In this article, we’ll show you how you can monetize your video content and generate revenue by following the best strategies. We’ll also share a few key insights we’ve learned through experience and experimentation.
How to Monetize Videos on Your Website
By 2021, video is projected to make up 82% of all internet traffic, with billions of hours consumed daily. There’s also been an 800% increase in global watch time of ad-supported content, and it’s a potential gold mine for smart publishers who learn how to monetize their videos.
Before you can start monetizing videos, you’ll need to find advertisers. You’ll likely create most of the visual content yourself, but the ads need to come from other sources. One of the best ways to start is to join a partner network.
Choosing the right network will be one of your first challenges. You’ll need to consider factors like costs, ad partners, and quality customer support. Most importantly, study the quality and completeness of their solution.
At the very least, the network should handle the technical details like bidding, delivery, and placements. Some also have ad managers that you can use to track your results. Even with help, the process is still very technical, and it can be a challenge to master. Common issues you’ll encounter include:
- Opening multiple supply-side platform (SSP) accounts.
- Deal negotiation with advertisers and agencies.
- No dedicated campaign and marketing management.
In our experience, it’s best to work with a network partner that can manage the entire end-to-end process. It saves you time and lets you focus on creating high-quality content while rev•amp does the rest.
Best Practice Strategies for Video Monetization
Poor video monetization practices can drive visitors and advertisers away. If you’re planning to take advantage of these types of ads, it’s essential to follow the right strategies and best practices.
Appealing Viewability
Loading times, responsiveness, content relevancy, and display size determine viewability. The goal is to find a balance between factors that appeal to advertisers without driving away your visitors.
Consider these critical viewability criteria:
- Are the advertisements relevant to the content on the page?
- Is it too small and difficult to see, or too large and blocking out content?
- Are your videos optimized for fast loading and mobile display?
Loading time is one of the most crucial things you need to consider due to modern consumers’ short attention span. After three seconds, you’ll start losing around 32% of viewers. After four seconds, 60% or more will leave, while 80% will likely never return.
After a lot of experimentation and optimization, rev•amp managed to build a lightweight video player that won’t slow down your website and drive away viewers.
Additionally, our tailored outstream videos mean that the ads are a contextual match to the page’s content.
Pay attention to the size and settings of your videos. A sudden burst of noise from an automatically played video can create panic and scare away a visitor. People come to your website for quality content, and if a video is too large, blocks out the page, or can’t be closed, you risk annoying and driving away users, rendering your optimized advertising moot.
Placement
Ad placement is a critical element when preparing to add video monetization to your website or content. Poor placement will drive away advertisers and can ruin a visitor’s experience, resulting in lost revenue.
How do you determine where your video ads should go to get the best results?
Through extensive experimentation with placements, we’ve learned to focus on crucial practices like:
- Place ads on frequently visited pages
- Choose pages with high-value content
- Have separate on-load and on-scroll placements
- Always follow viewability best practices
By following these four rules, we’re able to place relevant ads in front of your users without disrupting their overall experience. Using our standard display setup and video ads, we’ve produced significant results.
For example, we noticed a revenue increase of almost 50%, from €2,500 to €4,800, in the first week. While an ad campaign’s success depends on a stable video demand and consistent quality content creation, rev•amp’s placement and optimization ensure the best possible results.
Waterfall and Header Bidding
Most publishers are familiar with the waterfall method for video monetization, which calls partner ads in a predetermined order. While the system is still in use, it’s not as effective as header bidding.
The process allows your advertising partners to bid on a placement opportunity, and the one with the highest offer gets displayed. The auction happens within seconds, quickly delivering relevant ads to your visitors.
Monetizing your content through a partner network makes this process easier. For example, rev•amp will set up the system and manage the playlist for you.
Track Results
Not all advertisements and placements will appeal to your visitors. We track performance to see which ads have a high click-through rate (CTR) and identify the ones that aren’t relevant to your visitors.
rev•amp continually evaluates and tracks the results of ad campaigns. We remove poor-poor performers and replace these with ads that engage your audience. Your visitors can enjoy receiving relevant advertisements, resulting in higher CTRs. As more users interact with these ads, you’ll earn increased revenue.
Conclusion
Monetized video content is an excellent way for publishers to generate revenue through their websites. However, it’s vital to pay attention to best practices and deliver relevant content to your visits in a way that doesn’t disrupt their experience. If you follow these best practice strategies, you’ll reap lucrative benefits.
