4 models to monetize your app, explained

Photo credit: Patryk Kamenczak

Many developers view monetization and design as two separate entities. But based on our experience at Tappx, they should have monetization deeply rooted at the starting point when building an app.

But there are many factors to consider when picking a strategy. So, we’ve listed down a few strategies and their unique qualities to help you evaluate which will be the most compatible with your app/business.

In-app purchase (IAP)

For the in-app purchase model, you need to find the proper balance between what content or functionality will be included in the base download vs what can be unlocked with payment. If too little content is provided, users will look elsewhere for similar products. On the flip side, users won’t have a reason to upgrade if you give too much free content.

For game developers, consider offering both fixed-price and in-game currency options for unlocking content. This allows non-paying users to experience unlocking “unlockable” content while allowing paying users to freely spend via both methods. Alternatively, you can employ video ads to reward users with “free” currency, thus obtaining ad partners and user allegiance.

How to implement it

No matter what your app is, you’ll need to deploy and scale a large variety of premium options to offer your audiences at different price tiers. You can do this by defining a pricing strategy.

Be sure to communicate the value of your premium offerings at the right time by discovering the maximum engagement moments for your users and then impacting them with paid offers. Take advantage of urgency and offer discounts as well. You can communicate to users via in-app messages or through push notifications.

You can also offer users a “taster” experience of what it feels like to be a user with premium capabilities. If you use ads, you may use them to offer paid offerings to your users.

In-app advertising

In-app advertising consists of distinct categories: video ads, display ads, and native ads. By implementing ads, you can focus on coding and improving your game. On the other hand, this allows users to download apps for free without restrictions on content or functionality other than the ads themselves.

When choosing how to monetize your app via advertising, you should choose an ad partner that will help you find the right advertising strategy and ad format for your app.

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