January Revenue Drop: How Can Publishers Tackle It?
Reading Time: 3 minutesAfter experiencing a fruitful festive season in Q4 which generated the highest revenue of the entire year, publishers often witness a revenue drop in initial months of the new year. January being slightly sluggish for publishers.
Let’s look at the major factors that cause a drop in January revenue.
1) Limited Advertiser Budget
During the Holiday season in Q4, advertisers tend to spend a considerable amount of dollars on promotional spending in order to attract customers via offers and sales. They end up exhausting most of their budget by the end of the year because of which they begin the new year with a limited budget.
With an exhausted annual budget at the end of Q4, advertisers decrease their bidding frequency at the beginning of Q1, which gives rise to low CPMs. And, for publishers, it is one of the major issues that impact their revenue.
2) Change in Consumer Shopping & Browsing Behavior
As a number of celebrations are lined up in the last quarter of the year, consumers tend to shop more in Q4 as compared to other quarters. They scroll through various sites, which generates higher page views and impressions for various publishers’ sites. As per statistics, during this period, page views and sessions generated per each are much higher, compared to the average during previous months.
However, by the time December is over, consumers’ urge to purchase gifts and browse on websites has decreased. This sudden change in consumer browsing behavior results in a prominent decrease in traffic. The decrease in site traffic additionally negatively affects the impression count.
How Can Publishers Tackle Revenue Drop?
Even though seasonal drops are normal, there are some ways in which publishers can boost their revenue in Q1.
- Set Lower Floor Price
January is the time to decrease the floor price. The reason being, higher floor price in January filters various bids before even participating in the header auction. So, publishers need to readjust floor price. For static ads, they should set a floor price based on your previous year’s eCPM and repeat it based on the fill rates. Whereas, for dynamic, they should use target CPM that adjusts the floor prices to capture more bids.
- Embrace Video Ads
As of 2022, an average person is predicted to spend 100 minutes per day watching online videos. In fact, 86% of businesses use video as a marketing tool — up from 63% over the last three years.
As video ads are undoubtedly the key to higher engagement and brand awareness, advertisers are keen to associate with premium publishers to run their video ads. Leveraging this ad format can help increase revenue and drive website traffic.
- Experiment with new Ad Formats
It’s the best time to experiment with low risk. Publishers should try out different ad formats and discontinue using inefficient ad formats/sizes. They can analyze and research what ad formats are working best for their competitors and try switching on the right ad formats.
- Figure out the real metric
There is always a way out to improve the revenue. To understand which factor is causing the drop is really vital for publishers to know where they need to work more on. Check if it’s the impressions, traffic, fill rates, CPM, or any other factor.
- Associate with new Demand Partners
Publishers should explore new opportunities by partnering with new demand partners. Each demand source has unique buyers/advertisers that can help in maximizing the average CPM price. Also, with the help of VDO.AI advanced Header bidding publishers can add competition to their ad auctions and earn more from ads on your website.
Final Takeaways
It’s time to look at the brighter side. Instead of panicking, publishers should explore new opportunities at this point in time with VDO.AI. Make the most out of this time to experiment with innovative solutions and come up with new strategies.
Are you ready to accelerate revenue with unified solutions and advanced technology? Get in touch with VDO.AI today!
