Mobile app monetization isn’t easy. It’s no news that apps are everywhere these days. But as a software developer, you might be good at creating the app, but are you good at making money from it?
Perhaps the most talked about from-rags-to-riches story is Finnish developer Rovio Mobile and his best-selling mobile game app Angry Birds. Mobile developed the game in 2009 and it quickly became the game to get. Everyone did. And now the Finn now makes approximately $1 million a month from the ads on Android’s free download version alone.
But his story isn’t the only one when it comes to making money with apps. A lot of companies and individual people alike are now seeing the potential ease of collecting a regular income from a successful mobile app monetization campaign. And traditional advertising isn’t the only way to make money from apps anymore—many other ways have recently emerged.
Monetize Mobile Apps: Traditional ads
You can monetize mobile apps by simply incorporating mobile ads into your app and earn from impressions and clicks. This option works best for games and other apps that keeps a user’s attention for long periods of time. In such apps, you may earn a lot more from advertising on a free app than if you did by charging for the download.
iAd , Apple’s advertising platform is easy to use and popular
AdMob, G00gle’s mobile advertising network is also popular
Moolah Media, a great startup that can easily maximize profits
Promotion of other apps you’ve developed
A great way to promote brand awareness is to advertise your other applications on each app. Since you can control how much and which way you choose to do this, you can experiment and figure out exactly what works best. Ultimately, your users, who might not install the other apps right away, might pay to do it the next time their at the App Store.
Promote your website
You can easily promote other products of yours on your app, such as your website. If you can send traffic to your site, you can earn some good money when your app becomes successful. Send them to your store and have them purchase away. They can change from non-paying app users to paying customers of your service very quickly.
Offer in-app purchases
This is perhaps the best way to earn money through the App Store. If you offer a free app and the user is satisfied, he or she will then trust you as a developer and will more easily make in-app purchases of upgrades, additional service, etc. If you hook them and offer the option to continue, they will more often than not do so. Also, if your app uses social networks, users can talk about the app to their friends and these friends are likely to give it a try, especially if it’s free. This is not only great promotion, but users will hopefully purchase add-ons.
I’ve been doing a lot of research on the topic of content monetization recently and specifically making money with apps, as I think it’s a market that still has lots of room to grow. You can learn more in-depth information on the topic in the book that I recently wrote, How To Make Money With Apps which is available now.
Disclaimer: I am currently working with Moolah Media.
