Making an app can be very profitable for your business. However, before you start working on ideas, it’s important to ask the following questions: “How do apps make money? How can I make money with apps?”.
There are several ways of making money from apps. The right model for your needs will depend on the specific nature of the product. To better understand how to make money with apps in your industry, keep the following best practices in mind.
Charge Customers to Download Your App With a Premium Model
The simplest way to monetize an app is to charge users to download it. This is termed a premium app. If it offers valuable features and has a positive reputation among early users, they might be willing to.
This approach can be effective because customers only have to pay once to use the app. Other methods (discussed below) often involve in-app or multiple payments. Depending on the nature of the app, a potential user may be reluctant to download it in the first place if they feel they’ll have to pay several times to use it to its full capacity. That’s not the case with this model.
Offering Premium Features is One Way for Free Apps to Make Money
The average app doesn’t cost very much to download. In fact, you may be more successful at attracting initial users if you make your app available for free.
If the download is free, the question of how to make money from an app becomes even more important. Most people are unwilling to pay for apps. However, that changes after they’ve actually downloaded them.
Once users have the opportunity to explore an app’s features and content, they’re often happy to pay for premium features. This “freemium” approach is a smart strategy to keep in mind when considering how to make money from apps.
How to Make Money from Advertising Within Apps
A popular app can be very appealing to marketers. Making money from apps often involves including advertisements. Additionally, you could give users the option to upgrade to an ad-free version for a fee. These are both simple ways to create a strategy that addresses how to make money off an app.
Consider Making Money from Apps With the Subscription Model
Again, one of the greatest barriers you face when trying to discern how apps make money is simply getting users to download it in the first place. If your app offers value to users, they’ll be more inclined to pay for it once they’ve had the chance to try it out first.
This is the principle behind the subscription model. How do apps make money this way? Quite simply, in fact. After a free trial period (such as 30 days), users are given the option to subscribe to the app for a fee. The cost is typically a monthly or annual expense.
That said, you could simply charge a one-time fee instead. Users who’ve had a positive experience with it during the trial period will gladly pay to keep using it.
How Much Money Do Apps Make?
Knowing how to make money from an app is important. However, it’s also important to understand how much you can expect to earn from your product.
The amount of money apps make varies on a case-by-case basis. For instance, gaming apps are very profitable. Pokemon Go!, for example, made $890 million in 2017.
Popular subscription-based apps also demonstrate how to make money with apps, as they can generate substantial revenue. Tinder is projected to bring in $800 million this year.
While those are exceptional cases of how much money apps can make, it’s clear that releasing a strong app can earn your business a huge boost in revenue. Now that you understand how apps make money, you just need to make sure you work with the right developers. By coordinating with experts that know how to make money off an app, you’ll be much more likely to build a product that succeeds. So, Talk To Us today if you have an app idea!
