How to monetize your mobile app

Looking for ways to monetize a mobile app? We have rewritten our honest position on this in one page: Can a destination app make money? The short version: not fast, and not with ads — and if you run a destination, city or museum platform, that page will save you money. The strategies below remain for general reference.

While some monetization strategies work better for free mobile applications, others are more suitable for paid apps. Regardless of your type of app, here is a mix of the best monetization strategies to boost your mobile app marketing.

The vast majority of app users will most likely choose a free app over a paid one and this might force you to have a different approach when it comes to mobile app monetization. In-app advertising is one of the most common strategies to monetize your app and stay afloat in the market.

With in-app ads, there’s a fine line between success and ruining the user experience. This is why you need to make sure the ads are non-intrusive, methodically placed, and high-quality. You should take into account the user experience because at the end of the day they are the key to increasing your revenue.

In-app purchasing enables users to pay for extra features or purchase your product directly from the app — by using the pay-to-play model. According to data by Sensor Tower, consumers spent approximately $111 billion on in-app purchases in 2020.

Implementing in-app purchasing is a must-have mobile app marketing strategy as well as the number one source of revenue within the mobile app industry. The more in-app purchase options you have, the more opportunities to generate revenue.

Another strategy for mobile app monetization is good old email marketing, which is an efficient way to boost your engagement rate and generate additional revenue. In order to benefit from this, you need to add an email subscription form to your app.

The catch with growing your email list is to offer the users some benefits, such as exclusive deals and discounts within the app. This way, you keep the existing users engaged and strengthen your relationship with them, which ultimately means they’ll be more inclined to buy from you.

You can monetize your mobile apps by partnering with a brand which is a win-win situation. On one hand, you monetize your app and on the other, you’re also introducing your users to a brand that they could find valuable.

Brand partnership, also known as influencer marketing functions when you have a large user base or an app in a niche market. Brands might want to connect with their target audiences through your mobile app, which in fact will increase brand awareness and bring extra money to the table.

SMS marketing is an efficient strategy to monetize your app because it allows you to stay in touch with the users and let them know whenever you have a promotion, update, or special offer.

This type of mobile app monetization builds your brand loyalty and encourages users to return to your app. Since people open 82% of all text messages they receive, there’s a strong possibility that a significant number of people see your message.

Premium apps can be downloaded for free, with exclusive features that are only available for premium users, to encourage in-app purchases. Users that choose this type of model get to enjoy an add-free platform because people will most likely pay not to be disturbed by intrusive ads.

Within the premium model, you can offer a free trial where users can see all the features of your app. Once the trial is over, they can pay for the premium version to use the app in an unrestricted manner with all its features.

One thing we will not tell you is that monetization is easy passive income — on a destination platform it is neither. If your project is a place with a public, the value sits elsewhere: here is the honest arithmetic. We run Eventya on Eventya: we build our clients’ platforms in the same CMS we sell, every day. Create your destination — free · See live destinations · Pricing