What is an offerwall?

One way to turn your mobile app, website, and digital content into a source of revenue is with an offerwall.

This ad platform allows you to monetize your app or website because you get paid every time a user completes an offer. Not only that—the user reaps virtual rewards as well, delighting them and ensuring they’ll come back for more.

You know how sometimes you need an extra life in Candy Crush or a hint in Bejeweled Classic? And the game/app will entice you with a way to get it if you simply watch a video, take a survey, or register your name? Then you know what an offerwall is.

Offerwalls aren’t exclusive to free app users, but the truth is that more than 90% of those who engage with offerwalls, don’t ever make the jump to paying for the app.

While that may seem like a bummer, this highlights how developers can leverage offerwalls to create potential revenue through engagement and rewards.

How does an offerwall work?

Offerwalls are a clever tool that entices users to extend their app session, and possibly even spend a little coin in the process.

Picture it: Your users are at a crucial point in their user journey, and much to their dismay, they realize they are out of game currency. Almost as if the app anticipated the user’s needs, a pop-up appears and reads “earn currency.”

Here’s the best part: As in our example, users aren’t forced to engage with one particular ad to level up in the game or get more currency. Instead, users can choose from various offers and varying amounts of currency.

This allows users a certain freedom of choice on how they’d like to proceed, based on their interests and the amount of time they have available to continue engaging with the app.

3 advantages to using offerwalls

While offerwalls aren’t perfect, they’re still pretty great for developers looking to monetize their apps.

1. They are user-initiated, so they aren’t disruptive like traditional ads.
2. They grant users the opportunity to earn virtual currency for free. This alternative method helps sites and apps monetize their non-paying users.
3. They increase retention. In one scenario, an app saw a 30-day retention rate as high as 55.83%. Devoted users will remain engaged if you provide a way for them to earn virtual currency and continue playing.

2 disadvantages to using offerwalls

There are plenty of enticing perks, and none are more compelling than monetizing non-paying app users. However, there are a couple of disadvantages to offerwalls as well.

1. As an ad format, they aren’t supported by many ad networks, which limits the ad creative options.
2. iOS restricts them. Apple’s policy restricts ads from incentivizing users to download another game or app. This means cost per engagement (CPE) offers are no longer allowed on iOS offerwalls, which severely limits publishers.

How to maximize offerwall revenue

Are you developing the next Candy Crush, and now you’re ready to monetize? Here are some easy lifts to optimize your app’s engagement, retention, and revenue:

1. Segment your users

Different users should be offered different offerwalls. Here are a few examples for segmenting your audience:

• Non-spenders vs. spenders
• Newcomers vs. returning users
• Active vs. passive players

Understanding your users at this level allows you to send more targeted offers, which increases your chances of higher engagement, retention, and revenue.

2. Make it feel seamless.

Most ad networks will let you customize offerwalls to match your app or game’s user experience.

Ads served in this manner guarantee that players are less likely to consider it an advertisement; instead, they will consider it an integral element of the game. Here are some options for customizing your game/app and offerwall for a seamless experience:

• Color scheme
• Symbols/art in the header image
• Currency name

Creating a natural transition for your users from game to offerwall means it has to feel like it’s part of the overall in-game experience, which will increase the chances users will choose to engage with it and remain in the app.

3. Keep the content fresh

Because ad and banner fatigue is real. It occurs when your audience sees your ads so often that they become bored with them and stop paying attention.

It stands to reason, then, that updating your offerwall with new content will help increase user engagement and retention.

Key takeaways

Keep the following three top of mind when considering offerwalls for your app:

1. They are an opportunity to increase engagement, retention, and revenue — especially from your non-paying app users.
2. They are user-initiated and directed making it more likely a user will engage — however, they could also be restricted on ad networks and iOS platforms.
3. If you are ready to use offerwalls, there are easy ways to optimize them as a revenue source. Like segmenting your users, making it feel continuous to your app/game, and keeping the ads served new and fresh.