. You can also enjoy the benefits of native ads, cross-device remarketing, brand safety, fraud protection, and Facebook's data and optimization.

If you're looking for a way to monetize your mobile app with Facebook ads, I highly recommend that you give the Audience Network a try. You can get started by creating a Business Manager account and adding your app to it. Then, you can integrate the Audience Network SDK into your app, choose your ad formats and placements, set up app bidding, test and launch your ads, and start earning money from your app.

I hope you found this article helpful and informative. If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to leave a comment below. And if you want to learn more about Facebook advertising and how to grow your online business, please check out my other articles here:

Thank you for reading, and I'll see you in the next article.

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