Whether it’s a group of parents, friends, coworkers, students, or volunteers, SignUp is the easiest solution for coordinating successful events and activities – over 27 million people use SignUp.
Their simple, intuitive online SignUps and scheduling tools make it easy for people to join together and say YES to pitching in, signing up and showing up. No waiting for approvals and passwords, no software to install — just free, easy scheduling and SignUp solutions for successful group participation and remarkable outcomes.
The Brief
SignUp was headed into its busiest season in the fall of 2021 and was looking to upgrade their ad management system, but not at that time. They were also skeptical of ad management solutions promising to increase revenue astronomically. Freestar derisked the move and motivated them to deploy our ad monetization solution.
SignUp was looking for an ad management solution that could address:
Transparency – Their previous vendor provided limited transparency and control. They were looking for a true partner to work with.
- Publisher Support – They needed access to more resources and best practices to help support their ad monetization.
- Mobile Monetization – SignUp had difficulty monetizing on mobile, and were looking for a solution to address that as well.
- Email Monetization – They were looking to increase their email ad performance after seeing minimal improvement with their email monetization partner.
“Freestar is an extension of our team, a partner, and a true advocate for our interests. Through all the changes, Freestar has been an advocate, not a vendor, for us. It’s a wonderful feeling, and honestly, head and shoulders above the competition.”
The Solution
Unlike other solutions that overpromise, Freestar over-delivered by becoming a true partner to SignUp instead of acting as a classic ‘vendor’. Their implementation went smoothly, and the SignUp team felt supported in making the transition to Freestar. With their best interest in mind, Freestar worked closely with SignUp to exceed their previous vendor’s performance at every level.
For SignUp, Freestar implemented the following:
- Key Ad Units – On desktop, we added video, sticky footer, leaderboard ATF, and right rail banners to increase CPMs.
- Demand Partners – We manage demand partner relationships on behalf of SignUp. We’ve implemented various SSPs, including Pubmatic and Index Exchange.
- Dynamic Flooring – Freestar’s dynamic flooring was enabled in June 2022, which led to a 20% increase in CPMs and a 15% increase in RPMs.
- Mobile Monetization – On mobile, we added units like leaderboard and sticky footer, which was new to SignUp through our partnership. We also added banner ads throughout their site to maximize revenue for mobile users.
- Email Monetization – To learn more about how we helped improve email, check out our case study on SignUp’s email monetization.
The Results
From day one, Freestar doubled the revenue SignUp was earning with their previous ad management setup. SignUp saw a significant lift through optimizing ad unit types, the demand partners they have been onboarding, and utilizing our dynamic flooring technology.
Since launching in 2021, SignUp has seen a 45% lift in revenue, a 30% lift in RPM, and a 20% lift in CPM on desktop and mobile.
- Even with a 33% drop in Impressions, revenue remained stable, proving strong yield resilience
- +26% Organic Search Traffic post-optimization
- +45% CPM increase supported by improved site layout and reduced ad density
- All site sections experienced traffic increases, signaling improved user retention and UX
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