# Industry Launch Guide–Social Applications
# Background
When clients with social applications launch on the Mi Ads platform, they often encounter high trial and error costs due to a lack of understanding of product tools on the platform, making stable scaling and advertisement optimization difficult.
# Objective
Help clients with social applications understand the product tools that enhance performance and choose the appropriate products and strategies based on their own situations.
# Placement strategies
# Preparations
- Most advertisers place ads using monitoring URLs configured on third-party platforms and fill in these links on Mi Ads.
- To quickly accumulate assessment events, we recommend that advertisers postback as many internal events as possible to the Mi Ads platform. Typical owners of social applications first need to increase in magnitude and expand their user group. Secondarily, main assessment events include retention, registration, login, payment, etc.
- AF postback event naming:
Naming conventions for postback events on Xiaomi's side:
Registration events: REGISTRATION
First purchase events: FIRST_PURCHASE
Purchase events: PURCHASE
Opening the app events: APP_OPEN
Custom event 1: CUSTOMIZE1 (custom events can be any event authorized by the advertiser. For example, a gaming app may evaluate "playing a demo", thus the advertiser can authorize "play" as a "custom event")
Custom event 2: CUSTOMIZE2 (custom events can be any event authorized by the advertiser. For example, a gaming app may evaluate "playing a demo", thus the advertiser can authorize "play" as a "custom event")
Custom event 3: CUSTOMIZE3 (custom events can be any event authorized by the advertiser. For example, a gaming app may evaluate "playing a demo", thus the advertiser can authorize "play" as a "custom event")
# Specific issues
# Increase magnitude: quality meets expectations but magnitude does not
Quick overview
| The bidding formula: eCPM=pCTR*pCVR*CPA*1000. Increases in magnitude can start from CTR, CVR, and prices. | |
|---|---|
| Increase CTR | Optimize media |
| Increase CVR | Optimize conversion link, such as reducing interception rates, enabling one-click downloading, etc. |
| Increase Bid | Directly increase bidding power |
| Bidding mode | Convert from CPA to CPC |
| Full coverage | Automatic placement filling and developer traffic |
# Optimize media
Media tool: Media Center
- Advantage: pulls and aggregates media published by the advertiser on all platforms.
- Instructions:
- Open "Placement Tools"->"Media Center", and after entering the pack name
- You can compare and select media with higher CTR or derivative works for placements
Update frequency: we recommend updating your media 2-4 weeks after placements
Media placement combination: you can select media and ad creatives based on the location of ad placement and relevant product functions.
For example, "App vault + GIF", grid overlapped with app functions + Interstitial/Natives
# Raise the bid
Pricing recommendations: ranges of each price increase shouldn't exceed 20%, and backend costs should be observed after price increases.
Case study:
The client is a leading socializing product in India looking to further scale. After comparing their eCPM to those in the same sector, it was suggested that they increase their unit price to improve bidding power.Results following adjustments were positive. Magnitude, revenue, and impressions all increased significantly.
| Product | Region of placement | Unit price | Average daily impressions | Average daily magnitude | Average daily revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A leading social product | IN | Before adjustment ($0.18) | 26,859,956 | 13,795 | $2,833 |
| After adjustment ($0.23) | 43,839,316 | 22,636 | $5,092 |
# System preference
Tool: System Preferred Placement
- Capability: using algorithmic strategies to expand coverage to more placements that meet requirements, including newly opened placements, historically neglected placements, and making full use of short, medium, and long tail traffic
- Advantage: no need for manual adjustments; automatically expands after one-click whitelisting
- Instructions: the ad group dimension strategy whitelist, apply through this procedure (opens new window)
Case study:
A certain video product expanded using system recommended placements, and obtained a net 31% increase in magnitude
# CPC bidding
Change mode of bidding: change from CPI offers to CPC bidding.
Modification suggestions: after making adjustments, actually bid and make payments by clicking. Pay close attention to actual conversion costs and budgets, making adjustments to CPC prices and budgets in a timely manner.
Case study:
One advertiser tried to increase magnitude by adding CPC ad groups to address their scaling needs. Results were positive, although it should be noted that Mi Ads should have a balance of payments with the three parties.
| Product | Region of placement | Method of bidding | Average daily impressions | Average daily magnitude | Average daily revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
A video product | IN | Before adding CPC ad groups | 65,498,552 | 12,533 | $3,479 |
| After adding CPC ad groups | 90,106,121 | 13,633 | $4,544 |
# Increase quality: quality not meeting expectations
Cost recovery: for many social application advertisers that monetize through advertising, having numerous active users is necessary to generate revenue. Therefore, metrics of retention are of great importance.
Post-link events: most social product advertisers pay more attention to daily activity of product usage, thus retention events are the main focus
| Recovery metrics (retention, registration, etc.) | Price adjustment |
Preferred placements Audience targeting Traffic combination |
| Retention | ||
| Postlink events (registration, retention, etc.) |
# Manual optimization guide**
Step 1: Comprehensive data analysis
Split by country to obtain the data table: siteid * eCPM * conversion * cost * KPI
↓
Step 2: Preferred placements and portfolio bidding: balance quality & magnitude to maximize acquisition
Ads with good KPI but low volume should be supported and bids for them should increase→ increase eCPM
Ads with poor KPI but high volume should be suppressed have lower bids→ decrease eCPM
The combination ensures that the overall CPI meets standards, improving quality and maximizing magnitude at the same time
↓
Step 3: Increase targeting and funnel optimization
Increase target-audience packs: add corresponding competing products or packs for behavior groups of the sector
Time-slot targeting: the video sector has better conversion in periods from late night to early morning
Model/system targeting: preferred models can be selected based on quality and performance
Network targeting: videos play more smoothly under Wi-Fi conditions
# Audience targeting
Audience-targeted placements:
Tool: Manage Target Audiences— placement towards targeted audiences can be done by "local account upload" or by "label selection".
Instructions:
- Choose a targeting method (upload or select)
- Select corresponding clusters to country of placement
- Upload files/select tags
- Click to generate
# Automatic bidding
Tool: Day 1 Retention Automatic Bidding
Advantages: given a CPA unit price, automatically bids for each ad placement based on the target retention. Reduces time spent on manual adjustment and improves retention efficiently.
Instructions:
- Enable postback of retention data.
- Fill in the target day 1 retention rate when creating an ad group.
