The big problem with in-app purchases is that only about 5% of your users will ever make a purchase, yet those 5% of users will account for 90% of your revenue.
You may be wondering to yourself… so how can I monetize the other 95% of users of my app?
We typically recommend a three-pronged approach to monetizing non-paying or infrequently paying users:
- Rewarded Videos. Some users love to watch videos for content. While this is only in the $5-10 eCPM range, having a daily rewarded video award that you get all your users to watch can be very powerful.
- Offerwalls. Typically these allow users to download other apps in exchange for virtual currency along with completing other offers like signing up for Netflix. eCPMs are usually in the ~$60 range.
- Rewarded Surveys. We may be biased here at TheoremReach but we’ve found users love surveys. They are a fun and very high paying way to let users earn virtual currency. When implemented well, non-payers completing surveys typically account for 20-30% of your revenue.
The key thing to remember here is that some users will prefer one monetization method over another. This is why we recommend you provide all options to your users. When users feel empowered by how they earn their content how they want, they are much more willing to do so.
The problem with all three of these solutions is most developers think you can simply add them into your app and have them “just work“. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. They must be seamlessly blended into your app as part of the experience so that doing one of these revenue generating activities is a regular part of daily app use.
Put simply – you must design with the non-payer in mind.
What exactly does that mean? That means you can’t just toss a new button on the paywall screen called “Take Surveys, Earn Coins!”. Sure you can do that and you’ll get a little revenue. But you’re missing on one key factor – your non-paying users are never going to click the button to pay money because they don’t want to pay money.
We generally recommend having a button called “Free Coins” or “Earn Free Diamonds!” that will pop-up a modal window where your non-payers can earn their free content. This window is designed for non-payers. You should give them options to watch rewarded videos, complete offers and complete surveys along with other things like referring friends, etc.
The placement of such a button is crucial. If users can’t easily see the “Earn Coins” button, then most will never push it and you’re missing out on massive revenue. Visual indicators are recommended as well.
You should remind users to click this button and get a “big bonus” by watching their first daily rewarded video. The power is getting them to this screen. Once they earn their initial video bonus they’re much more likely to say, “oh and while I’m here, why not take a survey or complete an offer for even more coins?”
Remember this page is for non-paying users. It is designed to get them there daily. And thus generate revenue for you daily. When they are conditioned to do this and each user has a long lifetime retention you could easily earn $0.30+ ARPDAU.
It’s very important to keep in mind that while users are doing these revenue generating activities for you that you must reward them generously. The more users are rewarded, the more they will come back and do that revenue generating activity again and again.
As a last note, I’d also like to comment on currency spend ability. The easier it is to spend the currency, the more users will want to come back and earn it. Make spending it a seamless and a central part of your app experience.
