Nahia Doan
Platform Operations Manager, AnyMind Group
Nahia has four years of experience in the programmatic ad industry, specializing in publisher-based strategies for mobile gaming apps. With a strong focus on monetization, she excels in crafting innovative strategies that maximize revenue and enhance app performance. Her expertise in leveraging data-driven insights ensures optimal results and sustainable growth for clients’ applications.
Shota Sunohara
Senior Account Manager, AnyMind Group
Three years as an App growth strategy partner specialized in in-app ads monetization. Involved in supporting over 50 apps across various industries for consulting to achieve their business goals. Focusing on designing mid-long term roadmaps to sustainably grow apps’ advertising revenue. Executing project management that’s optimized for each app’s unique characteristics, taking into account market trends in the advertising industry.
Our Publisher Profile: WED, Inc.
ONE is a shopping and finance app launched in May 2023 by WED, Inc. (Shibuya-ku, Tokyo), under CEO Soto Yamauchi. The app uniquely rewards users for submitting purchase receipts, positioning itself in a tough market where no other company in Japan has yet achieved product-market fit. WED’s mission is to “go beyond the ordinary” by creating new markets rather than just new products. Their startup mentality drives them to continuously innovate, exploring new opportunities in a highly competitive landscape.
The Challenge: Balancing Monetization with User Experience
Despite the app’s growth and rising user engagement, ONE faced significant challenges with its ad monetization strategy. The primary issue was their reliance on a single ad network—Google AdMob—which limited their ability to scale and optimize revenue. With the increasing number of users, ad revenue became crucial, yet the lack of expertise in managing ad mediation meant they were unable to fully capitalize on this opportunity.
Another critical concern was user experience. While increasing ad inventory and introducing more diverse creative formats could boost revenue, it was important that this didn’t negatively affect the user experience. The app needed a fine balance: maximizing ad performance without causing frustration among users or diluting the app’s core value proposition.
The Approach: AnyMind’s Strategic Monetization Plan
To overcome these challenges, ONE partnered with AnyMind to leverage our comprehensive ad tech solutions. Their strategy was multi-faceted, concentrating on technology, planning, and understanding user behavior:
- Implementing AnyManagerSDK: The first step was integrating AnyManager SDK, which provided a wide range of ad demand partners. This enabled ONE to easily activate various ad sources on the Google AdMob mediation platform. With access to more diverse ad networks, the app could significantly boost its ad revenue by improving fill rates and enhancing competition among networks.
- Optimizing Mediation Partners: To further increase ARPDAU (Average Revenue Per Daily Active User), AnyMind helped ONE refine its mediation setup. By introducing a mix of high-performing networks and optimizing waterfall setups, the mediation was structured to deliver higher eCPM (Effective Cost Per Thousand Impressions) and better overall monetization performance.
- Strategizing Ad Formats and UX/UI Enhancements: To balance user experience with ad performance, AnyMind suggested testing full-screen interstitial ads in the available native ad slots. This strategy aimed to boost ad performance while ensuring user retention, allowing ONE to optimize monetization potential without compromising the user experience.
The Results: A Remarkable Increase in Revenue
400% Growth in Revenue & ARPDAU: With the new mediation setup and the strategic use of ad formats, ONE experienced a dramatic increase in ad revenue—400% growth in both total revenue and ARPDAU over six months. This monumental achievement allowed them to effectively scale their business while maintaining a strong revenue stream from ads.
Reduced Operational Costs: By implementing AnyMind’s technology, ONE significantly reduced the time and resources needed to manage ad mediation. The automation and reporting functionalities in the AnyManager SDK streamlined operations, cutting down the complexities of manually handling mediation partners and analyzing performance metrics. This resulted in lower operating costs and more efficient monetization efforts.
Publisher’s sharings
Takeshi Asahara – WED, Inc.
In his previous job, he was responsible for ad serving products after analysing mobile carrier user data of more than 40 million users and developing systems. In 2022, he joined WED, Inc. He is currently responsible for product development/marketing and advertising business as PdM of “ONE”.
1. What made you decide to work with AnyMind?
At the time, our only ad network was Google AdMob. We needed to optimize mediation and maximize ad revenue as user growth increased its impact. We considered several companies but chose AnyMind again, as we had trusted them for direct ad support in the past.
2. What are the results of your partnership with AnyMind?
Through A/B testing and new ad placements, we increased our advertising revenue by more than four times compared to before these measures were implemented. This revenue growth has allowed us to diversify the ONE business.
The idea for ONE began with turning discarded receipts into money, aiming to provide an exciting user experience. However, the app was often seen as a littering app or a way to earn pocket money, which diverged from our original vision.
We revisited ONE’s mission and vision and are now improving the app to make it a “fun app to spend money.” In the future, we plan to use our budget for rebranding, and advertising revenue is significantly contributing to this goal.
3. You also decided to migrate to full-screen ads while keeping user experience in mind to boost revenue.
We chose to implement full-screen ads for their potential to enhance visibility, CTR, and revenue. While maximizing ad revenue, we ensured that the app’s theme remained intact.
For instance, we were concerned that displaying an ad when the app opened could disrupt the user experience. Instead, we positioned ads to show when the app restored from the background. We also collaborated with AnyMind and our in-house designers to redesign native ad spaces, improving their effectiveness.
As a result, ad revenue increased, leading to a better user experience with more receipt purchase slots and new content. We’ve received positive feedback from many users.
4. After eight months of collaboration, what do you feel is the value of AnyMind’s services?
AnyMind has effectively managed our ads, which has been incredibly helpful. Initially, we collaborated closely on operations, but now we have a shared understanding of the app’s vision and business challenges, allowing us to work smoothly together.
Given the many variables in the mobile app and ad network markets, we regularly exchange information on trends and revenue, continuing to develop strategies to increase revenue.
We believe AnyMind’s services significantly contribute to our business diversification by not only boosting ad revenues but also enhancing the value “ONE” provides to its users.
5. What are the future prospects for ONE, and what are your expectations of AnyMind?
We aim to rebrand to become a “fun app to spend money” while improving operations to increase ad revenue, and we’d appreciate your support.
In terms of rebranding, we want to create “accidental encounters” for users through advertising, similar to how one might buy a book based on an appealing cover. We’re considering ways to make ONE more engaging, such as personalized recommendations and visualizing purchase histories, helping users feel like they’re creating their own ONE.
For improving advertising operations, we plan to continue optimizing mediation and explore direct ad distribution using “ONE’s” first-party data. A key issue is ensuring we have enough data volume. Increasing impressions/DAUs for further revenue growth while also boosting CPM would be ideal.
Conclusion
This case study highlights how AnyMind’s holistic approach helped ONE not only enhance its ad monetization strategy but also maintain a user-first experience. By blending technical expertise with thoughtful user engagement, AnyMind empowered ONE to achieve exponential revenue growth, setting a new benchmark in the app’s journey toward long-term success.
