So you have finally developed an amazing mobile app, and it is time to make money. Are you wondering about the right way to monetize your mobile app?
Well, mobile app development is an extensive and tedious process, and you deserve to earn good money out of our hard work. However, many new developers are at a loss about how to make good money from all the apps they developed.
Let us tell you this simple fact. The average time users spend on mobile apps is almost three times more than they spend on the mobile internet in the last seven years. Therefore, it’s time to leverage these increasing mobile app users and start earning money from your mobile apps.
Here are some practical methods to help you start monetizing your mobile application and create a steady stream of income.
What Are the Practical Ways to Make Money from Mobile Apps?
After the mobile app development process, some developers start thinking, ‘How do I make money from my mobile app?’
If you have already released your mobile app and are contemplating monetizing it, don’t worry. There are several ways by which you can make money from your mobile apps, even after their release. You can start by implementing one of these techniques in the beginning, analyze the response and start including more such strategies. Make sure not to overdo these techniques for app monetization and keep it to not more than three or four techniques.
1. In-App Ad Revenue
In-app ad revenue is one of the best ways to create a constant revenue stream for free apps. Unlike what many think, free apps make more revenue than paid apps!
Most of the free apps in the market depend on this revenue stream to generate most of their money. This is also one of the simplest ways to create a continuous revenue line without reworking the application’s backend.
There are three main types by which you can earn money after mobile app development:
- Cost Per Thousand (CPM) – You will get paid a certain amount for every thousand impressions of the advertisement.
- Cost Per Click (CPC) – When a user clicks on an ad displayed on your mobile app, you will get a certain amount for every click.
- Cost Per Action (CPA) – Sometimes, the companies may require the users to take specific actions upon seeing the ad. It may be to click on a specific option like Download, Play Now or Buy Now, install an app, or make a purchase. For every such action, you will be paid a certain amount.
Among these revenue types, the commonly-preferred one is the CPM, as the action taken by the user doesn’t determine the income.
You can showcase the ads on your mobile apps from ad platforms like InMobi, AdMob, Google Ads, and many other similar ones. These platforms can display several types of ads on your mobile app. Here is the distribution of the mobile app revenues generated in 2017 from all over the world for gaming and regular apps.
If you notice, video ads (36%) and display ads (30%) have the major share of the revenue for normal apps, whereas, for gaming apps, IAP and e-commerce apps take the lead with 43%. So, make sure to go for the specific ad types that will bring you high revenue and not waste time on those that aren’t bringing home much money.
2. Upgradation Options to Get Rid of Ads
Do you know those annoying ads cropping up when you are playing a game or watching an interesting video? You can ask people to pay a small amount to eliminate those annoying ads.
Most people have started resorting to smartphones as a means of their entertainment. The percentage of users who watch television is decreasing; on the other hand, smartphone users is steadily increasing.
In 2015, the average time spent on television was 4 hours and 10 minutes, while the time spent on smartphones was just 2 hours and 49 minutes. The average time spent on TV and smartphones is almost equal. By 2021, it is expected that the time spent on smartphones will be 3 hours and 54 minutes, which is significantly higher than the time spent on television (3 hours and 22 minutes).
It shows that many people prefer to use smartphones to pass their time, which means they don’t want to be constantly disturbed by ads. Some of them wouldn’t mind paying a small cost to get rid of the apps and use their mobile apps continuously without any disturbance.
3. In-App Purchases
If you provide any services through your app or have created a gaming app, you can add some features or products that the users can buy inside the apps. Apps that provide in-app purchases will still come inside the free apps category as it wouldn’t affect the functionality or access to the complete app. It is just that you will be selling some extra items to enhance the product.
4. In-App Subscriptions
Wondering what’s different between in-app purchases and in-app subscriptions? The main difference is that, in in-app purchases, you ask the users to buy certain items from the app. In contrast, in in-app subscriptions, you offer better upgradation, which means advanced features, better accessibility, and a superior app experience.
For example, if you see apps like Evernote or LastPass, make a few basic functions available for all users. However, there are some advanced functions and features for which you need to pay a small premium per month or year.
You can also create a premium subscription model that restricts free users from using all the functions and saves some of the best features for premium users.
5. Taking Advantage of Sponsors and Partnerships
Sometimes, when you don’t have sufficient money for mobile app development, you may seek some sponsors to fund your development process. And let’s tell you this – be it Android or iOS app development, getting people to install your app, purchase, and subscribe to your services will cost you money first. According to a survey by Lean Plum, the cost for one installation is $2.89, the price for one registration on the app is $4.58, and the price for one subscription is $86.99. You, as a developer, would have to pay the price for every single engagement.
So it is evident that you need to have a lot of money in this challenging phase, and that’s where you may need the help of sponsors. However, having sponsorship is not just an advantage to get you the seed money. You can also use them to increase the number of users.
Once you have them on board, you can leverage that connection to get free mentions from the sponsors’ side about your mobile apps during its launch. This small step can launch your app to good demand, placing you in the Play Store’s top slots. So, the more users you have, the better income you can make.
Similarly, you can partner with a few other mobile apps and advertise each other’s apps, which will help increase your mobile app’s reach.
Do you have an outline to create a mobile app but don’t have the skillset? Contact YellowFin Digital, one of Texas’s most trusted mobile app development agencies.
We have expert mobile developers who can turn your vision into reality, be it Android or iOS app development. We have worked on several mobile app development projects, including business, e-commerce, content, payment, and many more. just call us at 361 844 8550 to discuss your idea for the mobile app now.
