The mobile app market is much different than the app market for traditional devices. Instead of relying on consumers to discover your app through a recommendation, you need to actively push your content and updates out to customers. This article provided some insights, and hopefully, they help you in your journey to monetize your app.
In this article, you’ll learn how to increase user engagement with your app through in-app monetization strategies. If you want more people to find your app, you need to offer them value. In-app monetization can be one of the most powerful ways to do that. In-app purchases and ads are two primary types of in-app monetization that can help bring more users into your app and generate revenue along the way.
In-app purchases
There are many reasons to offer a choice of in-app purchases within your app. When done right, they can increase engagement and revenue while avoiding the issues that plague other in-app monetization methods. First and foremost, let’s start with the obvious: you’re probably trying to earn some money from your app.
If you want to keep operating costs down, and probably grow quickly, you’ll need to find a way to generate revenue. There are two primary ways to monetize your app.
The first is with ads, which are intrusive and annoying. Users may appreciate a few ads within an app to keep the costs down, but not many people enjoy being bombarded with ads whenever they open an app. The other method is with in-app purchases. These are upgrades that users can purchase within your app. These can range from simple upgrades like a one-time fee to subscription models that generate recurring revenue.
Ads
Traditional apps are different from mobile apps. They’re designed to be used almost exclusively on one device and are typically downloaded via an app store. The app market for traditional devices is a much different beast than the app market for mobile devices.
Whereas mobile apps usually make up the core functionality of a device, traditional apps are more like web services. They might have a few features to make them more useful but are designed to work outside of the app environment. This is why ads are a much better fit for traditional apps.
Many online services, like YouTube and Facebook, monetize by showing ads. Ad revenue can be much higher for these types of apps because there’s no need to drive users to the app store. Users can just browse the content they want and earn money from the ads.
Game advertising
This is one of the newer types of in-app monetization. Developers can now earn money from ads within their app, just as if the app was on a traditional device. You can also choose whether you’d like to earn money through banner ads or video ads.
You can also create a “sponsor” button that collects money each time a user clicks the button and takes the user to the sponsor’s page. A good example of this is the game “Doggu”. Whenever a user clicks on their ad, their dog is fed. The developers have made more than $30,000 on this one ad alone.
Earned ads and paid subscriptions
This is a tricky one. On one hand, you’re selling ad space within your app. This is fine if your app is aimed at a general audience and not too in-depth. But what if your app is much more in-depth? How can you monetize it? You can create “earned ads”.
You give users the option of watching a short video before the app starts. The ad is a sponsored ad, and the app is free to download with a paid subscription. There are a few different types of paid subscriptions that you can offer in your app. One is a freemium model, where users can download the app for free and see a limited version of the content. But for a fee, users can unlock all of the full content.
Staying up to date with your users
This isn’t always obvious, but it’s important. If you offer in-app purchases, you need to constantly show users new content and features.
This is where user retention and user engagement come in. You want to make sure that your users are coming back for more, and that they’re engaged with your app. The easiest way to do this is to continually update your app and add new content. This also applies to your monetization strategies.
The bottom line
This is a tricky market. Traditional apps are different from mobile apps, and traditional ads aren’t as effective for mobile apps as they are for traditional devices. The market for mobile apps is different from traditional apps, and it’s much harder to gain traction.
You’re competing with millions of apps for users’ attention, and you need to offer your app great value before someone taps your download button. There are a few in-app monetization strategies you can employ. The best approach will depend on your app and what’s best for your unique business model. This article provided some insights, and hopefully, they help you in your journey to monetize your app.
