Strategies To Make Money From Free Mobile Apps?

By Ray Parker

With the advent of mobile devices and the rapid growth of technology, we all are well aware of the development of mobile applications. These mobile applications open up great growth opportunities for businesses. But have you ever thought that how a business can make its roots strong and its profit high by developing free mobile apps?

Is it worth investing in organizations to develop free mobile apps? And how will they be able to reap financial gains from it?

The development of a mobile app involves a list of phases and processes in which testing is the most prominent one. Organizations usually go for the services of various mobile application testing companies to ensure their application is secure and safe from bugs and errors. But before you are done with the development phase it is important to decide how the launch of a free app can make your business do wonders, stand out among the competition and enable you to enjoy great market share.

Here we are revealing some of the monetization strategies which might be helpful for you if you are planning to develop a free mobile application;

Purchases in Apps

In-app purchases are a famous strategy in the mobile app industry to reap profits. Under this strategy, users are allowed to purchase while using a particular app. In short, purchases within the app provides an ability to sell various virtual items directly from the app. This model is usually implemented in mobile gaming apps which may offer their users in-app purchases in the form of cash, gold, gems, etc.

For example, mobile apps such as Clash of Clans, Ludo Star, and Angry Birds make their user experience better by enabling users with in-app purchases. Overall, it is an interesting way to convert your non-paying users into paying users.

Advertisements in apps

Advertising is the most commonly used monetization method by mobile app makers. Using ads to make money from apps is simple, app owners just have to display the ads of third parties and would get paid, every single time when an ad is displayed, per click on the ad, and also if the user downloads the particular app which is being advertised.

Some of the main types of mobile app ads are;

Interstitial Ads

These are the popup ads that may be displayed at different time frames. These ads allow a close or cross button on the top for users to not get interrupted. “Gaana” a famous song app uses this type of ad for monetization.

Banner Ads

These types of ads are usually displayed in different sizes either on top or bottom, because of its small size users can use the app freely.

Video Ads

Such types of ads automatically appear on the user’s screen and are generally 15-30 seconds long. These ads are displayed for some in-app rewards like users can get the app currency or gems which can be useful for either unlocking levels in the game or getting additional features.

Subscriptions

Subscriptions are a great source of making money from free mobile apps. Under this strategy, app owners and publishers offer free content or free trial periods for a limited time and then ask users to subscribe for future use. This type of strategy is mainly used for cloud services, audio, and video streaming, and online news services.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship is an interesting method of monetizing an app yet it is not widely being implemented by app owners. It can be a powerful way of making money only if the app publisher/owner builds the right niche app for a targeted audience and launches it on behalf of another company.

Referral Marketing

It is a type of marketing strategy in which an app publisher markets or promotes the products and services of another party, on some commonly agreed financial concerns while making revenue optimization for his own business.

Cost per Click

Under this type of monetization model, an app owner reaps the benefits whenever the users click on the in-app ads and videos.

Freemium Model

Freemium allows users to download or install apps for free but later on asks users to pay for some more advanced and premium features of the app.

Conclusion

With the assistance of these monetization models or strategies, businesses can reap profits even with the development of free mobile apps. But here’s a tip-businesses need to carefully evaluate their nature/purpose of a mobile application. Because every mobile app may require different strategies or models to comply with the desired growth rates and profits for a business.