4 WAYS YOU CAN MAKE MONEY FROM YOUR BUSINESS APP
10 Feb, 2021
If you’re planning to add an app to your business this year, here are 4 ways that you can monetise it.
Have you ever wondered if you could make money from your business app? If so, the answer is most definitely yes – and in much greater amounts than you might think.
As screen time increases and ecommerce booms, more and more consumers are turning to apps to make purchases for everyday items, subscriptions and treats.
As a case in point, Joe Wicks’ The Body Coach app, which provides personalised fitness and plans launched in late December 2020, is said to have generated £9 million in revenue in the first week of 2021 alone.
Over Christmas, there were reports that the fitness coach made £46,000 in one hour thanks to a huge surge in sign-ups.
If you’re planning to add an app to your business this year, here are 4 ways that you can monetise it.
1. Subscriptions
Apps don’t cost a lot of money to purchase as a user, and the majority are free to download, so you might wonder how you can begin to use an app as a revenue stream.
An easy way is to offer paid premium upgrades in the form of a subscription services.
For example, if your app is a business tool, omit some premium but sought after features from the free version and allow your users to pay for the full app on a rolling subscription.
Alternatively, you could provide the entire app for free for a given period but charge users an ongoing subscription once their trial is over.
2. In-App Purchases
You could also set up in-app purchases to turn your app into a money maker. This could enable users to purchase goods or services from inside the app itself. This has become increasingly popular in app design - and increasingly lucrative.
3. Selling Products
The benefit of an application is it is on your users phones, in their hand and therefore easily accessible from anywhere. If you have a product or service to sell, promoting it within your app and allowing users to purchase your goods or services directly from their device adds convenience and can boost conversions. It is an easy way for your to reach your audience and an easy way for your audience to complete a purchase on the go.
4. Advertisements
Advertising also makes a lot of money for app owners, which is a great way to monetise your application if you want to keep everything free within the app itself. Similar to advertising on websites, every time a user clicks on an ad, you will receive a commission. Although you can use advertisements alongside these other methods, any paid for or premium services should be ad-free.
4 WAYS TO INCREASE IN-APP SALES
23 March, 2020
Ramp up your sales as we head into the holiday shopping season
October has arrived and with it the closing stretch of what for many, has been a very gruelling year. With the claxon officially sounded on the holiday shopping season, you’ll no doubt want to finish strong and that could mean targeting more sales
via your business app.
With research confirming that this year’s gift givers are set to be more considered about what they buy, open to purchasing items from a new retailer and spending more when buying in app, there’s much to recommend investing the time needed to fine tune your app experience to boost sales.
1. Include reviews
Incorporating reviews for products and services directly into your app design is a no brainer for increasing sales. Reviews are tremendously powerful and help consumers decide what to buy. A study conducted by Northwest University’s Spiegel Research Centre says that including reviews on e-commerce pages can improve conversion rates by as much as 270% so, it makes sense to incorporate them into the online store pages of your app where possible.
2. Make your navigation clear
If you’re already a seasoned e-commerce store owner, you may have found making the switch to selling products or services via the smaller screen of an in-app store a little challenging. One of the key lessons to learn is that when it comes to add design, navigation should be kept as clean and clear as possible. This may mean that you can’t replicate your website menu for your app store as in-app navigation needs to be more streamlined for ease of use.
3. Personalise the experience
Google figures show that those who use apps spend 37% more than non-app shoppers, buy more frequently and spend more. To fully engage with that demographic and maximise the opportunities you have to make a conversion, you need to ensure you’re offering a tailored, personalised experience. This could mean suggesting relevant products for example or sharing tailored offers based on previous purchase history.
4. Make checkout and payment easy
Mobile app users don’t want to spend ages filling out long forms, providing surplus information and struggling to input credit card details on the small screen of their mobile app device. Consider how you can smooth this path with mobile payment options such as Google Wallet or Apple Pay and streamlined checkouts. The easier, quicker and more seamless you can make the in-app purchase, the greater the chances of registering a sale.
4 IMPORTANT STATS TO PREPARE YOU FOR THE FESTIVE SALES SEASON
23 Sep, 2020
Get festive ready now to boost sales via
your app
Autumn is officially here and that means one very important thing – the festive shopping season has arrived. Although we are not yet into October, Prime Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are within touching distance. This year though, they don’t mark the start of the holiday shopping season; the unusual circumstances of 2020 mean that it has begun before we even hit the last quarter of the year and that means, now is the time to get prepared to maximise sales from your apps in this most critical of periods.
If your small business app has an online shop or e-commerce functionality, here are 8 important stats to get you set for a profitable run-up to the holiday season.
1. Presents are still front of mind during the pandemic
Research by Bazaarvoice tells us that presents are still on most people’s minds during the pandemic with 82% of shoppers saying that they still intend to buy gifts for their loved ones this year. Just over half (61%) say that they will budget the same amount as last year.
This means that a large chunk of people will, on the contrary, be more cautious and planning to spend less. Don’t forget to cater to that demographic and share offers, promotions and incentives via your app as early as possible.
2. More shoppers are shopping more online
Thanks to the pandemic, shoppers around the world are buying more online than ever before. Globally, an average of 49% report an increase in online buying but, that figure is higher in some countries. In the UK for example, 58% of people are shopping more online.
In Mexico, that figure leaps to 80% of shoppers, while in the US it is 62% and Canada, 59%.
3. Minimal contact shopping is preferable
Unsurprisingly, the options to purchase which minimise contact with others are more popular this year. Options like buying via a brand’s website, ordering on social media for home delivery and click-to-collect options are all more in demand this year.
Consider how you can accommodate this via your business app to maximise sales and make the purchase process as stress free and convenient as possible for your customers.
4. Item value and cost important considerations
In addition to offering contactless options for consumers shopping on your app, you’ll also need to be mindful of changing thought processes and buyer criteria. We’ve already seen that a good proportion of consumers are going to reduce their gift giving budgets but, they are also thinking more about the value of an item and the cost of the individual gift.
Price is the number one factor for consumers, with 34% of shoppers saying that’s the most important consideration when deciding between various options, while 26% rely on product reviews. If you don’t already have reviews displayed for products you sell, introducing them to your product pages could help you to convert more customers this holiday season. Likewise, allowing shoppers to compare items and suggesting alternatives can be highly beneficial.
ARE YOU MAKING THESE INSTAGRAM MISTAKES?
16 Sep, 2020
Make sure you’re promoting your app t
he right way
The power of social media needs no introduction but it has taken on even more importance this year as usage figures and time in app have both spiked. Although it has been around for a while, many businesses still struggle to make social media work for their business. With one million users, getting Instagram savvy is especially useful and can aid in discovery of both your small business and your new business app.
Here are a few common mistakes to be aware of and what to do instead to make the time spent on social media more
fruitful for your brand:
1. Not experimenting with post times and frequency
Like any social media marketing, Instagram can take some time to figure out. What works for one brand may not work for you.
While it does require time and patience, experimenting with different posting frequencies and post times will allow you to
identify the sweet spot for your audience.
2. You’ve given in to the temptation to purchase followers
Follower counts can be a huge bug bear for many a business as the expectation is that you’ll have thousands. If your numbers are lower and you feel it is taking too long to build a following, you may have given in to temptation and purchased followers.
While this will have boosted the number that others see, in all likelihood that audience will never engage with you, which means your posts won’t attract the likes, shares and interaction that they deserve.
Buying a following also means that you aren’t targeting genuine social media users who may actually be interested in downloading your app or using your company.
3. Your posts are too promotional
Social media is a discovery medium for many consumers and more and more, shoppers are in the habit of turning to platforms like Instagram and Facebook to find product ideas or narrow down service providers. That said, making your posts too promotional is a huge turn off for most users.
While there is certainly a place for sharing promotions you have running, they shouldn’t form the bulk of your updates. Instead, focus on meaningful, value-add content and visuals that your audience will genuinely connect with. This helps you to build stronger relationships with your audience and retain followers, both of which naturally translate into a more sustainable and fruitful social media presence.
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