Android App Monetization

The Android Market and other mobile app markets are wide open for developers wanting to monetize mobile apps. That means any developer can monetize their mobile apps but many don't know how to monetize mobile apps so their killer apps become commercial failures.

 

So how do you monetize mobile apps? App makers usually employ at least one of the following three methods:

In-app Advertising

In-app advertising is a good way to monetize mobile apps for consumer apps with lots of users that are easy to target, and ads are some publishers' only source of revenue. In-app advertising works great for churning money out of your mobile apps if your app is targeted to a specific demographic, but it works in apps with wide demographics as well. It's easier and more profitable to go through an advertising company like Moolah Media instead of doing ads in-house, since companies like Moohlad can deliver targeted ads. Think of it like choosing between throwing a flier for your company out the window and hoping somebody picks it up versus mailing advertisements directly to your demographic.

Microtransactions

2002's Mech Assault was the first Xbox 360 game to employ the microtransaction model using what's called downloadable content. DLC is essentially additional game content that was not included with the original game (or left out of the original game by developers) that players pay a small fee to have access to.

Since then, it's become ubiquitous in the gaming console industry and is making headwind into the mobile app industry. They work well for mobile apps because it's easy to have a microtransaction in the app itself since a sale can be made while users' attention is focused on the app. On the other hand, large transactions won't succeed as often because the user pays more attention. Keep in mind that microtransactions are much more than just the one-time purchase. They add value to the customer's product and customers often come back to make more microtransactions.

Subscriptions

Subscriptions are great for technical, home, and professional services apps. Skype is probably the most successful “app” company to monetize subscriptions but it's becoming more common. This is especially true with the development of cloud technology, which almost always charge consumers a monthly fee so that they can continue accessing their own data.


Guest post by Murray Newlands

Disclaimer: I do blogging relations outreach for Moolah Media