5 Easy Steps to Monetize your App

If you have developed a mobile app recently, I bet you have spent a century figuring out how to drive revenue. After a successful launch, you have users raking in, but the money isn’t flowing yet.

The easiest approach would be setting up a revenue-based model, but is it as easy as it sounds? Ofcourse not! However, we have a spoiler for you. Mobile apps, as a channel, drive almost equal revenues as websites, and nearly as much revenue as a brick ‘n’ mortar store.

Hence, if you plan to monetize your app without compromising on your end-customer’s experience, here are 5 strategies which can be used for the same.

1. In-app Purchases

This strategy helps you develop your app into another sales channel. In other words, you will be monetizing exclusive features in your app. However, it is not that easy as it sounds. The existence of a purchase path, doesn’t mean that it will work; the complete experience must be seamless, concise and convenient for the user.

In-app purchases can be implemented across different sectors, be it selling products/services, paywalls, to unlock new features within the app. In order to know what works, you have to test different offerings and see what collects the mobile customers response at the best potential.

2. Subscription-based model

If your app requires the user to visit repeatedly, subscriptions are a great way to build up a regular and spontaneous revenue stream. The key to excel with a subscription-based model is to keep the content fresh. Obviously, a customer won’t think twice to unsubscribe once your content goes stale.

Also, shortening the app update cycle can make your proposition effective for the app-user. Also, you can deliver more value to the customers and enable them to visit the app more frequently, and encourage them to spend a longer duration while using your app.

3. Ads

If you fail to implement both In-App purchase and subscription-based models, it is high time to opt for ads in your app. Obviously, they hinder with user experience, but you need to ensure that the features aren’t covered up in piles of ad snippets.

Ads can act as a successful monetization strategy as you collect the data about your customers. Later, this data can be leveraged to showcase highly-targeted ads. There’s a downhill to implementing ads in your app. If the ads are irrelevant, it may hamper the user experience, and eventually, may turn the customers away from the app.

4. Sponsorships

If you fail to monetize your app, you can consider a new strategy to implement. Under this strategy, you can partner with advertisers, where they would ‘sponsor’ your app. Under this model, app-users are offered relevant rewards from the advertiser when they execute preset actions within your app.

The Revenue earned through redeemed rewards will later be shared between the app-owner and the advertiser offering relevant rewards. This model is the perfect solution to declining user experience due to ads, and can lead to elevation in customer engagement and revenue as the customers are provided with real value by using your app.

5. Data Monetization

Although dealing in customer data can be a breach of privacy, there are multiple legal ways to sell the customer data you collect. However, if you don’t plan to take that road, the data can still be used to influence business decisions, and create specifically targeted campaigns for existing customers.

If you can leverage the existing data to improve your app’s usage experience, you can grow the engagements proportionally. Also, it would help target the current users with the right messaging, and also, would enable you to effectively monetize the app.

Daljit Singh

Co-founder & Director of Blockchain & AI Technology

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As Director of AI & Emerging Technologies at Debut Infotech Pvt. Ltd., I lead innovation across AI, Blockchain, Web3, Fintech, HealthTech, Supply Chain, SaaS, and enterprise platforms. My focus is helping organizations move from idea to product & product to scale by leveraging emerging technologies and proven development frameworks.

Harry Dhillon

Director – Digital Transformation & Customer Success

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