How to make money with an app: 5 proven strategies in 2024

In the competitive mobile application market, users have many options to choose an application that meets their needs. While paid applications are available on the app stores, users tend to go for a free application. According to Statista, the Android app store and the Apple app store contained only 3.1% and 6.4% paid applications. But having a game-changing app idea isn’t enough, as it should generate revenue as well. But how do free apps make money

Making money with an app is now a viable way to generate complementary incomes. GoodBarber App builder makes everything even easier, introducing many features that will help anyone who wants to make money with an app...without coding!

You may be wondering how to create an app that makes money. Although there are many money-making apps, many mobile apps fail due to lack of planning and a weak business model.
Understanding what types of business models are lucrative on mobile apps is essential in order to create an app that makes money. Therefore, you must first develop a solid plan based on sales and marketing strategies if you want to generate revenue from an app.

      5 Strategies to make money with mobile apps:

1. Advertising: generate revenue from ADs
2. e-Commerce: online sales with a shopping app
3. In-App Purchase
4. Referral/Affiliate Marketing: brand promotion and partnerships
5. Direct Application Fees: freemium apps

Advertisements are the driving force of the market, as many businesses solely rely on ad revenue. You see advertisements everywhere, and mobile applications are not exempt. You can advertise inside your application and generate revenue. There are several metrics through which income is calculated, but the most common ones are:

•  Cost Per Click (CPC): You generate revenue every time a user clicks on the ad in your application. Since one click doesn’t generate significant revenue, it is computed as cost per thousand.

• Cost Per View (CPW): While this model can be applied anywhere, it majorly focuses on video ads. The more users view the video, the more revenue you get.
  

 There are several methods to display advertisements in your application. These include banners ads, native ads, video ads and interstitial ads.

GoodBarber App Builder for Advertising 

With GoodBarber Extensions  for monetization , you can manage your ad campaigns and display a variety of advertisements in your application to generate additional revenue. Connect external advertising networks and distribute ads in your application efficiently.

After COVID-19 pandemic locking everything down, the need for doorstep delivery has increased. Right from daily essentials to apparel, the demand for new-age items is mounting up every day. As the world adjusts to the new normal, curating an e-commerce web store with your application can help you expand your revenues. You can add a shopping category to your existing application or create a new e-commerce application in order to make additional income.

GoodBarber for eCommerce

With GoodBarber, you can use the best-in-business technologies to build the perfect shopping app for your audience. Get started with the no-code app builder and create excellent e-commerce applications in no time. Built to boost conversion rates,  our app builder  comes with a wide variety of features, such as auto-login, discounts, push notifications, permanent cart, and more. 

GoodBarber is a fully functional Ecommerce App Builder, designed for mobile devices! Deliver the best Customer Experience within a Shopping app: seamless navigation, fast loading, one-click payment, push notifications.

eCommerce apps created with GoodBarber app builders represent the state-of-art of Shopping apps functionnality: 

• Manage your PWA, Android & iOS Shopping apps from a unique back-office
• Benefit from dedicated eCommerce features you will find in our Extensions Store 
• Connect your Shopify Store with your Mobile app
• Simplify your workflow trough your Shopping app with external automations tools: Zapier, Make

• Online Store Management
• Local Delivery
• In-Store PickUp
• Built-in eCommerce payment solutions

One of the most potent monetization strategies for applications is in-app purchases. Application developers and publishers offer purchases right in the application to generate revenue. Here are three major segments of in-app purchases:

•  Consumable Purchases: Consumable in-app purchases are products/services that can be consumed in-app and perish after a set number of uses. For example, in games, users can buy additional lives, in-game currency and more.
• Non-Consumable Purchases: Non-consumable purchases are features or services that are purchased for permanent use. These include premium features, ad-blockers, added storage space, and more.
• ​Subscriptions: Subscriptions are a powerful monetization strategy where users can purchase certain services/products/content for a limited time. These subscriptions can either be one-time or renewable in nature. This helps publishers get revenue while creating engagement from users.

GoodBarber In-App Purchase extension

Basically, users will have the option to pay for additional features, content, or services within an app.
Among the different categories of in-app purchases, the subscription model is the most popular. Indeed, subscriptions offer benefits for both you and your users. They provide you with a recurring, reliable income as well as a more loyal and engaged audience. For your users, in-app purchase offers a great experience and added value without having to leave the app.

Automatically renewing subscriptions: how does it works?
In this model, users are automatically charged each payment period until they cancel their subscription.
Example: a monthly subscription to have access to fully readable news articles .
Monetizing your content by recurring subscriptions allows app users to access an offer as long as the subscription is active. This system offers users permanent access to exclusive content. The subscription automatically renews until the user decides to cancel it. This is a payment method without any obligation, unsubscribing is simple and can be done at any time.

While many people believe that mobile apps are used to promote/sell one’s own products, this is not true at all. Promoting someone else’s products or services are a great way to generate affiliate revenue. In general terms, it is similar to advertising but can entail better rewards and partnerships for the app owners. Once a user clicks on an affiliate product and purchases it, you get a share of the sale. Referral marketing is highly scalable and can bring in a constant and ever-growing revenue stream.
 
As discussed above, with the apps built with GoodBarber,  you can sell ads placements in your app: this feature allows you to create your own ads. You'll manage your own AD campaigns with its internal ad server. Manage campaigns, target your audience over various parameters, display different ads and much more with GoodBarber.

• White Label Apps
• Unlimited apps
• Dedicated Support & Assistance

1. Social networks
2. Food delivery
3. Transportation
4. Health care
5. Games

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