Ten things you can do to make money from mobile apps

Everyone building mobile apps today hopes to have the kind of success that Burbn Inc got with Instagram, or Rovio with Angry Birds. These are among the top-grossing apps in recent years, achieving massive popularity, millions of downloads, and huge return on investment.

So how do you make money from apps in a market flooded with innovative and creative ideas ? Here are 10 very important things to keep in mind if you want to earn revenue from your app:

1. Know your potential market: Users download apps either because they are amusing (like Angry Birds) or useful (like Instagram). In order to compete, make sure that your idea is appealing to the users you hope to target. Just because you think your idea is brilliant doesn’t mean your users will. Take time to explore the marketability of your app idea before you invest heavily in research and development.

2. Benchmark for success: Take time to check what other apps are out there that fall within your niche. Can you do it better or differently? You need to be certain your app will get noticed and stand out to users.

3. Determine your strategy: For every successful app out there that’s complicated and complex, there are other wildly popular apps that are simple. Which do you want to spend your time, energy, and resources in creating? Small or light apps take less investment and can be marketed successfully. There are many very lucrative gaming apps that have taken this approach.

4. Figure out your hook: As with all purchases – like cars or holidays or electronics – consumers often buy things because they get hooked for an emotional reason. Whether it is a slick ad campaign that tugs the heartstrings or the draw of the latest shiny new thing, figure out what will draw people to your app.

5. Eye candy: Don’t skimp on graphics. Simple icons don’t appear to have the appeal of well-designed graphics that are really striking or evocative of what your app does.

6. Test your App: Before you undertake your marketing campaign, take time to test the waters first. Find users who fit your target demographic and have them beta-test your app to give you survey feedback by using a tool like SurveyMonkey. Get their opinions on the name, appearance, and functionality of your app so you can troubleshoot or iron out any glitches before you really go after the market.

7. Market it well: Often people plan to put all their resources into developing an app and hope word of mouth or social media will garner success. Realistically, competition in the app marketplace is fierce so you should expect to spend time and money to market your product. You will need to determine how to best reach your target audience and use a multi-faceted approach to sell your app to users. Try to get the buzz going in myriad ways: get mentioned on app review sites, run burst campaigns to build excitement, and use social media to drive traffic to download your app.

8. Think mobile: Don’t underestimate the value of mobile ad campaigns. With mobile ads you can really target the demographic you are courting. Even if only 1% of 100,000 people click through, that’s still a thousand potential users. The better honed your campaign, the better your conversion rate because you’ll be inviting the people with a history of downloading apps who are most likely to want to download your app when they see your ad.

9. Refine your keywords: Anticipating the way your potential users will search for things will help you reach them effectively. Check out theGoogle AdWords keyword search tool and MobileDevHQ to really source the best keywords for your app.

10. Woo your users: Keep your customers happy. Many successful app developers will offer a free trial version that is lighter than the fully paid app to encourage trial users. Others offer freebies or discount incentives. Some offer their app for free and rely on advertising features on the app to generate revenue. Adding new features or platforms and rewarding loyal customers will also ensure they stay with your app. Mobincube offers both options to developers — that is, a free ad-supported version, or the option to go ad-less for a small fee.

Ready to get started? Visit mobincube.com now. It’s quick, easy, and free!