AlarmMon, created by Malang Studio in 2011, is an alarm app that provides a more enjoyable way to wake up and set reminders. To capitalize on the app’s large user base while maintaining an enjoyable user experience, Malang Studio partnered with AdMob to implement triggered native ads. As a result, total revenue grew 5% within just a few months.
Creating a must-have mobile app
AlarmMon is a mobile app that provides a gamified alarm service with more than 25 different alarm types. The app features fun characters and notification options such as sounds, games, videos, and celebrities. Users can track rise and sleeping habits, play mini-games, and set weather broadcast alarms.
AlarmMon quickly became a lifestyle app sensation, topping the charts with 25 million total users, 2 million monthly active users, and 500,000 daily active users in Korea and beyond.
Implementing AdMob’s opt-in native ads
To capitalize on its large user base, Malang Studio decided to use an in-app ad strategy for AlarmMon. However, the team wanted to avoid showing ads that didn’t fit with the flow of the alarm app.
“Our goal in monetization has always been user first - we want to make sure our ads are not disrupting the user experience. Of course, high fill rate for stable and better revenue is also important. AdMob’s native ads satisfied all of these needs” says Marc Yeongho Kim, CEO of Malang Studio.
Unlike banner or interstitial ads, a person must opt-in to seeing a triggered native ad by clicking on an animated icon. The unit is customizable like any other native ad format, so developers can adjust the look and feel. Kim says, “We thought this creative implementation would suit our needs best as it offers an opt-in mechanism. The fact that we can control the design of the triggers by ourselves was also a plus.”
Malang Studio found that animals and characters fostered a stronger emotional connection - resulting in a higher willingness to click - than inanimate objects. Using particular designs in their ads boosted trigger CTR, and ultimately ad CTR. Using a semi-transparent background also created a more integrated, native experience.
Quickly achieving positive results
Two months after implementing AdMob’s triggered native ads, AlarmMon saw significant results. This format alone yielded a 3.5X higher RPM than interstitial ads, and a 75X higher RPM than traditional banner ads. The strong RPM for triggered native ads is mainly derived from its higher CTR, averaging about 6%.
The unique ad format contributed to a 5% uplift in total revenue in its first two months. Triggered native ads provided an optimized user experience, showing ads only to people who have opted-in through a click, and required no extra space for ads in the UI since they are natively integrated.
With such positive results, Malang Studio is excited to partner even more closely with AdMob in the future.
Interested in taking your monetization strategy to the next level? Request a consultation with one of our AdMob specialists today.
