Developing an app is one thing. The problem is that App Stores are flooded with miscellaneous apps and cutting through the noise can be very hard. That is why we offer you only the most relevant and important content to help you with an app promotion.
Remember those ads that appear when you are watching videos on Youtube or banners that pop-up when visiting an online store? These are examples of how businesses monetize their websites — the same works for, not only paid but free mobile apps. Free apps are dominating the app market, with 96% in Google Play and 90.3% on App Store driving $71.3 billion in revenue. But those applications are free, so how do apps make money?
If you have or plan to develop a free mobile app and want to learn more about app monetization strategies, this article is right for you. Below, we explain how to make money from an app, and how to choose one that will work for your app.
Let’s begin.
How Much Money Do Free Apps Make?
Today, the average owner of a mobile device uses 7-8 applications daily. At the same time, only 5-10% of mobile app users are ready to buy a paid app, and around 98% of profit and downloads come from free mobile apps. The vast majority of mobile app users prefer to use free apps, and this number is continually rising. In the first half of 2019, the number of free app downloads in Google Play increased by 16,4% and raised $41,9 billion in revenue.
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Being more popular among users than paid apps, free apps have the potential to generate a significant profit. But how to choose the monetization model for your particular app? Let’s look at tips and find out.
How to choose the best free app monetization strategy
To select the most profitable and effective strategy for mobile app monetization, you need to consider:
Business goals. Every mobile app has its business goal, i.e., the way it solves a user’s problem. App business goals impact the monetization model since users interact with them in different ways for different reasons. For instance, in-app purchases would not perform as well as a subscription for a mobile music app or, a subscription mobile is not the best option for educational apps with a lot of custom content. Thus, you can get the most profit if you apply the in-app purchases model, combined with ads.
Target audience. Knowing and understanding your target users, especially paying users, known as the money spending core, will give you a clear picture of the best monetization model. To achieve this, create a portrait of your app users, think about the functionality they might need, and try to forecast how much time they would spend in the app.
Competitors. As we said, each app solves a particular problem for the user. Thus, to select a suitable way to make money from free apps, take a closer look at competitors and other apps in your niche. There’s a chance that the monetization strategy, used by other apps from your industry, will suit your business as well.
Wondering how free apps make money? Let’s see what strategies you can apply to earn money from your free app.
How do free apps make money: The most popular monetization strategies
Depending on your business industry and app type, you can apply one monetization model or several at once. The list of app monetization models includes:
Advertising and affiliate marketing
In-app purchases
Paid subscriptions
Freemium
Sponsorship
Crowdfunding
Transaction revenue
Now, let’s look at them in more detail.
Advertising and affiliate marketing
Seven out of ten free apps generate income from running ads and promoting other businesses. If you want to apply this most common way of free app monetization, you can charge:
Cost-per-mile (CPM) or cost per impression. You receive the payment for every 1,000 views of the ad
Cost-per-click (CPC). You receive payment when the app users click on display ads
Cost-per-view (CPV). You charge advertisers for the number of ad views or the number of interactions
Cost-per-install (CPI). You are paid each time your app users install the app you promote
As you can see, there are different types of in-app ad fees as well as methods of showing ads to app users. There are five ways you can display ads to your app users:
Banner Ads or Display Ads. The banner ad appears at the top or bottom of the mobile device screen so the app users can freely use your app. However, the engagement rate of such ads is quite low (0.1%).
Video Ads. Such ads appear during natural pauses of app usage and last 10-30 seconds. This ad category also includes rewarded video ads when the app user is rewarded for watching a full ad video.
Native Ads. Native ads, including sponsored content or videos, are integrated into the app layout and do not distract app users. Thus, users consider native ads less irritating compared to other types of ads.
Interstitial Ads. This type of ad looks like full-screen pop-ups displayed when the user opens or closes the app. Thus, the user can either close the ad or click on it to learn more about the promotion.
Sponsorship and influencer marketing
This type of app monetization is similar to ads, but the difference is deeper integration to the app. Let us explain. Apart from just running ads, you can place a sponsor’s logo or icon on the splash screen, footer, or integrate sponsored content with special offers right to your app. To make this type of monetization model more profitable, find sponsors with the same target audience. For instance, if you have a fitness app, you can find sponsors among fitness centers, personal trainers, or healthy diet websites.
Influencer marketing is a bit different way of sponsoring since you will deal, not with the business, but with an individual opinion leader, well known within your target audience. In this way, such an opinion leader will promote your app to fans and attract new users to your app. You can also ask an influencer to become an ambassador for your app, which is a prevalent strategy among famous brands.
In-App Purchases
With this app monetization model, you can sell different types of items, including:
Consumable items that the user can use within the app, such as health points or digital currencies.
Non-consumable items that could be used permanently, such as new games, maps, or as blocking.
In-app purchases increase user engagement rates and have users glued to the screen. This monetization method includes integrating native app store payment gateways since app stores charge 3% from each in-app purchase.
You can try making money on free apps using paid subscriptions. However, this model works for only 5% of apps with high user engagement, such as productivity or educational, music, or video streaming apps. This type of payment requires integrating third-party payment gateways such as Stripe or PayPal. Thus, app stores do not charge any commission. The app subscription works in the following way:
After downloading a free app, the user receives a trial period, usually a month, to try your app.
When the trial period ends, if the user continues using the app, they must buy a subscription.
There are two types of subscriptions:
Non-renewing subscriptions when the user buys an app subscription for a particular period, as in one, three, or six months. After the end of the subscription period, the user must buy another subscription manually, so there will be no unexpected bills. This type of app monetization works well for seasonal apps such as gardening, sport, or hunting.
Automatically renewing subscriptions means the app automatically charges user fees every month, six months, or once a year. To ensure that app users will buy a subscription after a trial period, users receive access to the app only after typing in their credit card details.
Freemium
You can make money from a free app using the freemium model, which is similar to the subscription model. The main difference is that the app user can use the free app version with basic features without any time restrictions. But, to receive an advanced feature-rich app version, users must pay monthly or annual fees. Statistics show that only 0.5-2% of app users buy a premium app version. On the other hand, a free version of your app will reach a broad audience and make your app viral.
Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is particularly popular among startups and has proven to be an effective way of raising money. In North America alone, crowdfunding generated over $17.2 billion during 2018. If you need to attract additional funding for app development or marketing needs, you can use one of more than 400 crowdfunding platforms where any platform user can donate money. The most popular crowdfunding platforms for raising funds to mobile app projects are:
Create fundraising goals for your campaign. Consider that your goals should be SMART- specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based.
Craft your story to tell others what your app is about, how you decided to develop it, and what problem it solves. In this way, you will show your app’s potential.
Create a compelling video, since video content is the most engaging means of storytelling.
Design a campaign page where you provide investors with a detailed description of your project.
Use social media to drive potential investors to your campaign.
Transaction fees
You can charge transaction fees for making money with free apps if your mobile app belongs to the marketplace segment where users transact money. This niche includes not only e-commerce apps but also:
Any type of app, except for branded apps (e.g. e-commerce)
Pay attention to how many ads you use in your app so it doesn’t drive users off
Design an app with ads in mind, so the app is usable
Use less intrusive types of ads
Freemium
Apps with a broad audience
Apps that are about making progress, e.g. games, educational apps, fitness apps
Maintain a balance between free and premium accounts
In-app purchases
Gaming
Dating
Apps with separate unique features or content
Broad audience
Be clear about all micro-transactions
Prevent accidental IAPs
Subscription
Content-based apps like streaming services
The constant development of new features or content
Exceptional service and support
Clear payments
In a nutshell
Free mobile apps have a more significant market share compared with paid apps. There are many strategies for free mobile app monetization, and each of them has a different user engagement rate and will generate a different amount of income. We recommend selecting the monetization model on the basis of your app niche, its purpose, and your target audience.
To make your free app even more profitable, you can combine different monetization strategies:
You can run ads and offer users a paid ad-free app version, which is a win-win situation for you and your users.
You can also combine in-app purchases and subscriptions, or advertising and subscriptions.
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Creating an app can use up a lot of your time and resources. There is nothing more devastating than going through all of that hard work and not making any money (i.e. due to a change in application development trends). The next time you come up with a great idea for an app, you may not want to put the development into motion because you are afraid of failing again and constantly thinking of how much does it cost to create an app for you. If you believe that your new app has the real potential of shining bright like a diamond but you do not want to risk losing everything again, you may go another way – app crowdfunding to reduce those potential threats.
Explore the different mobile app funding sources that not only help in bankrolling your application but also give you feedback on your creation and ideas on how to make it more popular.
Why Should You Use Crowdfunding?
When you think of crowdfunding, you may be thinking that you are using this method to fund all aspects of your app. However, that is not necessarily the case. In many instances, you can use crowdfunding to get money to develop certain parts of the app individually. You could also obtain funds to advertise an existing application that is already available to the customers. The main purpose of crowdfunding is taking the idea or application you already have and make it better.
By putting your application on one of the crowdfunding platforms, you can also get a better idea of how interested customers are going to be in your creation. If you do not get any funding, you will know that you need to put some work into your app to make it more desirable.
When the funds start coming in, you can feel more confident that you have something that customers want. These platforms also allow users to provide you with feedback on what you have made so far. This will help you introducing changes and set you off in a better direction. This, in turn, can allow you to build apps that make you money.
Through crowdfunding platforms, you are going to establish a much greater network of people interested in your type of product. Through networking, your name and product are going to reach many more potential customers delivering more profits.
The word-of-mouth and having a few quality applications already in your portfolio are going to be the keys to your success as an application developer. If you do not already have a solid network of supporters, now is the time to start establishing one.
Choosing the Right Crowd Funding Platform for Your App
Explore the following crowd funding platforms to discover the one that will work best for you and your app. Each one offers different aspects so that you can choose the one that will make you the most successful.
AppStori
AppStori is a funding platform for app idea that is only open to US residents. This is app-specific, and these apps are made for the iPhone App Store and Google Play. You get to set your goal for funding, and you decide what rewards to offer in exchange for funding. If you do not reach your funding goal, you do not get any money. You also cannot get more money than what you have asked for.
The qualified experts from AppStori will take a look at your project and give you an honest opinion on whether or not it will be successful. This is what they call the pre-qualification process. After they have given you the go ahead, you will start to create the advertising for your app. AppStori takes a 7% cut of your earnings, and Amazon takes 2-3% for the credit card processing.
In your AppStori blog, you can post developments and read comments related to your app so that you can make changes that your customers want to see. This is a newer and smaller platform so you have a better chance of your idea being seen if you choose AppStori for your app crowdfunding.
With Indiegogo’s non-app specific platform, you get to choose your funding type. Flexible funding allows you to keep your funding raised by a specified date regardless if you have reached your goal or not. Fixed funding is one that returns funds to supporters if you do not reach your goal.
When you use Indiegogo’s platform, you keep your app in your hands for 100%. Using different rewards, you’ll gradually gain the attention and hopefully the contribution from potential funders. There are many tips and tricks that Indiegogo shares with you along the way to make your crowdfunding attempt successful. Make sure that you make your app stand out from the crowd, and you’ll get the funding you are looking for.
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AppBackr
AppBackr is app-specific and only used for iPhone’s App Store and Google Play. This platform allows you to get funding for applications already developed and available to customers. It can also be used for the development of a new app.
To get funding from AppBackr, first explain what your app is about, what marketplace is it for, and why they should fund your app. You get to set a goal that corresponds with how much money you need to raise for your app to start the process. When this goal is met, your Backrs will then start to earn money.
When you reach the goal through the purchase of copies by your Backrs, you will get the requested funding delivered to your PayPal. You can then get to work in developing and promoting your product right away. When you start making money, you can pay your Backers. If you don’t reach your goal, no money is ever exchanged.
The idea behind AppBackr is that your funders get to make money off of your product. When you start to make money, you pay them back more than what they had initially invested in your idea. After your Backers are paid back their initial investment plus the amount of profit they have been promised, you’ll start getting all the funds that come in.
As of November 2022, the number of launched projects worldwide on the American crowdfunding platform Kickstarter amounted to 574,262. The success rate among these projects amounted to 40.13 percent. The total dollars pledged was 6.94 billion U.S. dollars, out of which 6.33 billion were succesful dollars.
In 2022, 75,436,079 total pledges have been placed with the average backer pledging to 3-4 campaigns.
This is only open for campaign creation in the United States. It allows you to take a creative approach to turn your app into something successful. Kickstarter is perfect for earning a crowdfunding app development.
In the Kickstarter platform, you set a goal for how much money you need to get in order to adequately fund your app. When the goal is reached, Kickstarter takes 5%, Amazon takes 3-5% for credit card processing, and then you get the money.
When crowd funders give you money on the Kickstarter platform, they do not get ownership of your product, and you do not have to give them any of your earnings. Through the rewards you offer these individuals decide on whether or not they want to invest in your product. You get to decide which rewards you want to offer in exchange for funding. You should make sure that whatever you decide on is something that is interesting, exciting, and accessible.
Kickstarter’s main goal is your success. You can review their training page to gain useful ideas on how to describe your app as well as what rewards funders respond to and how to promote your product. Because Kickstarter is not app-specific, you have to apply for more prospective funders to see your development. However, with so many apps posted out there, yours can get lost in the shuffle.
AppsFunder is app-specific, and it is only used for the iPhone App Store and Google Play. During the setup process, you get to set two different milestones, and you have the ability to set later. You will define what the money given to you by crowd funders will be used for. This will give the Funders an idea of what they are investing in, and it gives you the ability to keep progressing with your app as funds come in. Funders will have immediate access to your app for free when they give the set amount you have put in place (between $1 and $5). You also get to decide what Funders will get back in relation to the revenue that has been given to you.
You set your goals and your timeframes. If the money you need has not been raised by the deadline, all Funders get their money back. When you have reached your goal in the specified time, you get 80% of your funds delivered to your PayPal account. The rest of the money will come in when your app goes live on the mobile app store. AppsFunder takes an 8% cut for the use of their platform.
One beneficial feature is the ability to have your app reviewed by one of the app experts. Their approval can give you an advantage when potential funders are looking at apps to support. You can also post updates on your project, and customers can leave feedback so that you can give customers what they want and put more money in your pocket.
Every developer has one of the most difficult questions posed after completing an excellent Android app: which App Store will generate the most money? Most will opt for the $25 route of Google Play Store as it has one of the most guaranteed audiences. However, there are also other options that may come up.
Best App Store Alternative for Android
The biggest issue with choosing this standard option is that the competition is fierce. Below is listed some of the best alternative Android App Stores around so that you will get access to more localized and specialized customer audiences.
Besides rarely charging for listing an app there are several more advantages for choosing an alternative to Google Play Store:
More options for promotion
In our list of app stores for Android, you can find many platforms that can give a boost for the app by featuring it as an app of the day or provide app owner with some money-saving offers for advertising.
Relevant recommendations Other Android app stores offer a list of recommended apps that are not displayed on Google Play Store top ten charts.
Curated list Some of the Play store alternatives have a very narrow focus and a small selection of apps that have been filtered by topic, purpose, quality, age, etc.
Local portals Some of the different app stores cater to countries and offer localized apps that are not presented somewhere else.
SlideME
As a long-term player in the app store business, it has been running even longer than Google Play Store, SlideME is the most regularly found app store on most Android devices after the main competitor.
While not as old as Google Play Store or SlideME, the Amazon Appstore is one of their most successful competitors. With the introduction of Kindle Fire, the Fire Phone and a range of Android devices running Fire OS, there is a growing market for apps sold through Amazon.
There are some issues with running apps through the Fire OS but the majority of developers only need a short time to get their app ready for Amazon. In fact, many Android apps already run perfectly fine on Fire OS.
Biggest Advantages: It is possible to publish HTML5 and web apps on the Amazon Appstore. It is a growing marketplace with hundreds of thousands of apps and a large customer base. The Amazon Appstore is also remarkably easy to navigate for all developers.
A different approach to generating a successful app is focusing only on the popularity of the app. 1Mobile Market is only for free apps so it is a great place to upload an app to test it out on the market.
The marketplace itself costs nothing to upload your app but this doesn’t mean it is full of terrible apps. Each app has to pass through a selection process to check for malware and to keep a high quality of 1Mobile Market apps.
Biggest Advantage: A useful recommendation system based on preferences means that apps can become successful very quickly. With over 100 million installs and hundreds and thousands of Android apps listed, it is a great place to upload your app.
From the company that manufacturers the most Android phones it is no surprise that Samsung has developed their own app store. Compared to other app stores, Samsung Galaxy Apps has a relatively small number of apps but this can be positive for most apps to stand out.
Biggest Advantage: Every Samsung Galaxy device has the app store installed so there is an immediate and large customer base.
This app store can be compared to a social network more than app stores by itself. Mobile9 has millions of active users and each one has the ability to comment on and share their installed apps. Publishing an app is free and with such a wide user base it can mean great results for a well-developed app.
Biggest Advantage: There is a huge download rate with one of the smallest number of app developers; getting noticed with Mobile9 can be relatively easy.
With a direct link with Yandex, Opera Mobile Store has access to almost the entire Russian app customer market by all their apps being present in the Yandex App Store. The store has over 100 million visits every single month, and there are over a million downloads each day.
Biggest Advantage: To get access to this huge audience is completely free. Opera Mobile Store, however, does take 30% of any sales, but it is worth it for the sales this app store generates.
A base of millions of customers and thousands of downloads per day; Mobango is a forerunner for a Google Play Store app alternative. It has a relatively small app total in its store so it isn’t too difficult to become one of its top downloaded apps.
Biggest Advantage: Uploading your app is completely free and no percentage is taken.
For a more open approach to apps, one of the best alternatives is F-droid. The entire site and app store is run by volunteers and relies on donations. It only allows free apps and has a policy of not pushing apps that include paid add-ons or adverts.
Biggest Advantage: With a strong customer base and absolutely no costs there is nothing to lose by uploading your app to this store and testing out its popularity.
This app store actively encourages its developers to use their freemium model which included adverts and in-app currency. GetJar Gold is one of the largest virtual currencies in use and is available to millions of users.
Biggest Advantages: 30 million users and a great recommendation service that allows for quick discovery of new apps.
Choosing the best alternative Android market may seem to be a tough task. Every store has its pros and cons. You can find free app store for Android or the one that charges a fee, some of them a very specific, others vice versa very popular and highly competitive.
The year 2008 marked the beginning of the app revolution in tech, precipitating an influx of smartphone apps. Today, there are over 80 million apps in Android and Apple app stores. This app renaissance is part of every industry, including news consumption.
Online magazine and newspaper owners now focus on ways to deliver the news as making money remains a key objective. Top news companies like Politico, The New York Times, and HuffPost now own apps for their publications.
But is building an app a good business strategy for newspapers?
The answer is yes.
On the surface, monetizing an app seems a far-fetched idea. But in reality, a newspaper can monetize its content in a myriad of ways. In-app ads and subscriptions are some of the most common app monetization models.
On the consumer side, paying for an app can be a huge pain. Research has shown that most people will only pay for an app if it is ‘absolutely necessary.’ Users also believe that any paid app should provide high value for money. Hence, Netflix’s popularity in the entertainment industry.
So, how can a newspaper or magazine create a lucrative app monetization model?
In this guide, we will discuss how to monetize an app, from the development stage to marketing the product. You will also find out the possible risks and rewards involved in mobile app monetization.
Why does your magazine need a mobile app?
[Source: Pexels]
App development is a tiresome and money-consuming endeavor. So, any company that decides to make its app’s needs iron-clad, guarantees the app’s revenue potential. And, as a not-so-popular news outlet, your company’s skepticism is justifiable.
Can the company recoup the cost of building the app? Are customers interested in the app? Will app monetization kill user experience? Which app monetization method is most lucrative for news apps?
These are the pressing questions every company’s marketing department must answer before strategizing their app monetization strategy.
But you are in luck today since we have done most of the thinking for you. Let’s check out some of the main administrative and financial reasons why building and monetizing your app is a sure bet.
Relevance and brand recognition
Your magazine’s website gives you a public presence, but an app makes your product a household name.
And why is that?
Nowadays, most users prefer browsing on their smartphones. This preference for mobile versions of websites makes a mobile app an outstanding idea. Besides, apps provide a personal connection with the user through push notifications, live support, and other features.
With that in mind, a combination of your app and website’s usage will increase your magazine’s popularity and relevance in the industry.
Audience expansion
As the app becomes popular, the user base widens. And since the app users make up a new base, your magazine’s audience increases. Even if the same users are downloading the app, its popularity in Google Play Store will make it a top contender in the news and entertainment category.
Competitive advantage
As it stands, most companies are reluctant to invest in apps for their magazines. This presents an opportunity for your magazine to assert its dominance with a massive user base.
Capitalizing on this untapped market potential will help your business generate revenue. Any news or entertainment outlet that fills this void will become a dominant force in news. So, why not seize this golden opportunity?
Improved user experience
As mentioned earlier, apps provide direct access to content and exciting functionalities that a website cannot provide. Users can enjoy their daily (or weekly) dose of entertainment instantly.
Also, users can customize apps with default themes and get useful tips on how to use the app. At the same time, you can establish a personal communication channel with users, irrespective of location.
[Source: Pexels]
Most importantly, users can make in-app purchases and app payments from their smartphones. These app purchases are convenient for most users due to privacy issues associated with browsers.
Better marketing channels
The age of ‘standard marketing’ is gone. And we are not even talking about TV and radio ads. Those forms of marketing are largely ineffective to modern users. Moreover, modern companies don’t view them as avenues for making money.
Graph showing mobile app usage by age. [Source MobiLoud]
Nowadays, users have short attention spans, which means that you need personalized mobile ad formats to get started. Consequently, these new methods of mobile advertising provide additional marketing channels that generate more revenue.
Increase in profit
Don’t worry about the cost of building the app: you can regain everything within a short time using ads. In fact, app monetization strategies, using any native or video ad, will maximize your profits.
Moreover, app data showing user analytics will give your business useful insights into effective business expansion strategies.
What successful magazines and newspapers created their own apps?
The news and entertainment sector has remained a relevant industry because of its ability to adapt to modern trends. And yes, people love news and entertainment. Nonetheless, top news companies have identified the market potential of every mobile app monetization model for their products.
Still not convinced that you can combine news with making money? Check out the top newspaper and magazine apps according to data from Google Play Store and the App Store.
The New York Times
The New York Times was early to grasp the idea of using a mobile app to make money. This early-bird approach helped the company establish and expand its dominance in news and entertainment. Today, app users are allowed limited access to news articles every month. But you can only access the rest of the services with a subscription.
VICE
This news outlet’s coverage of unorthodox events and news stories all over the world makes them the perfect go-to for news. And they have capitalized on this cultural relevance to develop an app.
The Huffington Post (HuffPost)
The award-winning publication has also invaded app stores space with an Android and iOS app. The app is free but requires login with an active Facebook account.
The Metro
The UK-based tabloid has a downloadable app that users can get for free. The Metro app offers you entertainment news updates from the world of sports and celebrity lifestyles. The paid version includes automatic media content downloads and a ‘Puzzles’ edition.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ)
Nothing is more refreshing than getting stock market and business updates on your phone every morning. The WSJ has created an application to address this need.
Politico
This app is perfect for the current political climate. The app’s design allows users to read breaking news notifications. But you need a subscription to read news articles from this service.
Economist Espresso
This app is the early-morning coffee version of The Economist magazine. Espresso gives you instant access to daily global news updates. The app is also free of charge for the first 30 days.
The Washington Post
The unprecedented events in Washington over the past months has made The Washington Post a top contender in news. As a result, the app is the perfect go-to for updates on current events in Washington and the rest of the world.
Bloomberg: Business News
Like the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg’s app gives users financial updates on the latest stock market developments. The app’s free version is customizable and easy to use with features like ‘Watchlist’ and stock market data.
TechCrunch
A publication that prides itself on having the latest scoop on new technological advancements has no option than to develop a mobile app for its users. That’s how to lead by example.
Pocket
Pocket is similar to Medium in the sense that it is not an established publication. However, app users can save their favorite news articles for further reading. Pocket’s mobile app free version provides a remarkable user experience. The premium version allows users to change in-app settings.
News Break
This news aggregation outlet focuses on breaking news from around the world. You can customize your notifications to get insights on the latest noteworthy global events.
Some of these are free apps while the rest are paid apps, but they all use in-app purchases and other monetization methods to generate revenue. In essence, you can develop your monetization model to mirror these top publications.
Mobile app monetization is essential if you want to boost your magazine or newspaper’s relevance in the market. To level up with top newspapers, you need a mobile app. You can combine the mobile app with your website.
Most effective app monetization methods [Source: AdColony]
But you can’t dive in head-first without an app monetization strategy in place. You need to work on monetizing your app with a marketing team. Create a foolproof mobile app monetization strategy based on outstanding value propositions and excellent mobile experience.
You can sell the app in app stores or use a subscription model. Placing the app in the Android app store and Apple app store is a great way to make money.
Here are some of the most lucrative mobile app monetization strategies to boost conversion and make money.
Paid apps
The main question is: “Who will pay for an app?”
Research has shown that less than 50% of app users are willing to pay for an app. And this number has been decreasing over the years in the news and entertainment industry.
Paying news app users in Nordic countries [Source: Statista]
A magazine subscriber would not hesitate to download the app in the Google Play Store. However, some app users only download name-brand apps due to privacy concerns.
Nevertheless, you can generate massive app revenue by putting up your news app for sale.
Comparison graph for app purchases and revenue [Source: Statista]
Subscription-based model
Mobile app developers are more incentivized to create free apps with a subscription-based model than paid apps. This app monetization model allows paying app users to pay for services at their discretion. It is just similar to paying for your monthly subscription to Reader’s Digest and other periodicals.
By the way, users would rather download an app and pay later, than pay upfront. This allows them to assess the app to determine the obtainable value from the mobile app.
Freemium monetization model
The term ‘freemium’ refers to free and premium mobile apps. Unlike the subscription-based model, this ‘app for free’ monetization strategy is the most common way that apps make money.
The number of paid and free apps over the years. [Source: Statista]
Free app purchases allow users a limited preview of the app’s functionalities before they can pay for it. And if they are impressed with the preview, they can pay for the app’s premium version.
Free trial app monetization strategy
The free trial model is the best way to convince a user to buy an app or pay for a subscription. We all love freebies, especially when it allows us to test-drive our favorite paid apps.
Popular news agencies allow users to read their content for free for a specific period. Some magazines offer a free month while others offer only one week for a free trial. In a manner of speaking, “you have X days to convince me to pay for this app!”
But how can you monetize this free trial?
[Source: The Wall Street Journal]
Buy an app ad
The placement of mobile app ads is the most popular app monetization strategy today. This app monetization strategy compensates for free apps. You can use it as a way to generate mobile ad revenue based on impressions, clicks, and actions.
[Source: Google Ad Manager]
The main categories of mobile ad revenue include:
CPM — Cost Per Mille is the amount of revenue you can generate for every mile (thousand) impressions.
CPC — Cost Per Click determines how much app revenue you earn any time a user clicks on the ad. Cost per click advertising is quite popular in the ad space.
CPA — Cost Per Action is a less-lucrative but valuable metric that determines how apps make money. You earn revenue whenever the user completes an action — an in-app purchase.
As a news company, you can make money from your app by placing different kinds of ads. In fact, most free entertainment outlets focus on ads for the bulk of their app revenue. However, you would need the help of ad networks like Google Ads to make money from any ad category.
Here are some of the app ads categories to monetize your mobile app and increase revenue:
Native ads app advertising
Native ads are relevant to consumer experience when using an app. These ads target specific user browsing habits when using an app for free or revenue. For example, app users interested in marijuana legislation can receive native ads on CBD Oil.
Banner ads app advertising
Banner ads are quite popular across various platforms. You can use banner ads for your news page on Facebook and other social media platforms. But banner ads in-app advertising can only sell if they are catchy and product-related, otherwise, they may disrupt the user experience.
Interstitial ads app advertising
These ads are similar to banner ads. However, interstitial ads cover the entire screen for the duration of the mobile ad display. This is often a user experience headache. But you can avoid the disruption by placing the ads between natural pauses.
Video ads app advertising
Video ads are responsible for the highest click-through rates (CTRs) in-app advertising because they are interactive.
Ads with rewards
Most users hate ads, and forcing the ads won’t make the aggrieved user subscribe to use the app. They would rather skip the ad than sit through those annoying seconds. But you can give them a reason to watch the ad.
Just as Duolingo offers users new ‘Hearts’ for every video, your news app can encourage app users to sit through long and short ads. For instance, you can offer a free story for every viewed ad. This app monetization model will make you more revenue.
Your news publication can monetize your app by allowing purchases within the app.
What features can generate money in-app? Will users pay for certain features and ignore others? How will I maximize app revenue?
The answer is: users only buy in-app features depending on their overall value.
For example, The Metro UK’s app allows app users to buy the ‘Puzzle’ edition. In the same manner, your publication can earn revenue with a crossword puzzle or other mobile games that are only available for a certain price.
The ‘Subscription’ model is also considered an in-app purchase. The only difference is that you can focus app purchases on specific services rather than provide unlimited access to every service.
Partners and sponsors
Any news app or magazine making waves in the entertainment sector is an automatic magnet for sponsors and partners. So, app developers should always factor in the entertainment value that might interest the target audience. Most importantly, focus on brands that intersect with your user base.
In the same vein, you can collaborate with other media personalities or outlets for guest posts. If your outlet shows some promise in the market, brands will contact you for guest posting opportunities.
What are the essential features of any modern newspaper app?
You can cover your app with ads or use out-of-this-world fonts for the design. But none of these guarantees a successful app monetization model.
Old and new users should always be your main focus if you want to monetize your app. Don’t add any feature just for kicks. Maintain a high level of efficiency by stripping down the app to the barest minimum.
At the same time, you need enough essential features to compete with other news and magazine apps. You just need to strike the right balance between creativity and utility.
Let’s check out the essential features of any modern newspaper app.
Comfortable user experience
Comfort is the most crucial deciding factor of the appeal of mobile apps to users. An average newsreader wants to pick their phone, lay back, and enjoy a news article without any stress.
And it all starts with the app’s design…
A modern app should have an exquisite and interactive UX design. The interface should allow easy navigation between pages. Also, the fonts and color scheme must be legible and appropriate for a news agency. A top mobile app designer will address these issues during the design stage.
Offline access
Of course, most magazine apps need an internet connection to function properly. But any mobile app with user acquisition aspirations must allow offline access to news articles. You can achieve this by using a caching method for news when the internet is available. Moreover, offline access increases user engagement as well as the app’s overall appeal.
Breaking News alerts
What is a news app without breaking news? The answer: a redundant periodical.
If your newspaper app wants to become a top contender, breaking news alerts are compulsory.
Personalization options
Creating a personal user experience is necessary for both the user and your company. It allows the mobile app user to become part of a community. Users can also create profiles for engagement.
In the same way, your company will gain actionable insights into user experience and behavior. This data will fine-tune your marketing strategy to focus on niche app users. At the same time, you can get started on new expansion strategies for new users.
Sharing and connectivity options
[Source: Pexels]
Let’s face it; we all want to share interesting news stories to our Facebook and Whatsapp group chats. So, any modern mobile app must provide social media sharing options. More so, you need a ‘Copy link’ function for those who want to share the story without linking their social media accounts.
Sometimes you receive a news alert with a captivating caption, but don’t have the time to read the entire thing. In other situations, you read an enthralling article that you would love to read later. This is why a newspaper mobile app must have a reading list or watchlist.
Users can add stories to their favorites or bookmark for later reference. Alternatively, they would have to search for the content manually, which is a grueling task.
All modern newspaper mobile apps must be able to display images and videos. Ensure that the media player used in the mobile app is compatible with all devices.
What extra features can you add later to your mobile app?
The features mentioned above are must-haves for every news agency’s mobile app. However, you don’t have to stop there: brainstorm with app developers for more eye-catching add-ons for your mobile apps.
These in-demand features pique users’ interest in all mobile apps.
AI algorithm for personalized article suggestions
Reading statistics
Text-to-speech
Night mode
Push notifications
Online translation
Fact check banners
AI-integrated mobile apps track the user’s interests and suggest articles related to those topics. At the same time, the AI gathers data on reading statistics and activity over a specific period. So, investment in AI features is essential.
In terms of interface, push notifications and theme customization features are excellent additions. After all, you need to get instant notifications on breaking news as soon as it happens. Besides, the night mode is important for users who want to avoid the glare from bright color schemes.
Translation services can help non-native language speakers to enjoy the news in their native tongues. Alternatively, you can provide several language versions of the same article. And in addition, the text-to-speech widget is a more convenient replacement for typing.
Most importantly, the current social climate demands a clear distinction between fact and fiction. The influx of fake news and alternative facts necessitates a feature that can give credibility to the facts stated in a news article.
How much does it cost to develop newspaper mobile apps?
[Source: Pexels]
Once you have made up your mind to build a newspaper mobile app for a global app store, you need to create a budget. Most mobile app budgets consider the following administrative and financial factors:
Coverage
The newspaper mobile app’s reach determines how much money you can invest in it. For example, ‘NYT-Esque’ mobile apps require a high standard of usability and functionality. At the other end of the spectrum, we have mediocre apps that won’t cost you too much to develop.
Number of features
Mobile apps with only standard features cost less to develop. Think of it like building a house: the more appliances and furniture you buy, the more expensive the overall cost.
Apple or Android
Companies often develop mobile apps for all app stores simultaneously, but you can always stick with the most advantageous option based on your financial budget. Alternatively, you can use cross-platform mobile app development tools like Flutter.
With these three factors in mind, let’s analyze the activities that affect mobile app budgets the most.
Marketing is an integral part of the app development process. Besides creating the budget for the app, the marketing team also works on the app’s publicity campaign. The size of the marketing team varies depending on the newspaper company’s objectives.
Also, the marketing team has the longest lifespan in the app’s production chain. Their services extend from budget creation to the generation of app revenue. So, you can either go big with the marketing or limit your spending to the barest minimum.
Conclusion
In essence, you can monetize your app if it has a high-value proposition. Without app monetization, you are creating a revenue-consuming app revenue that will incur losses. Moreover, mobile apps improve your brand exposure and encourage customer engagement. You can also gain useful information on your user base, which will give you a massive competitive advantage in the market. And most importantly, you will make massive profits in addition to app sales.
However, you can only monetize your app by employing the right app monetization strategy. Follow the same app monetization strategies as top contenders like The Economist to maximize your profits. Strategize on the most effective app monetization model between app purchases and mobile advertising.
Ultimately, brainstorm with marketers and developers on app monetization to find out the standard and in-demand features for newspaper mobile apps. You can choose a subscription model or make your app free to download. In any case, don’t exceed your budget.
Here we got another fascinating interview, now online, with Greg Golebiewski – active tech investor and CEO of Emberlow, the battery saving app built in cooperation with The App Solutions.
The matter of our conversation is obviously all things Emberlow:
how the idea of the project was born;
what it took to turn it into the actual unique product;
UX tricks that were used for this app;
challenges faced along the way;
insights for entrepreneurs launching their mobile projects.
Having experienced quite a number of IT product launches, Greg got some interesting details to share indeed.
The APP Solutions:
Greg, it’s nice to be in touch with you. Let me start by saying that we all are very curious about how the idea of Emberlow came into sight? How was the unique idea of the product shaped?
Greg:
Well, actually I get to travel a lot and a lot of my friends-entrepreneurs do. And of course, we’re all the time facing this condition when you simply forgot to charge your battery overnight or simply used up your phone during the day and didn’t notice the battery is almost dead.
After some research, I realized there is no tool, which would not only prevent the battery from the fast outage but also save important docs like your boarding pass, presentation or notify people waiting for you before the telephone goes off.
So that’s the background of Emberlow – real-life situations, which moved me to create this mobile application.
The APP Solutions:
Thanks, I got that, Greg. Now let’s discuss the killer feature of the Emberlow app because it seems there are a lot of basic battery saving options out there. Is that right?
Greg:
Yes, that’s correct. There are a lot of services on the market that aim at excelling the battery life or managing battery life and they are very good at that. What’s more, hardware manufacturers work in this direction too. So, of course, we included some of these options in the application as well.
But my main objective was to help people save their schedule and planned activities despite the unexpected death of the device on hand. They still need to be in contact with dozens of people, so simply preset alerts will help with that. The most recent GPS location or a short message about running out of battery will help you on the go.
We went even further – we launched so-called actions – if you don’t have a printed version of your boarding pass and your telephone dies. To restore it at the airport, you need to pay, and you can even not have time for that.
It also applies to many different situations. I personally have two teenage boys. And they do not really care a lot about charging their phones in time. So when I call and catch the voice on the other side telling me subscriber’s phone is offline. And I don’t like to hear that. I prefer to get an automated message from his phone with his location (in emergency cases) or simply telling “my phone is running out of battery, I’ll be there in 2 hours” or something like that. They set it up once and activate when the battery reaches the low level.
The APP Solutions:
That’s clear, Greg. Thanks a lot. And now moving onto some UX/UI tricks you suggested or you worked out as a team to simplify usage of this very app.
Greg:
Yes, I understand. And here goes what we call the Folds – the system of alerts and actions for repeating situations. So basically, to spend less time in setting up different preventive measures within the app, you place those in one Fold and enable it with one single tap. For any kind of user – from a student to a housewife or businessman it’s only beneficial. And it works.
And by the way, that’s one of the major reasons for picking Android OS to build an app – a rather broad audience, literally every Metropolis citizen with a mobile phone. As of yet, there are more people globally using Android phones than ones with iOS.
The APP Solutions:
That makes total sense. What do you think was the biggest challenge from the perspective of a completed project?
Greg:
Well, as far as I’m thinking of expanding the functionality of the app in the future and incorporate 3rd party services in it, we tried to figure out how Google allows working within the operating system.
It’s mostly about technical aspects of IoT solutions integration – if we could help users of Smart House systems or medical device apps prevent problems caused by the simple battery outage.
Also, from the starting point, the major question was how to implement my concept with existing development tools. So we spent time in continuous cooperation with The App Solutions team to overcome some technical questions and create a truly top-notch product from scratch.
To you, Android lovers of the world, welcome to test out Emberlow mobile app – enjoy all the benefits and provide your feedback. It’s very much appreciated!
Have you ever wondered how much money does online businesses generate? The answer will impress you. According to the research, it’s $1.2 million every 30 seconds. About a million dollars are done through desktops, and another $200,000 is in mobile.
All of the above proves that running an online business is a very promising field. In this article, we are going to share some secrets and business cost reduction ideas that will help to kick-start a business.
How to start a successful online business
At the APP Solutions, we have a vast amount of completely different types of clients. Among them are stable companies, innovative startups and those, who only break the fresh ground. Based on this experience, we have collected five proven steps that will help to kick-start the online business.
Step 1. Find a need and fill this niche
A successful business is the one that ensures customers with the unique product or service. Once you have found this insight into customer’s need, focus on it. Some tips help with this searching:
Try to analyze your daily work and life routine and understand what product or service could improve them. Also, you can do a survey of your friends and their network to validate an idea.
Check online forums for some questions and problems other people are trying to solve.
Make a keyword research to find some popular request of what people are searching all over the world. It would be perfect to find a common problem that has no competing solution for it.
Make an investigation of your competitors and try to find weak sides in their service. Probably, you could fill the demand or just can offer better service.
Step 2. Identify an audience
Once you have decided on your product, you need to understand who is precisely your customer and build the portrait of these personas. After this, you need to focus on how to target this person and deliver information about your company. Finding people who might want to buy your product is the key answer to the question of how to run an online business.
Check out some important notes about the behavior of consumers online:
Search is one of the most important channels so far. More than 30% of users come to the website from organic search in Google, Bing, or Yahoo. For a long-term marketing strategy, it is crucial to invest in search engine optimization.
When building a plan for an online presence of your brand, start with Facebook and Twitter as users spent more time than on any other social network. Also, use YouTube as an additional channel.
For e-commerce projects, the fastest-growing channels are mobile, CPC, and YouTube. Note that in the case of CPC campaigns, you need to track data closely to control your budget.
Focus on bringing traffic from Facebook more than from Twitter, as the average value of on customer from Facebook is four times more.
Concentrate on optimizing your website for iPhone and iPad first as they bring you 65% of all mobile traffic.
Step 3. Define a monetization plan
Right after you find out how to start a successful online business, you need to figure out how the income will be generated. Create a content and marketing strategy that agreed with a promotion schedule. Also, think about special offers to engage your customers.
Step 4. Test and refine
So, the website of your product or service is launched. However, it doesn’t mean that the job is done. Having an online business means monitoring the vast amount of data and implementing improvements every day.
It is crucial to gather and analyze information about your customers from all sources and take stock of what works and what doesn’t. Try different tools, products, and services to engage your customers.
Step 5. Increase customer’s lifetime value and make upsells
Developing the client’s lifetime value should become an important part of your marketing strategy. According to statistics, about 36% of consumers are going to re-purchase again after follow-up.
The most difficult part of the process is to close the first deal. To make customers buy again, you may try the following approaches:
Offer products or services that complement previous purchases.
Create an app with a gamification loyalty program.
Make special offers for holidays.
Encourage loyal customers with even more unique offers.
Money-saving ideas for your rising business
It is worth saying a few words about costs and recourses optimization. Here at The App Solutions we always try to help clients with cost-saving.
Outsource your web and app development
Ukraine proves to be one of the best outsourcing destinations all over the world. Of course, the primary reason is cost efficiency, and the chart below is the best illustration: However, outsourcing app development services also carry some risks, but with a reliable vendor, you can even turn them into benefits.
Start your project with MVP
Minimum viable product (MVP) is the first release of your project that contains the only main feature.
The advantage of such an approach is that you can launch the business quickly and test the idea on the market. We have created a handy tool to estimate the cost of the project. Check it out.
Cost-saving customer support
Customer support is the foundation stone of any business. Good support can save the situation while the bad one can screw up all efforts.
According to the Harvard Business Review, the 5% better retention causes a 95% rise in the profit. And customer support is the tool that helps you with that.
Inevitably, excellent service costs real money. But you can improve the cost-efficiency of outsourcing customer services and call center outsourcing. Our friends and partners WOW 24-7 provide frontline, backline, and back-office support at very reasonable prices. And you as a customer save some money on the room and all facilities, but at the same time will have as many employees as you need for the moment depending on the workload.
Takeaway
Starting an online business is easier than it seems to be. A fresh idea is an important part of the whole undertaking, but without a sensible strategy and the team a project may not take off. So, spend time and recourses on essentials and make wise cost savings.
Business analysis is one of those services that are often underestimated. While you, as a person with an idea, would know your idea better than anyone else, often you need business analysis and analytics who would take a look at your idea from another viewpoint.
Every project starts with a foundation. In software development it matters more than anywhere else — it is an extremely important stage that defines the subsequent faith of the project in more ways than one can imagine. Think about it in terms of constructing a building. You can’t do it without laying a foundation first. And if you do — expect things falling apart because of some minuscule issue jumping seemingly out of nowhere.
In software development said the foundation is laid by performing business analysis. While it may seem obvious to some, one can’t stress enough the importance of this discipline. If there is a thing to be called a “key to success” — then the business analysis is definitely that.
And yet, despite everything said — again and again, some question its role and try to downplay its importance in favor of more abstract and flashy fluff also known as “vision”.
But we are getting too far too soon. Let’s start with the basics.
What is Business Analysis?
The general definition of Business Analysis (BA) is — set tasks and techniques aimed at determining and validating the needs, requirements, problems, and solutions of the project so that it would be possible to successfully realize it.
Long story short — BA does how’s, what’s and why’s of the project, i.e.:
makes sense of an idea;
fleshes it out;
lays it down;
maps it out;
In one form or another, the business analysis goes through every aspect of the project: from organizational nuance to system development to process improvement. It starts off with studying the structure of the organization in which the project will be implemented, goes through understanding the scope of work, and determining sets of tasks for the team.
Because of the intricate connection both to the client and development team — BA serves as a communication link between both. That helps to keep both parties on the same page and helps to avoid any misunderstandings that may occur in the process.
The purpose of performing the business analysis is relatively simple: it puts an idea into context and provides it with a background so that it is possible to evaluate its feasibility and potential on the market.
Otherwise, if an idea is not thought through and through, no matter how fresh and exciting it is — it will turn the ground beneath your feet into quicksand and you will drown and suffocate shortly after.
The direct benefit of business analysis is that through a variety of techniques it provides a clear and distinct picture of the project that can be easily monitored and adjusted if needed.
In turn, this transparency ensures that the project will be developed according to the plan and will be completed and deployed within time and budget constraints without unreasonable going over budget or stretching out beyond schedule. Avoiding the latter is important because developing a piece of software is rather expensive service.
Business Analysis or Business Analytics?
Just to make things clear before we delve into deeper worlds of business analysis, let me say this: business analysis is not the same thing as business analytics.
Business Analysis is primarily concerned with processes and functions.
Business Analytics, on the other hand, is focused on data and reporting.
Therefore, make sure you don’t confuse these two (and if you forget which is which, come back to this post) because they are fundamentally different and if you’re expecting a dashboard with data from your business, that’s analytics, not analysis.
Anyway, let’s continue deeper into Business Analysis now.
Responsibilities of BA in Software Development
If being abstract — the business analyst in software development is always a middleman. His work can be described as filtering and facilitating the output from the stakeholders on the client’s part on one side and translating the results of the team to the other side.
From a business standpoint, BA’s global task can be described as delivering a clear vision of the project with a strict set of priorities and a concise plan for the realization of requirements.
From a technical standpoint, his task is to provide the development team with a precise and realistic sequence for the execution of requirements and implementing functions from iteration to iteration up to the project completion.
In terms of direct responsibilities, the role of a business analyst in software development depends on the stage of the project.
Let’s go through each of them.
Stage One: Groundwork
During the initial stage, Business Analysis is aimed at laying down the groundwork for the project.
In practice, it means:
understanding the initial business case and fleshing it out (if needed),
assessing its feasibility, expectations, and possible challenges,
Preparing information for the estimation of the project.
Stage Two: Planning the Project
In the planning stage, the business analyst is tasked with defining and prioritizing the requirements. Another important element in consideration is an assessment of possible solutions. This helps to paint the big picture of the project out of which comes an understanding of the project’s real scope, limitations, and risks. Basic merit for every element is a cost-benefit correlation.
All this is laid down in technical documentation. It should be noted that the document must be completely disambiguated before being put into execution. Documentation serves as a backbone of the project and it determines the way it will be subsequently managed and developed (more on that here).
All this helps to shape the basic vision of the user experience for the program. connect the reality of the situation with the project’s concept.
Stage Three: Observing Others Do What the Plan Says
During the executing stage, BA takes a more backseat role in overseeing the project development in cooperation with the Project Manager. In practice, it means that BA leers in the background checking if every element in development is going according to the plan and within the set deadlines. He only comes to the front in cases of clients’ suggestions and subsequent adjustments.
At this stage, there are three primary goals for the business analyst.
To break down the requirements into sets of tasks for the development team (i.e. backlog);
To maintain communication with the clients and soliciting feedback from them;
Implement feedback and formulate tasks;
In addition to that BA can be involved in developing test scripts for initial rounds of testing.
Improves the quality of design for the proposed IT system so that it meets the user requirements.
It is important to note that BA keeps refining and adjusting the descriptions of the functional requirements throughout the development stage. It is done so that by the time it will come to the development of the function it will be thoroughly described and adapted according to the current state of things.
Stage Four: Making Sure It Works
In the testing stage, BA is involved in developing and refining comprehensive acceptance criteria for test scripts of the various modules of the program.
It involves a combination of functional walkthroughs, user impersonations, and also user acceptance tests.
His primary goal at this stage is to ensure that the project meets requirements and is fully operational and ready for deployment.
Stage Five: Making Sure It Continues to Work
The monitoring stage usually runs concurrently with the testing stage. BA’s purpose at this point is to evaluate changes from initial plans.
On one hand, BA collects explanations for changes from the development team. On the other — he gets approval for implementing the changes.
Stage Six: The Closing Stage
During the closing stage, BA presents the project to the client and gains their approval. His next move is usually creating instructional guides for the program and final documentation for the project.
Another important thing is documenting the value of the project for the team in terms of “lessons learned”.
Methods of Business Analysis
A toolkit of the business analyst may vary depending on the specifics of the project but the general techniques stay more or less the same.
The whole process of BA is divided into three fundamental types of business analysis:
Strategic Analysis — relates to the initial and planning stages of the project. Allows to identify the challenges, assess possible solutions, elucidate business requirements, help to determine the global goals and local objectives of the projects. Attained information improves the management process of the project.
Tactical Analysis — goes through every stage of the project. Allows to choose the most viable solutions and ensure that everything meets the expectations. Used to flesh out the requirements and break them down into tasks inside the backlog.
Operational Analysis — relates to the business aspects of the project. Focused on studying the ways of managing the project and looking for opportunities for its improvement. Allows adapting the working process to maximum effectiveness by finding weak points and waste elements. Directly affects iteration planning.
In conclusion
It is hard to overestimate the role of business analyst in software development. The very existence of the project is largely dependent on qualified business analysis.
Without a clear scope, established requirements, intricate planning, and adequate communication — chances are the project will crumble on its weight before gaining substance.
Business analysts are key members of the developing team. Basically, they are the torchbearers. They bring order to the project and lead it to fruition.
The concept of “product free of charge” has substantially transformed over the last couple of years. Until recently, it wasn’t much of an option but merely a necessity for a small company with limited resources and a lack of credibility. After all, every company starts with something and this something is usually given away for free in mostly vain hopes of getting through.
But things have changed. Not only the understanding of the concept had evolved but the very business opportunities of the free products had substantially transformed in a positive direction.
Today, free apps are not just a fancy bow wow wow – it is a powerful tool with many benefits for your business. And many businesses are realizing this trend. Check out the Google Android store distribution of free and paid apps (according to Statista), keeping in mind there are 3,708,107 apps in that app store alone.
Here are five ways free apps can be beneficial for your business.
Trying Out New Ideas
One of the biggest and most important benefits from the development of free apps are opportunities. The biggest opportunity of all is to try something different, something new.
The development of free apps gives a chance to test and flesh out new ideas and develop new approaches to the old ones.
Free apps can offer even more. It is one thing to try things in a controlled environment. It is a completely different situation when you try out something on real users. The sheer force of the market can keep an idea grounded. It can also show what works, what is not, and what can be improved through user feedback.
An insight that the market can provide to the perception of the concept and nuances of its reception is invaluable and can seriously improve the idea and make it more feasible with each successive iteration.
A Showcase of Skill
With testing, ideas comes another big benefit. Any way you look at it – making a free app is a fine showcase of skill for your development team. Plain and simple. Each project, each function adds, refines, and furthers the skills. It gives the team a chance to test their mighty expertise and make it appreciable.
The reasoning is justified by two facts:
Free apps are more likely to be downloaded and used by common users. More downloads bring more users. That results in exposure. This leads to another important thing – feedback;
Users usually don’t expect much from free apps. Because of that – there is always quite a room for wowing an audience and making a splash.
Because of that, the stakes are relatively low and losses are easily retractable. So it is definitely worth a try even for sake of trying.
The biggest takeaway from making free apps is the honing of the skills “on the real battlefield”. It gives a taste of the real market, gives an understanding of the customer behavior and its reaction to the product.
That gives invaluable insights that will greatly help you in future endeavors.
Build a Reputation and Presence via Free Apps
Another important gain from producing free applications is building a reputation and developing a brand presence through actual products and not just loud and fancy words. A succession of useful products targeted at various audience segments can do a fine job of establishing a brand in an audience’s consciousness.
There are several ways you can make the mark:
Deliver gimmicky applications for niche audiences – it will provide a short-term presence in the newsfeeds and attract users through the sheer power of curiosity. However, the abandonment level is pretty high and so you will need to provide frequent updates and new products;
Deliver useful common needs applications for a mass audience – it will provide a firm place in listicle overviews and will gradually attract users who just need the stuff to be done nice and clean.
Both ways require a lot of skill and effort (see above) but if done right – in the long run, reputational gains outweigh possible monetary losses.
Brand Extension / Product Promotion
One of the most potent ways of making free apps work for your benefit is to use them as a part of a bigger scheme of brand extension and product promotion.
Let’s say – you have a Star Wars movie coming out and there is a big advertising campaign to raise awareness about its existence. How can you expand upon that?
You can make a mobile space flight simulator where you can play as a rebel fighter or imperial stormtrooper.
Or you can make available Chewbacca sounds pack because it is fun and can be used randomly.
Or R2D2-speak translator because interaction with droids might come in handy.
On the other hand, you can offer a different angle on the advertised product – with an interactive twist. For example, Fox’s recent VR campaign for “Alien: Covenant” where you can experience being a chestburster inside a human and in the process of bursting out.
Such little things derive from the primary product and further impressions of the users in various directions.
However, in order to pull this off, you need to have an established brand or association with an established brand first. Otherwise, an app will do little for your business.
One of the key elements of building a recognizable brand is making some sort of signature app. Let’s say you are providing some services
Monetization
While “free apps” are called so because they are free (duh) – it doesn’t mean they can’t make money. Quite the contrary. In fact, free apps are quite effective in creating sweet-sweet revenue.
There are several ways of how free apps can make money. However, they don’t have much effect on their own. It is better to use combinations. Let’s make a short rundown of the most viable monetization options:
In-app adverts – a little banner or pop-up inside the application which will present some product – usually another app;
In-app purchases – optional ability to buy additional functions for the product. Works best with transformative applications such as text or photo editors. A couple of elaborate filters are always in demand. Works best with timely occasions such as Halloween or significant cultural events;
Freemium model – an offer to extend and expand user experience with the bigger & better version of an application. It means – free version offers a basic set of functions completely capable of doing the job while for a little pay there is a significantly expanded version of an application that can do the same and much more. In this case – the free app serves as a teaser of sorts;
The Takeaway
Despite being a viable tool for making a profit – there is still a persistent impression that free apps are just that – free apps free of any positive business consequences. This and many other myths about mobile apps need to be laid to rest. And this article is a part of this “myth-retiring” campaign.
Mobile applications are a hot commodity these days. The technology is in a perpetual improvement loop and it seems like nothing is static anymore. New functions, new gear, new design, new combinations of ideas — all “neat, neat, neat.”
However, the more things change — the more they stay the same. The gimmick may vary, but the essence is always the same old same old.
No matter how hard some companies try to differentiate themselves and their products — there are general conventions every application is bound to follow.
The trick is that while all of these conventions are obvious — it is still necessary to point them out.
Because some people tend to have the ambition to reinvent the wheel for some reason (which is extremely counter-productive and non-cost-effective practice.)
These conventions are not rooted in hard science concepts or marketing pitches — they are based on common sense regarding the use of tools of any kind. You can’t go against human nature.
Here are the top nine tips to take into consideration while making mobile applications.
Make your app actually useful for your users
It is not a big deal to make an application. However, it is a big deal to make an application that will be useful in any comprehensive way and ultimately profitable for the developer. Some folks keep ignoring the latter part while pretending that banging head against the wall someday will come to fruition.
In order to create an actually successful application, you need to keep a target audience in mind. Think about their needs and preferences. That is the starting point. With that thing locked down, you have half the job done.
Create use cases to explore what the target audience needs and wants from an application. Count on a wide variety of factors that affect their behavior. Look at the competitors — find a way to differentiate yourself and engage the audience with what you have to offer.
Secure lightning-fast learnability (aka teach your users how to use your app)
This one is hard to pull off. When we are developing an app, we see and talk through ideas so many times that it all seems simple and obvious. Yet, it’s not always the case.
Imagine yourself a user. You have just downloaded an app. It is the thing you need. You start it up and you have no idea what is going on. While you understand the concept and you are really into it — you can’t really get a grasp on it. What are you going to do next? Delete that app and look for another one, i.e. bad news.
The first and foremost thing you need to think about when developing an application is how fast it could be mastered by the user. That is the key to the loyalty of the users. If it is easy to follow — it will be used a lot. If the learning curve is blown out of proportion — too long or too complicated, chances are the application will not be used a lot by its target audience and soon enough they will move on to something handier.
There two solutions for this issue. One is providing the user with handy cues – so-called onboarding experience. The other is through audience insights — you need to know how much your user can take in one bite beforehand. It may be discovered through dry-run MVP or in close-quarter test runs or simply by looking at the competition.
Supreme usability saves (aka your app might be useful, but how easy is it to use?)
Another issue connected with learnability is the overall usability of an application. There is no point in making an app that is near-impossible to use without excessive frowning. The design scheme for your application must be goal-driven.
This can be achieved through building extensive user stories with various personas and scenarios so that you will have the complete picture of the user experience in mind while refining particular elements.
You also need to understand the context of use — how and why an application is used by the user and what should be prioritized for better performance.
Finally, you need to secure a reasonable response time for every function and proper feedback. Every action should be signified as such. For example, if the sequence is done it is noted through sound, image, or text. If there is some information that can be lost upon quitting the program — there must be a notification with a warning. The list may go on, but you get the idea 🙂
The main thing to keep in mind: know the purpose of your app and don’t try to squeeze all features you can think of inside the app. There is a reason why dishwashers cannot be freezers at the same time.
Adaptability above all (or think various screen sizes and devices)
The next thing you need to think about is the flexibility of design. There is no set “end all be all” standard for mobile phones. There are hundreds of various specifications on the market. All of them have a different set of features, display screens, and resolutions, some have a button while others don’t.
Because of that — you need to make the interface of your application adaptable to variations. Sometimes it means keeping the feature set to a bare minimum, other times it allows to add some more. Sometimes you can delegate functions to external buttons, in other cases you need to make it a part of the interface. Font size must be readable all the time with the function of manual adjustment.
Aside from that, the entire interface scheme should be adapting both to portrait and landscape configurations of the screen.
Also, — it is reasonable to include a variation of an app for left-handed people. While it may seem superfluous in a big scheme of things — at least it is a nice inclusive gesture.
Minimize action sequences (aka how many times people should click to reach the goal?)
There is something inherently wicked about an application that requires sophisticated dance routines for your fingers in order to perform basic actions. While it may be fun for those who like such things — the majority of users will be simply annoyed and will probably move on to another similar application.
The fewer actions it takes to do something — the better. That is the law. It is fair to say that it is Judge Dredd kind of law — beyond discussion.
Always look for a simpler way to do something. That is the key to making an application attractive to the target audience.
“Making every page or screen self-evident is like having good lighting in a store: it just makes everything seem better.” (Steve Krug, Don’t Make Me Think)
Side note: minimizing action sequences doesn’t mean you should put all possible banners and buttons on your home screen. It means simplifying the general user journey, but it’s never good to take it to the extreme 🙂
Allow feedback (listen to your users)
Feedback is the most effective way of polishing an application. It deals with real people and thus offers real results.
Usually, it goes both ways — you tell the users what is going on with an application and in return, you get some friendly suggestions on what is good and what can be improved.
For some reason, many developers are scared of suggestions from actual users. Nevertheless, it is a viable option that must be used for your benefit. Even bad feedback can be used to make your app better.
Introduce new features (gradually)
The gradual expansion of an application is a reasonable way of marketing your application. You start with an initial set of features that is completely fine and satisfies the majority of the target audience. But you can offer more time.
Not only that strengthens the engagement with the application – but it also is a sign of the good use of users’ feedback.
Monitor battery use (aka keep those phones alive)
One of the most challenging issues that exist in mobile application development is optimizing the use of battery resources. It is one of the things that plagues the majority of mobile applications – over time they simply drain the battery like hungry vampires from Transylvania. That is one of the reasons why users are moving away from some applications in favor of more reasonable alternatives.
How to deal with it? Through trial and error. In order to reduce battery consumption – you need to go through every functional element of an application and set performance restraints on them according to priorities. It hurts overall performance so there must be a balance.
(By the way, we’ve developed an app for Android phones that takes care of exactly this problem – saving the user’s battery. Check out the Emberlow case study.)
Want to Learn More About The APP Solutions Approaches In Project Development?
Make your app safe (be nice in handling user data)
Security is a sensitive issue at the moment. The majority of applications require users to share some sensitive data in order to operate properly. So it seems reasonable to keep that sensitive data out of reach of some treacherous individuals.
In order to do that you need to secure consistent monitoring and updates. Usually, the back-end team can work it out. It may be a routine update performed on a schedule or it may be a reaction to the current security emergencies.
Another issue comes with the disclosure of the purpose for collecting the information. Keeping users in the know why are asking their data is important in building trust.
Check out the top security issues for Android and iOS phones according to WhiteHat.
The signing of the contract is the defining moment between the client and the company. It is a result of a long and winding road made out of various offers, presentations, interviews, and considerations… But before signing there is one more step — clarification of the terms and conditions.
It can be a bit overwhelming when you are doing it for the first time because there are many details involved. However, we have prepared a little guide for you to help you be prepared and cover all bases.
Why do Terms and Conditions matter so much?
The reason is relatively simple. As you know — the devil is in the details and it tends to mess things up badly. The thing is — the contract is the definitive document of the business relationship. You can’t just accept terms and conditions in the generic form – you need to go deep into the thick of it. The contract is the thing that determines how’s, what’s and why’s of the whole ordeal — the code of conduct, responsibilities of all involved parties, a model of cooperation, payment method, and more.
It is a big deal and it needs to be balanced out in a way so that none of the involved parties will have enough power to abuse their influence over another. But it is easier said than done. Since contracts are negotiated between humans — oversights can occur.
What can go wrong with Contract terms?
You may ask “What possibly can go wrong?” The answer is — whole lotta things can go not as planned. You never know what is lurking around the corner and because of that, you need to be cautious and talk about every single detail.
Terms and conditions may apply to a variety of factors. Such things as monthly pricing and scope of work usually take front and center of the negotiations, while such sensitive subjects as contingencies for added work or emergency situations might be underdeveloped or even omitted in the overall fuss.
Let’s take a couple of examples.
You need to know what will happen if you deliver the product to the client, and he doesn’t like it? Or you need to determine whether further revisions after deployment will be for free or for an additional price. Also, what if your client will decide to reduce the scope of work at some stage — how it will affect the minimum monthly fee? The list goes on.
In other words — everything needs to be negotiated through in advance.
What will happen if not everything was talked through and something was left out for some reason? Let’s talk metaphorically. “Mess” is a four-letter word that describes a state of confusion, disorder, or disarray. It is definitely not very nice and it likes to bring her friends, the other four-letter words that are even less nice. If being more exact — an underdeveloped contract may cause some not so pleasant surprises to all involved parties.
In order to make everyone’s life easier and relieve anyone from needless stress — we have prepared a little checklist of terms and conditions that need to be worked out in advance. It can be used as a terms and conditions template for refinement of the contract.
Terms to Specify in Advance
The terms you need to specify will depend on what services you’re offering, the size of your client, the approximate budget of the project and some other factors. This is by no means a complete list, but these are some things to look out for as you draw up your contract.
Pricing & Payment
How much will the services cost?
How often will payments be made?
Will payments be made before the services are performed or after?
What happens if a payment is coming late?
How to handle the client’s request for additional services?
What if the client wants to reduce services or rearrange its order?
Is there a minimum value of services per pay period?
Is payment results-based or is it a fixed cost?
Contract Duration
How long will the contract period last?
Can it be canceled at any time?
What are the circumstances under which the contract can be canceled?
How can the client cancel services?
How much in the advance notice should be given in order to start the cancellation of the contract?
What if the client wants to put the contract on ‘hold’ for some reason?
Contingencies
Does the client get the right to request revisions upon delivery? If so, are they included in the original price?
What if the client doesn’t like the delivered results even though it was already been agreed upon and produced? Who pays the extra charge?
Is there a limit to how many revisions the client of the project can request?
If the company misses a deadline for some reason, what will happen?
Does the client get some kind of compensation in return?
Scope of Work
What kind of work will you provide? What does this work include?
In which manner the company is going to present the results of the work?
Can the client increase/reduce the scope of work as needed? Should it be negotiated beforehand?
In Conclusion
The purpose of this list is to help to check whether every little peculiarity is included in the contract. You can use it as a shorthand while checking whether everything is covered or if there is something that needs to address.
