Facebook Audience Network: Ultimate Guide For App Owners

As app owners, you want to take your app’s success one step further by monetizing it. With the usage of mobile apps increasing by the day, in-app advertising has become the ideal means to earn money from apps. In this regard, many monetization platforms like Google AdMob have increasingly become the first choice of most publishers across the globe. In this blog post, we will learn about one such popular app monetization platform – Facebook Audience Network – what it is, why you must use it, and how you can get started with it.

• What is Facebook Audience Network (FAN)?
• Why should you choose FB Audience Network monetization?
• Who cannot join the Facebook Audience Network?
• How to start using FB Audience Network?

What is Facebook Audience Network (FAN)?

Now called Meta Audience Network, Facebook Audience Network or FAN is an excellent opportunity for you to monetize your app(s). As an app owner or publisher, you can set up your app on FAN, integrate ads into it, and start earning when users engage with your ads. In other words, FAN is a platform that helps you boost your ad revenue.

Please note that FAN is a different platform from Facebook Ads. The latter is an advertising platform where advertisers can run ads on Facebook as well as other apps or websites. FAN or FB Audience Network is a two-in-one platform allowing advertisers to run ads and app owners to monetize their app

Now that we understand the What part, let’s move on to the Why.

Why should you choose FB Audience Network monetization?

As app publishers, you would not want your users to have a bad experience with your app. At the same time, you want to be able to gain some revenue. You can accomplish both these objectives by using FAN.

Optimized revenue with open bidding

The Meta Audience Network app bidding allows you to place impressions in front of multiple demand sources simultaneously with a fair, open auction, creating opportunities for higher ad revenue. When multiple demand sources compete for an impression, the chances of getting the best price increase, thereby increasing the average revenue per daily active user (ARPDAU). The whole setup completely disinvolves the waterfall system, making it less complicated. FAN demand sources include ad networks such as Google Ads and ironSource.

What are the benefits of open bidding?

1. Higher ad revenue: When multiple advertisers bid for your inventory, it means that your impressions are selling for the highest price in the market.

2. Operational ease: In contrast to the waterfall setup, open bidding with real-time auctions is more efficient and easy to maintain and delivers better outcomes.

3. Improved user experience: Open bidding is faster and more efficient than the waterfall setup, so ads load faster. This ensures a good in-app experience for the users.

Monetization Manager

Monetization Manager is a platform where you can manage your monetization process. It is a dashboard that offers a 360-degree view of your app monetization, empowering you to make data-driven decisions. You can do the following with Monetization Manager:

1. Manage multiple properties and ad spaces and understand the performance of ad placements.

2. Perform A/B tests to determine the best-performing ad placements.

3. Gain in-depth insights into monetization data, including fill rate, CPM, impressions, and more.

4. Optimize ad revenue with price controls and other settings.

Choice of mediation platforms

Meta Audience Network works with some of the most popular mediation platforms in the adtech industry – ironSource, Google AdMob, Applovin MAX, Appodeal Stack, DT Fairbid, and several others. You can choose the one that best suits your app business based on factors like the OS, ad formats, regions, etc.

Revenue diversification for mobile games

Revenue diversification is the act of employing more than one monetization strategy to increase revenue. For game developers who rely on in-app purchases or subscriptions, Facebook Audience Network provides the ability to diversify revenue streams with in-app advertising.

• FAN gives your mobile game a personalized approach to scaling revenue so that you do exactly what works for you.

• Keeping gamers in focus, FAN can help you develop player-first revenue strategies, making it a win-win for developers and users.

Monetization with a choice of user-friendly ad formats

To monetize players who do not use in-app purchases, immersive in-app ads are the alternative app monetization method. With the FB Audience Network, you can access ad formats that perform well in games, such as reward video ads, interstitials ads, playables, and more. Moreover, the demand for ad space can come from various industries, not just gaming, which improves the chances of maximized revenue.

Facebook Audience Network supports the ad formats below.

• Rewarded video ads: Reward users with an incentive for watching a video ad. For example, rewarded video ads can be played between two levels in a game.

• Native ads: Match ads to the look and feel of your apps and increase user engagement.

• Banner ads: Use the simplest ad format to monetize. Banner ads usually appear at the top or bottom of the app screen.

• Interstitial ads: Place full-screen interstitial ads seamlessly in your app.

• Rewarded interstitial ads: Encourage app users to use your app even more by offering incentives or in-app rewards.

As much as user experience matters to app developers, FAN ad formats are user-friendly. Especially in mobile games, FAN’s placement options work such that they don’t come in the way of the gaming experience. You can effectively monetize casual, hyper-casual, mid-core, hardcore, and social games with smart ad placements on FAN.

Who cannot join the Facebook Audience Network?

Facebook’s strict policies protect publishers and advertisers from fraud and even prevent both parties from performing nefarious activities.

Apps with adult, unsafe, or fake content, apps that advertise work-at-home schemes or promote gambling, or apps that sell unsafe or prohibited goods cannot join the Facebook Audience Network.

How to start using FB Audience Network?

To join the Facebook Audience Network for monetization or as an app publisher, you must set up Monetization Manager. Monetization Manager, like an app monetization platform, lets you control the monetization process – from your apps to ad placements from a single platform.

Below are the steps you need to follow to start earning with Facebook’s Monetization Manager.

1. Create your Business Manager account. Create a new account with Business Manager, for which you will need a personal Facebook account. You can even log in to your existing Business Manager account. This is required in order to start using Monetization Manager.

2. Log in to Monetization Manager. Sign in to Monetization Manager with your Facebook Business Manager account.

3. Add your app. Specify the details of the app you want to monetize, such as App ID and App Store or Google Play Store URL.

4. Add payment information. Add your payment details to the Monetization Manager so you can receive the ad revenue into your bank account.

5. Verification. After you set up the account, Facebook reviews and verifies your app. This may take up to 72 hours.

6. SDK integration. After the review is complete and your app is approved, choose an ad placement and ad formats for your app.

7. Create ad placements. Integrate the Facebook SDK with bidding or waterfall setup.

8. Choose a mediation partner. Finally, set up the mediation partner dashboard by adding FAN as a bidding demand partner.

All in all, Facebook Audience Network monetization is a convenient option for app publishers who are looking for a quick and easy way to start monetizing. With all the essential capabilities in a single place, you don’t have to look for another monetization system for your app.