They Work! Facebook Mobile Ads Are Clicked 13X More, Earn 11X More Money Than Its Desktop Ads. How will Facebook monetize mobile?
Its organic-seeming Sponsored Stories ad format may be the answer. Mobile Sponsored Stories are getting over 13 times the click-through rates and earn 11.2 times the money per impression (eCPM) on mobile compared to all of Facebook’s desktop ads, and 1.93 times the CTR and 2.65 times the eCPM of Sponsored Stories on the web in the two weeks since Facebook began selling them separate from web ads. The data comes from new studies by TBG Digital, AdParlor, Nanigans, and Spruce Media, three of Facebook’s biggest Ads API partners that help brands buy ads. Since Sponsored Stories slip into content feeds so seamlessly, Facebook may actually be better equipped to handle the shift to mobile advertising than other web-first tech companies. Let’s check out the early proof. Much of the doubt surrounding Facebook’s IPO came from evidence that the social network’s user base was shifting away from the web to mobile, where Facebook only began testing ads in February.
How To Appeal To Investors: Top VCs Reveal The Anatomy Of A Successful Entrepreneur. There’s a lot of money floating around Silicon Valley right now, and it’s becoming easier and easier for entrepreneurs to get access to the capital they need to get their companies off the ground.
Resources like AngelList are trying to level the playing field, and facilitate conversations between founder and investor, and the passage of the JOBS Act will alter the landscape for early-stage companies by giving them access to crowdfunding from the masses. There are even charity initiatives like the ones launched by Exec and Motion To Dismiss Cancer that give a select few access to top entrepreneurs and VCs.
At a very fundamental level, the venture capital business is being reshaped. As the Kauffman report points out, most VC funds aren’t generating more than the three to five percent on top of the return one finds in the public markets — the yield investors expect, the report finds. This isn’t so good for VCs, Wilson says, but it is for entrepreneurs. The Myths Big, Bold Ideas. Why The Freemium Model Doesn't Work. Dmitri Leonov is the VP of Growth at Sanebox, a company that lets users spend less time in their inbox by filtering out and summarizing unimportant emails.
Follow him @dmitri. It's common for people to spend $5 on a vanilla latte but to agonize over paying $5 a month for a web service. That's because a psychological barrier to paying for online services remains, and it’s hurting both consumers and businesses. The solution that's emerged to address this customer behavior is the freemium business model. There are several shiny examples of successful freemium companies. The Evernote-like Paywall: The way the product is designed, a significant portion of the users will inevitably cross the paywall. Of course, if your cost structure doesn’t support a lot of free users, none of these versions will work. You can also opt to offer a free trial.
There’s a lot to be said for creating something of value and charging money for it. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, frender. 7 Hot Startup Tips for Raising a Killer Seed Round. Mashable's new video series, Behind the Launch, follows Vungle on its startup journey toward a June launch.
Each week on Mashable, the Vungle team offers tips and lessons learned from its own startup experience. This week, we saw Vungle court big-name investors, so co-founder and CEO Zain Jaffer offer tips for courting investors. Watch the episode above, and be sure to tune in to Behind the Launch every Monday and Wednesday. There are many stories of hot startups raising killer seed rounds, and it can feel like money is flowing everywhere.
Times might be good right now, but raising external capital is a complicated process, and it's something every entrepreneur needs to think about carefully. 1. As Steve Jobs said, "Stay hungry. " The first thing that will lead you to success in fundraising (and anything in life) is hunger. 2. Change your mindset when thinking about investors — they are not evil opponents who are out to destroy your business. Missed earlier episodes?