With today's world jumping from app to app for various needs, mobile apps have become a necessity in day-to-day life. These serve dual roles by bringing benefits to both the creator and the user. Every service, every activity has been taken to the digital realm with apps having checkers, trackers and many creative ways of keeping us on the loop.
After the onset of the pandemic, activities got more remote and there was a huge jump in 30% more downloads of apps. With connectivity going through a major boom of being easily available, apps continue making incremental revenue every year. If you are a business owner looking to expand by reaching out via apps, here are some useful models to earn money from apps.
But, first things first.
Develop a strategy
The journey to developing a mobile app which will make money involves strategy, design and planning. Ideation can lead to a completely new idea for an app or creating a copy of an existing app and making it better. Some mobile applications earn billions of dollars every year, but not all of them.
There were other alternatives to all the popular apps we use today, but they didn't see the light of the day by becoming popular. For instance, Instagram, one of the most popular social media platforms today, started off as an addition to an existing app. Clarity on what you want to do and developing strategies would be the first step.
Build a good one
After tons of market research, you've finally landed on your niche, figured out your target audience and as with any business, developed a solid strategy. It's time to put all the pieces of the puzzle together and take action into actually building a good app. Create a basic skeleton, design the UI, and do the back-end development.
Decide your platform for launch - be it Android or IOS. This will depend on the user group you want to target. You can also create both versions and make your service universally available. This will ensure loyal customers who aren’t afraid of losing your app. Ensure to keep a check on current market, competitors, and case studies. This will help in building a good app which will make money.
So how to make money with apps? Which kind of apps make money?
Free apps + advertising
Free apps are aplenty in the economy of apps and those with proper structure attract diverse user groups. This can range from games to productivity to services - anything which gives the app a worth to try in the saturated market. These are the apps which are designed to accommodate ads in the UI and make money from ad revenue. These are the easiest to make money from because it has no strings attached to the everyday user by not extracting money from them.
Free apps + Premium benefits
Some free apps provide an offer of removal of ads with premium subscription which can also deem worthy. These are better than paid apps any day, as the app can still generate basic money by number of user downloads and the definite free users. It can also create the first impression on which you can then grow. The next level of revenue generation will come from the paid users who either have ads removed or extra additional features. Almost every app on the moderate scale is of this category as the economy grows and in-app purchases are on the rise.
One-time paid apps
These are direct models of monetization of apps. One time paid apps charge to be downloaded and offer everything inside for the same initial cost including updates. These apps can range from games to premium photography to editing apps. The features offered and the UI must overtake the free apps to ensure constant revenue. This model might also limit a lot of prospective customers due to apprehensions on payment. Various strategies like advertising, free preview etc. can help in building trust.
Paid apps + Premium benefits
These are hybrid models of making money with apps where one is very sure before investment by testing the waters previously. Paid apps generate income in the first place to be downloaded and then some additional features can also be accessed only by in app purchases. These apps have to be niche specific and give a premium attraction to bring it some attention.
Subscription apps
Subscription apps are on the rise these days, ranging from fitness, productivity to planning, teaching, and fashion. These of many types - some are apps which give out content on a monthly/yearly subscription basis, some are apps like Tinder and Bumble which give premium subscribers additional unlimited features. These apps would generally be free to download, view and use moderately. The wow-factor of the app though, can only be attained by subscription.
Final Thoughts
If you want to provide a specific niche-related value to your customers, you can go for paid apps. Free apps with subscription and paid benefits can be an option for those making better apps of existing services. This will ensure building a strong market with users who can still have most benefits for free. Some apps like Any Books initially launched a completely free app and once they were sure of the market and made their loyal base, they converted it into a paid app.
The easiest way to do so is to begin right now and gain clarity with experience. Any one of the monetization models can first be tried out and it is imperative to ensure daily or constant usage of your app. Users downloading it once and never returning to it again will not add to the revenue. The best thing about making money from apps is that all of the methods above can be used in different combinations.
Get your creative juices flowing and launch your app to see it fly!
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