We all are addicted to mobile and it has become a go-to resource for anything and everything. According to the report, an average user spends 3 hours and 40 minutes on their mobile per day, which means one fourth of walking time. Mobile app creators have several goals to attract customers, provide services, to yield entertainment- whatever it may be-with mobile application monetization, it is feasible to make an application something more than a tool. It will be an extra source of income. Let’s see what is mobile app monetization and how to effectively monetize your mobile app.
What Is Mobile App Monetization?
Mobile app monetization is a process of implementing strategies to generate revenue from app, in short, converting users into revenue. Here are some strategies to execute this. These strategies are very category-dependent. Let’s see the 3 important things that can help you choose the right model for your app-
Identify app category- Defile app purpose and the problem it is trying to solve. Once you get an idea about it, you will see that these monetization strategies are better for your needs. For instance, subscription models are better for the apps having heavy content, whereas in-app ads will be better for shopping applications.
Competitive research- Competitor research is an important key in mobile app development. You can know competitors in your niche and see what monetization strategies are implementing. Check if the audience is satisfied and know the better strategy that can work.
Know target users- While building an app, you want to do in-depth user depth. Monetization strategy should be relevant to target audience. Select a model that will provide values to users and not hamper their user experience of interacting with mobile app.
7 Best Strategies For App Monetization-
1. Paid/Premium Downloads-
Premium apps are the apps that users need to pay a fee for downloading. It is a straightforward monetization strategy with everything explicitly visible to user before app download. Benefit of premium apps is that users will be more loyal and engage better with the app because they have paid for it. The UI will be ad-free and hence less cluttered.
But there are some drawbacks also. Most of it needs to be paid before used. As there are lots of free apps available in the market, your app must provide exceptional value to convince users to pay for it.
2. In App Purchase-
Most of the mobile apps don’t charge any fee but it doesn’t mean that users never have the opportunity to spend money within the app. App purchases are the solution. In-app purchases help you to make more money and allow users to interact directly with your product. It is called “freemium” apps where users pay no initial cost but pay for gated features, but businesses can make use of it.
Businesses can choose to provide users with the opportunity to purchase your product directly from the app and have them shipped. If you are an entrepreneur and having a business that offers services, users can opt for in-app billing.
Drawback of in-app purchases is that programmers walk a fine line between giving lots of options for free and offering too few features. Hence think twice when you choose this monetization method.
3. In App Advertising-
According to the reports, advertising is the commonly used monetization strategy of mobile apps. Such mobile apps are free to download and use, but they come with the cost of intermittent advertisements. The advertisements might clutter up the application space or hamper user experience; but, it is a commonly accepted trade-off by people. Since they are getting to enjoy the free content, many people put up with ads.
Some apps provide free applications with ads and allow update to an ad-free version with extra payment. Keep in mind that, it is important to show relevant advertisements to app users otherwise they will get frustrated with inappropriate ads. Developers can use data analytics to show relevant ads to users and analyse user behavior.
Here are the five types of native ads typically used in apps.
Full screen ads- These ads are generally placed at natural pause points, such as when moving between menus. As these aren’t actually hampering the experience of app, they’re most likely to generate clicks without causing frustration.
Banner ads- App banner ads are generally found on top or bottom of screen and can be somewhat ineffective as they are more distracting than other forms. It can irritate users, hence think twice before agreeing to add into your business’s app.
Capture form- Depending on the user opt-ins, it offers incentives to users who enter their email address. You’ll mostly find capture forms in mobile games.
Advanced overlay- These use transition points such as interstitial ads but are interactive rather than being simple clickable images. These are kind of mixture of capture form and full screen ads.
Notification ads- Notification ads pop up in the mobile device’s status bar and make users aware of the ad’s presence.
4. Sponsorship-
Major drawback of advertisements is that it is difficult to ensure the relevancy of ads to your users. Sponsorship is one step ahead of regular advertisements. You can partner with some advertisers and show only particular ads. Hence, it will improve the user experience of the app and eliminate user frustration when it comes to advertisements.
Sponsorship can work like rewarding users when they complete actions in an app. It is advantageous for app programmers and sponsors as they both can increase their audience reach.
5. SMS Marketing-
With the in-app prompts similar to the ones used for collecting email addresses, you can send notices for app updates, reminders, contests and promotions straight to users’ text message inboxes.
This is one of the most effective ways to strengthen your brand as it drives users back to your app. These days lots of app entrepreneurs use the same strategy to drive users back to users. If you’re also looking to improve customer engagement, try SMS marketing.
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