Recently, there has been a surge in app developers and publishers adopting a new tact on how they generate revenue from their app offerings. While, once it was the time when you would simply change someone at the point-of-purchase for your product, the emphasis these days is allowing users the ability to try-before-you-buy. Likewise, adopting a more ‘freemium’ approach to app revenue, where users are charged at points within your app to unlock more features, move forward or upgrade seems to be just as successful in revenue-generating. A third way in which developers and publishers have learned to generate revenue is through direct in-app advertising. This is probably now the most commonly used method and as such it also probably the most revenue generating. Well, if you are planning on publishing your own app anytime soon, then you may want to make use of the following tips to help maximise the effect of advertising for your app.
The first point worth mentioning when looking to advertise is to make sure you are targeting the correct type of user, the correct type of device and the correct type of platform. Making sure your targeting is correct, for your type of product, will not only streamline your service directly towards those it is designed for, but will also limit the costs of having to market your app to less than ideal users, devices and platforms. Not to mention, different devices have different screen sizes and different resolutions which will also affect how your advertising will display. In short, target who will use the app and on the devices it will be used for. An extension of this point is to also make sure that your advertising is targeting correctly in different regional areas. There is no point in advertising your apps in non-English speaking countries if your adverts do not offer support for the local languages. Therefore, ensuring all regional markets receive the same support (such as language suppose) will ensure a larger pool of possible users, therefore maximising the effects of the advertising.
So far, the talk has looked at how to best utilize your adverts to gain greater returns by strategically targeting who will use your app. However, the actual advertisement is just as important. With this in mind, there is also a couple of points to note. Firstly, users, like engagement. Therefore offering users a variety of ways to engage with your advertisement can lead to a healthier number of click-throughs. These engagements can manifest themselves in superficial ways and can be simple as offering ‘options’ on advertisements. These options, might not differ in their end-goal, but the actual offering of interaction, will in itself engage the user. An extension of this is offering rewards to users for engaging in your advertisement. Thank ‘discount for clicking’, think ‘free trial’ , think ‘free apps’. These sorts of rewards for engagement will often lead to users being more motivated to try out your products, apps and services.
On a final note. Probably the most important aspect to consider when deciding on your advertisements is speed. Users do not and will not want to spend too much time looking at your advertisement. Even more so, if they are only looking at your advertisement loading. If your ads are slow then chances are, users will assume your apps are too. Make sure your advertisements are fast, responsive, engaging and motivating and chances are you will see a better return on how successful your app marketing is.