How to Enable Monetization for Your App

As an app developer, you probably want to know how to enable monetization for your app. We’re here to help!

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Here are the steps we recommend you follow when determining how you want to make money from your hard work.

Step 1: Consider at the Beginning How You Want to Make Money.

In the very early stages, it’s helpful to think about you want to make money from your app - assuming you actually want to be paid for all of your hard development work, of course. You could charge people for the app itself, or you can include in-app purchases.

Many apps go with advertising here, and for good reason. It’s fairly easy to implement, and it’s effective fairly quickly right out of the gate. Unless you know your app is going to be a massive hit quickly, enabling advertising can help you to make money even when you don’t have the biggest audience.

But, it’s key to think about this early. That way, you can incorporate your chosen monetization plans into the heart of the app. Trying to shoehorn something in later on can be a recipe for disaster.

Step 2: Determine Which Types of Ads Make Sense.

If you go down the advertising route, think about what types of ads you want your users to see. Different ads provide very different user experiences, along with different payout rates.

Most apps that run ads in them feature a 300x250 banner either at the very top or very bottom. They’re light touch, and while lots of advertisers have ad creatives ready to go, they’re easy to ignore and not always lucrative. Lots of apps also run native ads (where the ad appears within the app and looks fairly similar to the rest of your content) and interstitial ads (ads that take up most or all of the screen).

Next-gen ad formats include fullscreen video ads, 360-degree ads (ads that mimic a 3D experience and let you pivot around an environment), interactive ads and playable ads (ads that are mini games). These ads are highly immersive and engaging, which makes them more lucrative for everyone, but can be technically challenging sometimes to implement and insert naturally.

Step 3: Work Out the Technical Considerations.

How will you access advertisers? How will you be able to work with as many advertisers as possible? What tech will you use to get ads from advertisers onto the app? How long will it take for ads to load? How much time will it take for an advertiser to successfully deliver an ad to one of your users?

These are the kinds of technical considerations you need to work out before moving forward with any monetization effort, but especially when advertising is involved. And if you ever find yourself overwhelmed by too many terms and acronyms, then hopefully our handy guide will be useful.

Step 4: Profit

Think your app is eligible for monetization through advertising? Reach out today to learn more!