4 easy ways to monetise your business app

Once you have decided that your business needs an app, determined a budget and agreed a brief, your thoughts may well turn to how you can wring more value from your business app. There are lots of benefits to having your own branded business app such as more engagement from customers, more sales and improved brand recall and loyalty. There are also ways you can turn your app into a new revenue stream – here are a few easy ways you could monetise your new business app.

In-app purchases

If you are a retailer, in-app purchases are the most obvious way to boost the revenue you generate with your app. Fashion brands like ASOS have used this strategy to great effect and, with the average adult spending around 3.9 hours per day on a mobile device, in-app purchases are a great way to connect with the consumer in a way they are familiar with.

In-app purchases could mean that your entire store inventory is available via the app or, could be as simple as smaller cost purchases for exclusive content. Some food brands and bloggers take this a step further and have in-app purchases to unlock app-only recipes, so you should be able to find a solution suitable for your product and audience.

Advertising

Advertising is another easy way to instantly monetise your app. It could be that you stick to something simple like banner ads, and charge advertisers for access to that real estate (there are lots of platforms that make this easy for you) or you could offer Interstitials or overlays.

Collect contact information

An indirect way to make it easy for your app to generate revenue for your business is to ensure that you’re taking all opportunities to collect contact information. Have a contact form for example within the app, making it easy for you to market to those users in the future. Contact information is incredibly valuable and could mean that those app users become customers in the future – and that is revenue that can be traced directly back to your app.

Have a free and premium version

Not all users will want to pay for your app but, if you have a value add you can offer, some will. To cover both bases, have a free app with basic features and then a premium version accessed by a one off purchase or subscription fee. Again, this is an easy way to generate revenue once developed – but make sure that the premium version really does add on value and justifies its cost for those highly engaged consumers.