Category: Marketing

Improving your app regularly increases the number of downloads. And otherwise, if your enthusiastic users become unhappy one day, downloads and ratings can go down.

If you’ve ever released an app before, you should know that the task is not finished once it’s published on the store. You have to constantly keep your users engaged and your app always improved by updates. Once you put hard work into these, you’ll as well get the word out.

Keep Your Users Engaged and Happy

You need to regularly update your app in order to keep your customers always happy and engaged. And even if you think that you’ve put all your care into developing the first version of the application, there are still chances that you didn’t make everything right.

READ ALSO: App Store Video Previews

Of course, the first thing you should pay attention to is fixing the bugs. You might also want to add or improve some features users and bloggers complain about when leaving their reviews. But don’t go crazy with updates, releasing a new one every 2 or 3 weeks. Steer a middle course: don’t let your current users get bored and don’t make your potential users think that your app is dead.

Updates Play a Bigger Role than App Store Optimization

Did you know that release of iOS6 had big impact on App Store Optimization? Among the biggest benefits is the new feature on the details page named “What’s new?” The new section becomes equally important as the general app description does.

The metadata for every update appears directly on the user’s iPad. That means you’ll have to use the first couple of your app description to describe your product and then use the first few lines of the “What’s new” tab for promotion and showing that your app has been recently improved.

Why not to use that additional space, where you can encourage users to download the app? Don’t limit yourself just to “new features, bugs’ fixes” when writing the metadata for your application’s update. Straight after the first lines you may embed the list of new features. You can also use special symbols or characters in order to make these more visible.

These can be asterisks or anything else you prefer. Try not to be too techy when talking about the bugs or features: most users will not understand that entire technical staff, so keep it simple. In the end do the same thing you do in your description, inserting call-to-action offering users to download the updated version of your app now.

You may think that some of these are just small details but it won’t take lots of your time to get this part right. In case you’re doing an update just to fix some bugs, you can also include info on what’s new is there in this version.

How and Where to Promote Your Updates

When releasing little bug-fixing updates, you may do it quietly. But when it comes to completely new outstanding features of your app, you have a great opportunity to talk with your favorite users as well as reach out to new customers. Here are some things you can do right now to start promoting your app’s updates.

Promo Codes Giveaway before Your App Update

In case your app in not brand new, you are not likely to use all those promo codes each time. But try to apply some of those promo codes before submitting your app’s updates to Apple Store. When announce about an update coming, give a link on Twitter/Facebook, where anybody interested can use the app promo codes. In case you have more than 1 app you can also consider a cross-promotion.

Control the Release Date

As well as for an app launch, if you want to communicate with your audience about an event, it’s better to set a time for that. Make things easier both for you and your customers. We recommend you to plan to do your submission 3-4 weeks before the moment you’d like to officially release your update.

Promote Your Update

If you have a blog, write a small post about the update.

It shouldn’t be difficult as it has to be a detailed version of what you submitted in the “What’s New” section of the App Store. Try to describe each feature you added and explain why. It will be also nice to insert a couple of screenshots, provide the link to the App Store, and motivate users to get the update.

Use Facebook/Twitter to tell about the app update

You can start talking about the update even before you start working on it. Just let people know when you’re going to prepare the new release (check promo codes info above). After you’ve released the update you can once again tell about it in the “What’s new” section, giving a link to the app’s page or your blog post.

Having a push notification system you can alert your users as well. But make sure to use it only for big updates that really improve your application and/or fix any major issues. People shouldn’t feel spammed.
Trying to be less intrusive you may consider the small popup that appears at first opening following the updates with friendly explications of what’s new there is for users who automatically download the updates.

One more thing you can consider for major updates is contact journalists and bloggers who can be interested in them. But make sure to do this only if your update is newsworthy, as otherwise, you’ll just spoil your relationship with your contacts.

If some bloggers reviewed an earlier version of your app and talked about something he didn’t like, make sure to let him know about the improvements you made to correct some features and you’d like these people to try and review the new version of your app once again.

Remember, updates are crucial for keeping your app alive on the market and are a perfect way to show your users that their opinion is important for you and you do your best to improve the app. Use this amazing opportunity to talk about your work and discuss what benefits your users can have by using it.

Let me just outline, that currently there are over 2 million apps in Google Play Store. That is quite a good deal of applications, isn’t it?

Sounds like a piece of great news for all smart gadget users out there, but not as good for app developers.

Getting to ASO itself, which is basically app optimization for improving its’ ranking in App Store search results, the surprising thing is going on. A large amount of publishers still doesn’t invest in app store optimization.

But here is one thing – before people use apps for diverse purposes, they tend to search for these. Consequently, everybody wants the highest rankings in Android App Store, because you get more app downloads. It can sound simple in theory, but in fact, takes a while trialing and fixing mistakes.

While nobody really knows the exact algorithm of Google ranking, there are a few well-tried tricks that work to lift your app up in Play Store. Google Play Store algorithm seems to be more complicated when comparing to Apple App Store.

Here is a list of primary Google play store app ranking factors:

• Number of ratings
• Number of installs and uninstalls
• App involvement (frequency of use)
• Growth of downloads in the nearest 30 days
• Backlinks to your app

In fact, there are a lot of common things in app optimization for Android and iOS. But let’s dive more into specific features of ASO Google Play Store, shell we?

7 game-changing tricks for Android app optimization

1. Find and track the keywords

This basic, yet deciding, step means EVERYTHING on your way to Google app store search optimization. Without this information, you won’t even find out whether your google play search optimization is working or not.

Apparently, it’s important to choose the words according to your target audience.

The keywords in Google Play Store you select should properly describe your app, so people are encouraged to download it once they find the app in the search. Besides, you want keywords to be as relevant to your application core as possible.

And to hit a maximum of your target audience, these words better be the most requested, at the same time overlapping competition as little as possible.

There are cases in-app publishing when particular apps gained about 300% downloads raise only from keywords optimization.

Remember not to overplay with this part to really improve Google Play ranking.

Tools for keywords research:

• Google Keyword Planner
• Wordstream
• Sensor Tower
• Wordpot
• AppCodes
• Ninja Search Combination Tool

You can also dig for more keywords either in users’ reviews (check Review Mining), or survey your target audience on Social Media, through e-mail newsletters, etc.

2. Include keywords in the title

Speaking about the name of your application, it might be the most determining factor in ASO.

First and foremost – keywords placed in the title of your application should be with the most massive search traffic. Take time to search for this essential, because once you decided on the title, it becomes a staple. And you really want the head of the app to be descriptive, unique, sharp, and appealing.

This way you create the most comfortable and “easy to figure out” experience for the searchers.

Once your app is published, starts getting downloads and reviews, it will be also spread by word of mouth. So it’s not the best idea of switching and trying different names at that stage.

Mind! Your title should not exceed 25-30 characters. Otherwise, you risk losing users distracted by not seeing a complete name in a search list and shifting to a bunch of other apps out there.

3. Description really matters…for Google

Here goes a major difference between Google Play Store and Apple App Store search optimization principles.

Google picks up the keywords from a description of your application. Obviously, we need to get the most out of it.

Experience shows that using keywords 4 to 5 times throughout the app’s definition will improve your rankings up to 20 spots. But again, do not stuff your description with the whole range of keywords straight – that’s a way to turning it into spam.

4. Now visuals – App’s Icon, Screenshots, Promo Video

Looking for an appropriate application, a lot of searchers will “window shop”. And the app’s icon is the first thing to pay attention to. It should be of high quality, utterly informative, and attractive design. There are also clear specifications Google expects your icon to include, so you can, obviously, Google it 🙂

Killer name and icon might be not enough for catching your prospect’s full attention. So make sure to use all 8 available screenshots for different types of devices – phones, tablets, TVs. You need a set of high-resolution screenshots with the descriptions on them to show the most goodies of your app.

To make these pics even edgier, use various dynamic tools (Promotee, Adobe Photoshop, PlaceIt, Screenshot Maker Pro) to simulate running the app on the device.

A stunning Promo Video is a cherry on the top of your cake. That is why Google Play is so awesome. You simply upload it to YouTube in a matter of minutes.

Make your video short and on point to respect your people’s time, they will appreciate that a lot! You wanna highlight only major features and advantages within your app.

5. Work those reviews and ratings up

The truth is it takes a number of downloads to get displayed. So asking for reviews and improving ratings of the app is a significant scope when doing a qualified ASO.

Zendesk claims in its’ recent survey that around 88% of consumers are mostly influenced by online product reviews before they make a decision to buy an app.

So again, head to your customers and ask to leave favorable reviews. As far as your app is satisfying and involving, it won’t be a problem for them.

For Google Play Store there is also a great chance to avoid negative reviews from users.

You can simply provide them with a clear direct channel for giving feedback to developers within the app. This way you can ask users for reviews (Important! Only when they are the most engaged, not really when they are busy performing tasks on the app, ok?). Just preface by asking a simple question – are you enjoying the app?

6. Localize your app

You always want to translate the application to the languages of your target regions. It’s a true must to offer a localized version of your product, except a common international option.

7. Backlinks are going to make wonders for your app

It’s the same as with a normal web search when links from reputable A list resources increase spreading the application over the net. You don’t wanna deal with low-quality Z list link farms for getting optimal results.

Therefore, it will be great to promote your app on some popular websites, asking them to write about your application and providing a link to your app page. You may also consider starting your own blog and contact press for people to get more opportunities for exploring your app.

Overall picture

A global trend is all about the growing price of each app installation and the same rising number of downloads required to appear in the featured ratings of Google Play Store. So promoting the app can become a truly challenging activity for the narrowed budget companies.

At the same time, Google Play Store optimization can complete your whole marketing strategy at a lower cost and give tangible results already in the short-run. Don’t waste that chance and absolutely try it.

Happy app store optimization, guys!

There are tons of money to be made from app development. This ranges from the paid apps’ initial sale to in-app purchases. Several companies find it suitable to utilize a mobile advertising platform to monetize their apps in order to multiply their investment. You probably have several advertising platforms for your app to select from; however, the challenge to this is that you have no idea where to begin.

This happens often to most app developers and budding entrepreneurs, which is why some professionals shortlisted top-notch information to offer those who are facing trouble choosing, to make a decision. Here is a list of the top 9 best app advertising platforms guaranteed to bring you optimum revenue.

1. Tapjoy

All top mobile game developers might want to consider Tapjoy. This is because it has experience with in-app purchases, which is among the most utilized way of achieving optimum app monetization. Undoubtedly, Tapjoy takes the lead in the gaming domain. What do mobile gamers do when they are asked to pay just to finish a game? Some pay up, most gamers quit. In order to avoid this, Tapjoy has introduced incentivized downloading by providing gamers the prospect of earning virtual currency by partaking in real-world actions.

This in turn enables them to get awarded in the virtual world through access to premium content in over 20,000 games to the present day in the Tapjoy network on more than a billion devices.

2. AdMob

AdMob is among the most commendable advertising platforms presently available. It is sometimes referred to as ‘the child of a search engine giant, Google’. It has gained its reputation from its enormous advertisers’ network. Also, the fact that it is owned by Google, which is also reputable and renowned, is a major plus for this platform.

With the vital part to Google’s success being coding, AdMob SDK offers coherent software development tools for app developers to link popular mobile programs such as Windows Phone, iOS and Android. To top it up, AdMob has an elevated CPC to aid users get the leading ROI.

3. Aditic

Aditic is a prime mobile advertising network that was established and is owned by a mobile marketing company called Sofialys. Aditic offers support in various platforms including Blackberry, Android, Java, iOS, and Samsung Bada.

4. Millennial Media

Millennial Media is renowned for being the chief mobile advertising network, which climbed its way to the next level via the first public offering. Millennial Media acts as both a campaign platform and marketplace. For someone looking to quickly and easily structure a campaign for advertisers to rival for their business, the Millennial Media Platform offers affluence of intelligence and research for that particular use. In addition, it also provides users with a systematic dashboard from which they can obtain reports of all transactions such as date ranges, pacing, targeting, and pricing.

Millennial Media offers enormous deals to mobile developers, individual development teams, and game publishers. It allows advertisers to display ads from other networks via their Ad Network Mediation support system.

One can assign traffic across networks based on CPM. This is doable by utilizing location, revenue, and percentage. Through this platform, one has the ability to cross-promote their apps within its own application. Millennial Media is by far the best combination of advertising and monetization for your app according to experts. This is due to its flexibility.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT FIVE-STAR APP DEVELOPMENT

5. Byyd

It was initially known as Adfonic but was recently re-branded to Byyd. Byyd provides approximately 95% fill rate for iOS and Android platforms. With their main focus on rich media ads, Byyd provides advertising platforms for big brands and corporations such as ESPN, Samsung, and Amazon. One great major advantage to Byyd is that one has the means to structure and manage several accounts.

6. Chartboost

Most gaming app developers opt for the Chartboost ad platform because of its commitment to serve gaming ads with integrated serves and built-in analytics ads, basically to accomplish your cross-promotional marketing campaign needs. This means that you can obtain more particulars on what a user is doing with your game.

Chartboost platform has several creative solutions that are intended for the heavy utilization of app marketing in a professional manner. Since the targeted audiences are already present and playing the game, and are always looking for the next fun gaming app, the ads displayed are basically about the downloading of new gaming apps and cross-promotion. The best thing about Chartboost is that it only takes 5 coded lines to begin.

7. AppLovin

AppLovin serves requests for over 7 billion ads every single day together with 10 terabytes of user data. It allows you to provide your users with personalized recommendations as well as selected promotions and other benefactions.

ANDROID APPS VS. IOS APPS – WHAT AND WHY IS BETTER?

8. Flurry

The main vision of Flurry is to make your app flourish in these new economic times. Their main goal is to generate as much revenue as possible for your app based on app monetization. Its crew Flurry has assembled a magnitude of user data set in relation to global consumer usage, from over 700 million smartphones and other mobile devices as well.

Furthermore, it utilizes cutting edge analytics to elevate your ad to the right position and at the right time. Flurry is used for takeover, video ads, and interstitial on Android and iOS. However, do you know what is Android Boilerpale? 

9. Vungle

Contrary to what the majority of people believe, users don’t find all ads are boring. For instance, think about all the people who are attentive to the astonishing ads that air during events such as the Super Bowl. Vungle is committed to aiding you to convert your app into engaging and captivating video ads, which will keep your end-users fixated on it.

With so many app monetizations and app advertising platforms out there, mobile advertising can sometimes become daunting. However, the above-compiled list of the top 9 app advertising platforms should make the selection process easier. Each of them offers a unique take on app monetization to increase revenue for developers.

Now, you are almost ready to make your app popular.

The cellular marketplace today is constantly developing, becoming one of the fastest-growing and innovative markets. But when it comes to all those apps, terms, store, mobile, and other similar things, it can seem a little bit difficult to understand how all those pieces come together. Proper optimization of the app store is the key to success.

READ ALSO: 10 tips to make your app look cool in the App Store

But even if your app is really good, it’s still very easy to get it lost among the thousands of others available. Below you can see some tips on how to better optimize your mobile, apps, and the store so these all can be involved in a successful marketing strategy.

General Concepts

The main idea of an app store optimization is to make the app more visible for the end customer. The client should see your app among the first customer search results. As it happens with most search engines, if you’re not seen on the first results page, the chances of being visible drop significantly. Visibility is the core point here: the more users can view your app, the more purchases and downloads you’ll get.

It was noted by Google that most of the apps were downloaded and installed after they were found in search engines. To become sure that your app is properly shown in the search engine results, it is important to do a careful review of keywords and other related factors.

Mobile, Apps, Keywords & Store

As it was mentioned before there are thousands of apps available on the mobile marketplaces today. You have to stand out. The first thing you should pay attention to is keywords. These help the search engine to note your app. The main keyword that describes the app should be a part of your app’s title.

Spend some time to explore the common search terms before specifying the name as changing it later can negatively affect your branding. The other keywords can be used for overall terminology and product description. And even after the app is already released, make sure to proceed with the research in order to update the keywords according to the target market’s research habits. This will let you keep the highest positions in the search results.

Downloads

Despite the fact that you can’t control it, the high number of downloads can become an awesome marketing tool. Make your app a celebrity by highlighting the total amount of downloads in the description of your product. Being popular, your app will easily attract new customers.

Get Positive Reviews

Sometimes these are difficult to control but high ratings play a significant role. Each time you search for something on eBay or Amazon, your opinion about seller’s reliability and the product’s quality is based on the amount of 5-star feedbacks the seller has.

Another step is to look through accounts of buyers that purchased the product from this specific seller. The total amount of downloads is important, but positive feedbacks along with generous reviews can do wonders encouraging users to buy your product. So, each time you sell something, subtly ask your customer to leave feedback or at least rate you.

Timeframe

Be prepared to spend enough time to build a high-quality optimization plan for a successful app store. You’ll have to adjust your app’s keywords and description regularly. Sometimes you’ll have to revise the keywords you use, making them more adjustable for search engines and your target market. Actually, it’s almost impossible to make the first set of keywords optimal.

That’s why it’s very important to be ready for constant changes in trends as well as to the regular slight changes in descriptions in your app store. Keep in mind that your time is important, but the results are even more important. Try to not to make your app one of those thrown onto an app marketplace without any strategy in mind. Your sales can be significantly reduced because of no effort being put into optimization. Track every sale’s rank and respond regularly, especially when competition arises.

Marketing as the Core Element of Your Strategy

Once you’ve drawn the customers’ attention to your product, another key to success is to make sales’ raise a priority. Your app’s icon should be unique and eye-catchy. The description should be well-read and explain all the details about your app. Use the keywords carefully as these shouldn’t damage the overall readability.

Add some screenshots that show general usage situations and explain to your customers how people usually use your app. This will let them feel that they already own the product and enjoy its benefits. The most successful commercials allow users to discover the trial version, so they can understand the product’s integrity before they finally buy it. This represents a bond of intimacy before the clients even pay for it. It will be also great to include a short video that will personalize your app and explain what the product offers to its potential owner.

Conclusion

As you could observe, mobile, apps, and store all together compose a special consumer’s marketplace. There are several key elements that make an app store optimization plan. The most important part here is optimizing the keywords in your app title and description so these can benefit to search engine results.

The other factors to consider are the downloads’ count and positive customer reviews. The last ones can be used as effective marketing tools. But you can’t take direct control over them. Deciding to do a correct store optimization plan, you should be prepared to regular updating of keywords and descriptions as these can change its popularity and let the competitors enter the market.

To become sure you are on the top of search results, you should regularly change the keywords making them current and focus on the target market. Finally don’t forget about the art of sales. After you’ve managed to get the top position in the search results, you need to market your product to potential customers.

A stunning icon, proper description, a couple of screenshots, and a short video presentation will help you to achieve the goal.

You’ve come up with a brilliant mobile app idea and you want to develop it and make it popular. It is relatively easy to get an app idea off the ground and into the hands of users. In fact, a good developer will include you in every stage of the app’s creation and planning, and you’ll appreciate the end result. It’s important that you bear in mind though, that even some of the best-designed apps go unacknowledged and ignored.

These incredible apps are buried among a million other applications and lost in the app stores that are milling out apps by the thousands. So what do you have to do to ensure the success of your app? Are there things you can do to prevent your app from being lost in the deepest recesses of a virtual app store? Yes! Check out some of the following solutions below.

Simplify Your Login

The minute your user downloads your app and launches it on a mobile device, the first thing they encounter is a sign in or login option and/or a menu page. You need to make app access a simple as possible. Today’s mobile users are impatient and their attention span is limited. Apps need to offer near-immediate gratification, otherwise, it is likely you will lose the attention of the user as they move onto some other app that will offer instant satisfaction. Social media integration is definitely recommended here as with a few taps of some icons and the user of your app is in and ready to access your content or play the game you have created.

Typically, new app users do not care about having to go through all the fuss of creating a user identification and password, and then verifying everything by email before being able to enter the application. If you are going to have a log-in option with a user id and password, at minimum give your user the option to sign up using social media integrated features as well.

Market Your App

The only way you are going to attract downloads is if you put every effort into app promotion. Through marketing, you can introduce the app to your target audience; track downloads, and monitor the success of your marketing campaigns. Marketing also allows you to tell users what your app offers, how they can use it, and how it will benefit the user.

Do not make the mistake of thinking that marketing starts only after the app is completed. In fact, you need to market the mobile app pre-launch. You can use some people to beta test the app and allow them to generate a buzz about the application via word of mouth and social media.

Create a webpage and make it the official page of the app where users can download the app and access any new updates in the future. Use the page to share your story (consumers love a back-story) and tell them what inspired the app. Write about the development process. The more you can connect with your users the better.

Social Media Sharing

Social Media is just a part of online marketing now. You can create an official page for the app and invite friends to like the page. You can use the page to make announcements about the app, discuss changes to it, and to advertise it to others. Users can like your page and share it with others. It is a super fast way to spread the word about your app and what it offers.

When you use social media outlets, you can offer users incentives and you can even reward them for sharing your information and posts. Reward them for inviting the people they know to your page, and you will get more organic “likes” then you can imagine. Add a function within the app where users can share the app with friends on social media too; it is a simple way to get people to share with others.

Simplify the Entire App

The interface of your app needs to be flawless. You want to keep things neat, nicely designed, clean, and smooth. Always remember you have impatient users who will drop your app like a bad habit if it is not visually appealing and easy to use. At any given moment, if your application makes the user feel like they are inconvenienced, aggravated, or even cheated, they will remove your app. Even worse, they may give you bad feedback and spread bad messages about your app via word of mouth. What this means is the simplicity of your application is at the heart of your app’s success and your reputation.

Make the features the user will use the most the easiest to access. Present the functions in a prominent area of the app. Make everything about the app obvious and intuitive. If you have an app you are creating that is based on a website and the user is already accustomed to the online experience associated with the website, they will expect the app to deliver a similar experience. Make sure your app and website line up in terms of functionality as much as it is possible to do so.

Landscape or Portrait

Ahhh…the blessed “dual-orientation” on many mobile devices: Users either love it or hate it, there really is no in-between. When you are developing an app, you have to consider dual-orientation as well. How does the app look in landscape mode? How does it look in portrait mode? Where is everything Located? Is everything easy to access in both modes? Are all the gestures the user has to make to operate the app smooth and easy? Make sure your dual-orientation factors are user-friendly.

Final Iteration

Final Iteration? The truth is, there isn’t one. When you have an app you’ll want to update it regularly. You may have to debug it, create new versions, add new features, and regularly update it so it remains compatible with mobile devices. Keeping your app current and giving the user new elements will improve the likelihood of your app’s long-term success.

Useful article: Tips on How to Choose a Successful Name for Your App

If you spend months designing an app, creating a number of iterations, testing them, there’s no doubt you have a question: How to monetize an app?

After all that hard work you’ll want to get a bit of brand recognition, to heighten consumer awareness or to gain the loyalties of new customers. An app is only as successful as the number of users who download and use the application and just how much money the app generates in terms of overall revenue.

Read also: Crowdfunding apps

Sure, it happens once in a blue moon. Apps like Instagram, Vine, and WhatsApp come along and sell for huge sums of money. But, in the everyday world of app building and development, the average app won’t make billions. It’s just like the industry of publishing, there are thousands of authors, but only a few of them are bestsellers.

You need to be confident in the success of your app, but there is a small possibility that your app will land you in riches. Statistics reveal that around 2% of the app developers claim more than half of the app revenues. You need to be realistic about your vision of success, so let’s see what you can do with app monetization.

Read also: How do free apps make money

Business Model Decisions

There are several app monetization models and below you can see the most effective monetization methods as of March 2017:

[Source: Statista]

First, you need to define what you want to achieve with the app you’ve created. There are some questions to be considered:

• Can your app solve problems of the user, and if it is so, then how?
• What features make your app different from all the other apps on the market?
• Why will users pay for your product? What is its value?
• Research apps in the same category: What business model they are using to sell and market their apps?

Once you’ve answered the questions above, you can move forward to create your own mobile app monetization model.

Below are some of the major ways to monetize apps you can choose from.

6 App Monetization Strategies

Strategy 1: In-App Ads & Free Mobile Apps

This business model is most attractive for users because they can download your app for free, without paying any penny and you are able to make money by selling data-driven advertising space.

How do in-app ads work in free mobile apps?

1. you gather information about the users
2. when you have formed a strong user base, you can sell the collected data to in-app advertising networks
3. publishers select your application to place their ads

As a result, users see the small banners or popups with ads. Ads typically appear at the top or bottom of an app. If the user taps the ad, all sorts of possibilities open up from watching a video to the redirecting to advertiser’s website. For social media apps like Tik Tok or Instagram in-app ads usually are represented by video placements. 

Also, there is one more interesting type of ad – notification ads.

Some people are calling them “Trojan horse ads” because they can send you push notifications with the ad even when the app is dormant.

Notification ads can be used while thinking about how to monetize the Android app. Because they are only supported on this platform.

Read also: How much does it cost to make an app

However, there are some shortcomings when monetizing free apps. For instance, some users find the advertisements annoying and decide not to use or even not to download the app with ads.

Also, you need to take into account that advertisements may significantly limit the screen space of your app.

Strategy 2: In-App Purchases

You get the revenue in this strategy by selling virtual or physical goods or services within the app.

It doesn’t matter what you’re selling. It can be clothing, gadgets, accessories or something virtual such as extra lives or in-game currency.

The in-app purchases implemented in your app turn it into another sales channel. This way of app monetization applies particularly well for e-commerce apps or games (where you can buy a bonus or a special ability to skip a level that’s driving you up the wall.)

One of the side benefits of in-app purchases is that you can get deeper levels of engagement by providing users with the opportunity to buy virtual goods.

The only drawback in this model has some cons since app stores usually take a cut of the revenue for virtual goods purchased inside an app. For instance, for songs or a game.

Strategy 3: Apps with Gated Features (Freemium)

This model is a bit like the free apps model.

The app is available for free but some of its features are locked (gated). To unlock these features or get an access to premium features users should pay some money.

In other words, users have access to an app’s basic functionality for free, but the premium features have their price.

The Freemium model is most relevant for games.

Angry Birds game is a great example of how a brand managed to get significant revenue using this strategy. Users were able to upgrade the game to the full version for a small fee.

Such an approach allowed the company to get an extremely large number of fans of the game. After having conquered a few levels, users became engaged enough to pay for the full-fledged version for more hours of fun.

Strategy 4: Paid Apps

You can assign a fixed price to every single app download. The price of mobile app development can vary depending on your app and its functionality. You will want to be fair about the pricing of your app, however. You have to persuade users to download the app by stirring a need or desire for the potential user. This means more marketing efforts.

If you set a price for downloading your app, it means you use the paid app business model. The user has to purchase your app from the app store to install it on his device.

The price of paid apps may vary and it usually starts from $0.99. It is the most common price as brands make money upfront with every new user.

The success of a paid app depends on your ability to showcase the value that users get with your app.

It is not an easy task to sell an app because app stores are so overcrowded and users can find a free alternative to your app.

Thus, your paid app should possess undeniable benefits that differentiate it from similar free apps. Provide your app with unique features, be it design or functionality, or brand. 

Strategy 5: Subscriptions (Paywalls)

This model is similar to the freemium model. Instead of the locked features, it makes money on narrowing conThe user. The user is allowed to view a limited amount of content for free. To get more, the user needs to sign up for a paid subscription.

This model allows you to earn revenue on a recurring basis as it most suited for content-focused apps (news, lifestyle, and entertainment). And it is very similar to the “pay later” or “free trial” model.

Apps with updating content can also earn money with ads that other brands place inside of them. Use an app revenue calculator to estimate the approximate revenue of your application.

Strategy 6: Incentivized Advertising

Incentivized Advertising is a kind of sponsorship. It means you form a partnership with advertisers, who reward your users for completing certain in-app actions. Your app earns money by taking a share of the revenue from redeemed rewards. RunKeeper became one of the first apps that adopted this app business model.

RunKeeper uses incentivized advertising to motivate its users to track their running activity to unlock exclusive rewards and promotions.

Takeaway

As the competition between the apps becomes more complicated, you should use a creative approach while building your monetization strategy. You shouldn’t limit your strategy to one model. You can work with blended models. For instance, start with a “free, but with ads” model and then offer users a paid upgrade to an ad-free version.

The end lesson here is: be creative and courageous as much, as it possible and you will bound to succeed.

When Apple Pay was launched in October 2014, that’s when m-commerce had come of age. The Apple Pay was part of the iPhone 6’s innovations, which brought together point of sale (POS) transaction processing with Near Field Communication (NFC) technologies. Essentially, it was with the iPhone 6 generation that a mobile user could touch his or her device to another device with NFC technologies in order to make transactions in a brick and mortar store.

It was the first time a mobile device could be used as a credit card, and it was the moment Apple entered into the realm of transaction and payment processing. As m-commerce quickly evolves, more big-name brands are looking to get into online payment options, including the likes of Amazon and Google.

The year 2015 has ensured that more and more people are accessing the Internet with mobile devices. In fact, the desktop computer is quickly becoming a less coveted item as mobile devices are heralded for their convenience. In the year 2014, Goldman Sachs made a prediction pertaining to mobile shopping and spending, and that forecast suggests that by 2018 will increase to as much as $626 billion.

Read also: Cost of mobile app

Bear in mind that a phrase like m-commerce or mobile commerce has multiple meanings. For one developer it may refer to in-app purchases, to another it can refer to premium apps. For someone else, the term m-commerce can suggest touch device technologies or a mobile POS allowing users to pay for something with their mobile device. The categorizations for m-commerce are myriad. There are, however, six key categorizations in the realm of m-commerce. The top six categorizations are as follows:

• Coupons sent digitally to consumers for use in brick and mortar establishments.
• Response when buyer users a website to buy products/services (Mobile Optimized).
• Retail Point of Sale (POS) mobile payment solutions.
• App Only Purchases on Mobile (e.g. Square or Uber).
• Social Media Purchases (In-App) (e.g. Twitter/Facebook).
• Mobile Access to e-commerce website online.

Mobile Devices and In-App Purchases

Mobile users commonly make purchases when using an application: This is the foundation of in-app purchases. Nevertheless, the amount of app that people are interacting with has reached its peak. This means that Facebook is one of a select few that can pull off the development of its own payment system. Thus, social games and their developers may be more reliant on Facebook credits or other options in order to bring in money from gaming applications. Bear in mind that it doesn’t really mean that there’s a challenge against the position of Google Wallet.

Starbucks has jumped on the payment processing bandwagon too, and the company created its own m-commerce platform as an addition to the company’s already existing infrastructure, thereby presenting the loyalty point and transactions via a mobile phone in a useful package that mirrors and complements the company’s offline experience.

Of course, Amazon is an Internet giant in sales so it’s no wonder the company has its own payment processing solutions. What this all means for the app developers throughout the remainder of 2015? There are plenty of viable, outstanding, and trustworthy payment options that can be integrated into m-commerce apps where customers are already participating with one of the big name providers in pre-existing payment processing environments. Thus, mobile app developers can create apps that reward users with things like Facebook credits or Amazon points and other related rewards.

m-Commmerce is More than Mere Shopping

The way brick and mortar retail shops operate has been forever changed by the innovation of mobile devices. Handheld mobile devices have brought an entire entourage of innovations to the retail setting and businesses are following the hottest application development trends. The gap between the physical and virtual store has now dubbed the gap between “bricks and clicks,” and businesses are doing everything in their power to make that gap as small as possible.

The methods businesses are using mobile advertising solutions include offering discount coupons that are scannable via a mobile device, making use of mobile solutions for business is on the rise. For instance, Buzztala has created a platform where users can create video reviews and/or customer testimonials for whatever websites they favor.

Social Media Marketing Remains Meaningful

And of course, for the remainder of 2015, the ever-increasing pins on Pinterest and Likes on Facebook will continue to prove important to the thee-commerce/m-commerce business. As per SocialCode’s Max Kalehoff, there are businesses out there that are spending budgets that are the size of television scale advertising budgets, and it’s all for the purposes of social media marketing. In fact, there’s little doubt that social media marketing will soon match the costs of other more costly forms of advertising.

Mobile Websites Are Powerful Business Tools

While mobile devices and Internet access through such devices is on the rise, that’s when a business owner would be wise to establish a mobile site for the consumer as a powerful business tool. If the business owner has a website online and a mobile-friendly site, then that’s like killing two birds with a single stone, and it will allow the business owner to capture the attention of consumers from two avenues instead of just one.

Credit Cards Through Mobile Devices

NFC technologies are changing the way consumers pay for goods and services, and businesses need to adapt in order to maintain consumer loyalty. Many smartphones are fitted with NFC chips, which allow for banking information and payment to be processed when scanned on a special reader.

This type of POS processing is different than credit card purchases, as it allows for the use of interactive payment processing as well as alternative services. As per David Marcus, the PayPal president calls the service Money 3.0. Is it possible that the latter service becomes pervasive this year? Or will rival options come to the forefront, like Apple’s iBeacon or Beacon by PayPal, both of which are dependent on Bluetooth® technologies?

New Innovations on the Horizon

The mobile app world is evolving at a rapid pace and as such there are new and promising applications on the horizon. Take for instance the usage of Biometrics where retina scans, fingerprint scans, and voice recognition are revolutionizing the way people identify themselves via mobile transactions.

The newest mobile app novelties are bound to shape the way businesses conduct business for years to come, both in e-commerce, m-commerce, and physical realms.

While some mobile app developers count the number of app downloads as a method for measuring the likeability and desire for an application, the actual download count is not necessarily indicative of the app’s overall success. While high numbers painting a picture in hit charts might make it seem that a mobile app is doing well, there are other metrics to consider when it comes time to weigh the caliber of a mobile application.

When attempting to determine the desirability of a mobile app, the developer needs to take in a number of metrics into consideration in order to get a true picture of an app’s success rate. First, the developer will want to know what people are downloading the application: This will give the developer insight into what audience the app appeals to and if the mobile app is reaching its target audience.

The developer needs to examine how many people download the app, if the user opens it, and how each user is interacting with it. In fact, understanding how long a user makes use of a mobile app and the average time the user spends interacting with the app are also important figures to know. The latter information can give insight into what features in the app are appealing or not and thereby give the developer some hints about the necessary changes that can make the app even more successful.

READ ALSO: Price of app development

Other things a developer needs to consider is app feedback and comments. Knowing what people are saying about an app and if they will recommend it, helps the developer know of any potential changes are necessary as well as what features users like the most. The mobile app developer also needs to consider in what form users will be able to access the app. Will the app be free with advertisements supporting it? Will it be a lite version that leads to the purchase of the full version? Of course, offering in-app purchases is another option the developer has for monetizing a mobile application.

Mobile analytics will help ensure the success of your app. A good developer with any level of experience knows that the initial launch of an app is not the end of the story. In fact, applications are under a process of evolution and the developer continues to upgrade and perfects the app over the course of time.

With the latter notion in mind, it is easier to understand how the number of downloads associated with an app has no reflection on the app’s overall success since the number does not reflect the quality of the application or the version downloaded. Additionally, when the download numbers suddenly drop, turning to reviews and feedback may not be quite enough information for the developer to identify the issues with the app. It is because of situations like this that mobile analytics is of tremendous import.

Best Mobile Analytics Tools

Appsee

Appsee is a user-friendly analytics program that will reveal the total users of an app, how many launches an app gets, and it will also reveal the average session length and if the app crashes. It also records some of the app user’s usage so you can look at the interaction and determine what is wrong with the app, if applicable.

Appsee lets you identify why a user might stop using the application, what features are most desirable, and when the user stops interacting with the application.

Price: Free.

Flurry 

A complete toolkit to measure the caliber of an app. Flurry is like the Facebook of mobile analytic programs, and in the industry, the program is the standard when it comes to mobile analytics program development. The program works with Windows, Blackberry, Android, and iOS devices. The program requires you use three lines of code to start getting analytical information on an app.

Flurry is a program that allows the user to customize the program in order to measure the most meaningful metrics for the developer. Users of Flurry can find out about demographics and other important statistics so the developer can increase the success of an app.

Price: Free.

Google Analytics

Yes, now Google Analytics includes an app that can measure the statistics associated with a mobile application. With the app, the developer can witness user action, demographics, in-app purchase information, and more. If the developer makes a decision on how to monetize an app, there is Google Mobile available for iOS and Android platforms as well.

With mobile analytics through Google, users can find out about relevant users, traffic sources, real-time reports, flow visualizations, event tracking, exception and crash reports, and custom reports, all through a single program. The types of reports you can get out of Google Mobile Analytics include app profiles, and iOS and Android software development kits (SDKs).

Price: Free.

Mixpanel

Mixpanel is a mobile analytics resource supplying details on how a user discovers a mobile application, the location of the user, and details on how the user interacts with the app and for how long. Mixpanel relies on user surveys and A/B tests to generate analytic results. The user of Mixpanel gets access to custom reports revealing information on user retention and engagement.

With Mixpanel, users can access whether or not advertising campaigns are working or if the user needs to change up the way they are marketing an application. The app can even tell the developer if users are sharing the mobile app under analysis. Price: Varies, depending on the plan you choose.

Using one, a few, or even all of the above mobile analytics tools can help a developer begin to identify the real success of a mobile application. Rather than rely on the superficiality of a number of downloads count, the above programs give the developer insight into user behavior, interaction, and appealing features, but it will also help the developer find out about problems and issues with the application that require repair. The analytical programs available to developers are vital to the ongoing evolution of a mobile application and to the long-term success of the app as well.

Believe it or not the industry of enterprise mobile application development has a promising future, one that could lead to a billion-dollar market. At one time cloud applications were all the rage, but now mobile apps are increasing in popularity and are set to enter into a $100 billion market. Today, mobile enterprise is following closely in the footsteps of its predecessor, cloud application enterprise.

The ease of this movement can be attributed to the incredible accessibility and affordability of mobile technologies. What’s more, mobile technologies are seemingly more user friendly than cloud technologies, thereby making the mobile applications an incredibly viable enterprise. Nevertheless, mobile applications have hidden benefits that many are unaware of: The fact that the apps will make the mobile app technology pervasively accessible for businesses, particularly those in distant locations and underserved business sectors.

Read also: TOP 9 REASONS WHY YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS ITS OWN MOBILE APP

Mobile technologies penetration around the world

While there are over three billion people who work in some job position around the world, a mere 20 percent of all the people get access to the mobile technologies needed to help make their job easier and to make their performance more efficient. This means about 2.5 million individuals aren’t getting access to the advanced, simple technologies they could use to make their job performance more effective.

For instance, a look at the construction industry reveals less than 1 percent of all of construction revenue, which is $8 trillion per year, is used on Internet technologies. Or look at the industry of manufacturing, with some 40 million workers, being the fourth largest industry in all the world, uses a mere 2 percent of its revenue for the purposes of Internet technologies.

Many workers without technology at their disposal reside in developing countries. Out of the 2.5 billion people who do not have access to mobile or Internet technologies:

• 50 percent of those individuals reside in the Asia Pacific
• 10 percent are in the Middle East and Africa
• another 10 percent are in Latin America

However, the latter figures may soon change as mobile technologies is a force to be reckoned with and is poised for actually capitalizing on this gap in the market.

The opportunity of enterprise mobile app development 

The opportunity of enterprise mobile app development is tremendous. Let’s consider some facts to determine the potential impact mobile technologies will have on the industry. Imagine the following scenario. The 2.5 billion people without access to various technologies, do not work at a desk. Imagine monetizing each person at about $40 annually, which is a thread of what desk workers spend on technology, and you’re looking at a $100 billion potential market, all of which could be consumed by mobile applications and devices because of their affordability and accessibility.

This kind of sizeable opportunity is huge and something that has not been seen in the past as far as technological enterprises are concerned. This means that an industry that might be able to take full advantage of smartphones and their current features can make use of an enterprise mobile solution for business.

Construction businesses could make use of mobile apps and cameras to make customer quotes or the devices can be used for making communications between workers on site and headquarters faster and more efficient. Those who work in the field of transportation and delivery could make use of mobile tools like phone billing, signature collection, and maps with driving directions.

What’s more, with the biggest opportunity in India presently being the healthcare market, the mobile healthcare apps are bound to prove profitable as well. As of this moment, there are 500 startups that have started up a fund that will be used as an investment in mobile health in Africa, China, and India.

Enterprise application development cost

It takes highly specialized resource and expertise to make an enterprise app that covers all business needs. But the rewards for getting it right can be enormously lucrative.

Answering the question, “What is the cost to develop an enterprise app?”, there is no determined price. To build an app for enterprise is more complex as it could seem.

An accurate cost estimate depends on the number of factors.

Hereby we gathered the app development cost drivers:

• The number of platforms and devices that will be supported
• The number of enterprise systems the app will interact with
• The number and kind of features implemented in app
• The size of app development team: basic or extended
• The cost of labor

When it comes to hiring enterprise application development company you should take into account the following.

Assembling the right team players is extremely challenging in itself, so you have to explore the market carefully. You need individuals who are highly skilled and focused on a particular area of expertise.

Have a look at the chart below to get understanding about development prices in different regions.

If you are looking for low prices and high quality turn your attention to developers from Eastern Europe and from Ukraine in particular.

How to start?

So what is necessary in order to take full advantage of this exciting opportunity and to establish a mobile enterprise that can address the growing needs of the mobile market? Here’s a few things to consider:

Capitalize on the Original

If you want to truly capitalize on the mobile enterprise opportunity, focus on that which is original, unique, and different in the existing market. Mix the unique with the best, most coveted features, and you’ll have a winning mobile solution perfect for addressing the needs of the mobile market.

Consider using the best features of the smartphone like voice navigation and control, GPS, cameras, and sensors as an advantageous tool. Consider an app like Expensify that relies on the use of the camera in a device to take images of expense-related receipts.

Lean on Those Who’ve Gone Before You

Look at the best of the best in terms of mobile platforms. Consider how Salesforce and Box might help you out as you start to scale your mobile enterprise. Also, you might want to mirror the behaviors and practices of different companies that have reached an international market and use the example to figure out ways to expand your own enterprise. Partnering up with another business to offer innovative mobile solutions is another method you can undertake: One that can prove considerably successful.

World Wide Orientation

When it comes to mobile enterprise a lot of developers are keeping their attentions local. However, if you consider addressing international needs, it can be to your benefit. Mobile space is definitely a wide-open range when it comes to mobile enterprise and the opportunity can land you a serious edge above the competition.

When planning your enterprise from the start, don’t forget to consider how you’ll eventually expand into the international market as well. Bear in mind when you are planning your enterprise that some 70 percent of all the great opportunities are going to be beyond current developed mobile markets. Of course, make sure you make your product localized as well.

Ready Yourself

Technology is bringing about an evolution in mobile enterprise, and those wise enough to ride the wave will assuredly benefit from the boom in the market. The pace the mobile market is currently growing at is clearly evidence of its potential in years to come. A smart developer will definitely jump on the opportunity presented.

You may think that you have come up with a great idea for a new app. There are tons of people out there that have made a fortune just by developing a program that customers love, and one that they are willing to pay for. However, without doing the proper mobile market research, you can find yourself wasting a lot of time and energy on your app (and do not forget about cost to develop an app) only to find out that it is not something that people want.

Before you put everything you have into your next invention, it is essential to do some research to get a better idea of how successful your idea will actually be.

Finding Your Target Audience

In order to create an app that people are going to use, want, and need, you need to discover what that specific audience is lacking. Your first step is going to be defining the audience you want to appeal to. This is also called a niche. When you decide who you want your app to be for, then you can go to work exploring what this specific audience is missing from their app list. The size of your target audience is ultimately up to you.

You may decide that you want to target a smaller audience to appeal to a more direct group of people. This is called a micro-niche market. An audience like this could be a group of young adults who like art. A larger niche, called a broad niche, would appeal to more people.

However, it can be much harder to develop something targeted towards them. For example, a group of people between the ages of 20 and 30 are going to like some of the same things but they will not like all of the same things. Your app may grab a part of the audience but if you aren’t careful on what you choose it could be a very small part resulting in very small success.

Focusing in on a Micro-Niche

Focusing in on a micro-niche audience can turn into very large profits. Even though you are not gaining a lot of customers, you can give the smaller audience exactly what they are looking for. Because your app is so specific, you can charge higher amounts for a specialized product. This turns into bigger sales and more money in your bank account.

When you want to appeal to a specific high-class group like doctors, lawyers, and other experts, you can charge the money that these professionals are willing to spend. Also, when choosing to target a smaller audience, it is easier to discover whether or not your product is going to be one that people want.

One way of discovering if your app is going to be popular is by going into the market of the business or individual you are targeting. Ask them what they want or need for their company and what they are willing to pay to get it. You can open the door by inquiring about any problem areas they are having in their industry.

By defining these issues, you can discover how to be the solution. You now know who your customers are, what they need to improve their business, and how much they are going to pay you for your assistance with their problem.

The other way of learning what companies or people want is by coming up with your own ideas. When you have a basic concept, you can reach out to the heads of the industry you are trying to target. Ask for their thoughts and opinions on the product you have created.

You can then take those ideas and alter your product to meet the wants and needs of your micro-niche audience. The result is going to be a finished app that people are going to want to buy. When you have your final product created you can go back to those supervisors and managers and offer it to them. Let them know that they inspired your product, and it is something that they are looking for. You now have your very first customers before your app even goes live.

Focusing on a Broad Niche Market

When you decide to create an application for a broad niche market, your main goal is going to be finding out what is popular at the moment. All groups of people go through trends from games to discount apps, sports programs, and more. When you are developing an app for the larger market, you need to research the mobile app stores and find out what people are buying.

Discover what Customers are Buying

The best way to learn about what customers are using and more importantly buying is by visiting the App Store yourself. Some of the most successful app developers check the popularity charts found here as much as once an hour. This may be a little bit of overkill, but it goes to show that knowing this information is key to being successful in the app world.

There are several different areas to explore when checking out these popularity charts. First of all, look at what the most popular free apps are. This shows you what people are doing on their mobile devices. You can get your ideas on what type of app you could start working on. Secondly, look at the paid apps. By browsing through this information you can discover not only what people are doing but what they are spending their money on, and how much money they are spending.

One important thing to remember when browsing through these charts is that the information you see is targeted to a specific country or region in the world. You need to explore further to find global trends or seek out the individual area you want to target in order to find the local trends.

Finding Worldwide Trends

The App store does not give you information on worldwide trends so when looking to do a broader search, you need to do other methods of research. One way to discover popular mobile application development trends across the globe is by doing searches in other places.

A popular place to do this is Google Trends. Here you can find what keywords are being searched the most. You can then take those findings and match them up with the information you have found during your App Store search to create the most popular downloads happening currently.
When seeking out trends this way, it is important to narrow down your search as much as possible to get the most specific results back.

This can include lessening down time frames or seeking out a specific area of the world. Google Trends will only show you the top 10 results from your search but with a quick download of the available CSV file, you will be able to see much more.

After gathering the keywords you want from your Google Trend search, you input them into the Google Keyword Tool. Here you will be able to see exactly how many searches of any specific keyword have been done based on the factors you create yourself. Be sure to choose the advanced options in order to the most refined results possible.

Make Sure Your Results are Legitimate

Now that you have done your search, and you have decided on a topic for your app, you need to be sure that it is, in fact, a popular one. There are programs available to assist you including TopAppCharts.com.

By inputting the information, you will get results of where your keywords rank among the App store. If you do not get a lot of results back, chances are the keyword evaluation you have done is not a valid one, and creating an app-based on them will not be successful.

Xyologic is another place you can discover if your app is going to get the downloads you are hoping for. Search out your keywords and the apps that are related to those keywords will be shown in the results. If there are a lot of similar downloads, moving forward with your idea is probably going to be a profitable one.

When you want to check the popularity of your app idea on a daily or monthly chart, AppAnnie can give you the results you are looking for. No matter what website you look through, you should always do whatever you can to make sure your research and findings are legitimate and popular among your targeted app users.

Prepare for what is to Come

Finally, when coming up with new app ideas, you can use the popular trends found outside of the App Store. Think about upcoming events or holidays and create something that is related to those ideas. For example, during Easter, coming up with an app that is related to creating Easter egg hunts for the family is likely to be successful. This of course would not be as true during the summer months.

When creating an app for any audience, you want it to be profitable. By following these mobile marketing research ideas, you are sure to be on the right path to victory.

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