Just developing an iPhone app won’t make you a millionaire; you need to put it through a monetization process that takes into consideration all of the various important aspects of marketing an app.
If you have an iPhone app, then you definitely want to earn money from it. This is easier said than done, however, let’s take a look at how this can be achieved.
Bring it to your Customers
You can only generate money from your app if it has a sizable number of users. And it will only get these users if your app is popular. So, the first thing you need to do is that you need to engage your customers and take your app to them. Think of the many different ways in which the app can be presented to your users, whether its cross promotion, in-app advertising, press releases or social media and use every available channel that you can access to create a buzz about your app.
Strategize Pricing
Some developers are of the opinion that if you give away your app for free then you can generate some kind of initial interest but you might not be able to make money out of your app in the long run. There are others who think that a free app gives tremendous returns over the long term.
There are two aspects to this debate, and we must consider both of them:
• App Worth
The first part of deciding on the pricing of your app is determining what it’s really worth; that is, putting a price on it. Of course, as a developer, you will believe that the app is worth its weight in gold, but is that really the case? What you need to think about is this: Will making an investment in your app help the user in some way? The user is going to measure the cost of your app against the returns that he/she is getting.
It should be able to offer high ROI, an investment that can be seen monetarily or experienced in other ways. So, determine a price that will be amenable to the user and not to you the developer.
• Free or Paid
There are just two ways to decide the pricing of your app; either you have a price, or you don’t (in which case, it’s free). In the former, your price model is based on the true value consideration for your app; you can put a price on it and then sell it. Nothing gets simpler than that. But here’s something else that you can do and that is to use an ad-supported model for your app if you think that quite a number of users will download it. In this case, the fact that it is free will spur even more users to download your iPhone app, allowing you to boost revenue generation through the in-app advertisements. On the other hand, if not many users are likely to download the app, a fixed charge model will be a better bet.
But whatever option you decide to go for, you will need to first create hype for the app, so start off with a free trial then gauge the public reaction and decide. This will help you zero in on the right pricing strategy for your app.
Tracking Results
Are you doing it right? The answer to this question is an essential part of marketing. Yes, you will need to understand what’s happening with your app monetization campaign, whether you have actually understood what the users want, whether you have prioritized the right platforms for promotions and overall whether you have been able to take the right decisions. All this matters when you want to make the best use of all the resources at your disposal, certainly as far as promotion and marketing of the app is concerned.
To Conclude
I am sure that whether it’s creating iPhone app, developing an iPad app or custom building apps for some other platform, every developer is thinking about getting the maximum returns from their app, as quickly as possible. But, in the absence of a focused monetization campaign, this is unlikely to happen. So, focus on a well-planned and even better executed campaign and do take note of the ways and means mentioned in this article. They will definitely help you out.
Author Bio: Samara Hayden is an iOS developer and writer. Her experience ranges from programming to development of iPhone apps and iPad apps. She loves writing about her insights into the world of iOS to share her views with like minded people. She is a gadget aficionado and never leaves home without her iPad. Connect with the Author via: Google+
