Ever since Jack Dorsey got back at the helm of Twitter, the company has been on the charm offensive towards developers. Mobile developers who want to use Twitter’s technology on their apps. There is a lot of money to be made with good apps and Twitter wants to be a part of this process. So, the company has released three tips for mobile developers on how to monetise their apps.
Also Read: This Is How Facebook Will Monetise Messenger
The first step in this process is to actually determine if they are allowed to monetise their app. Their content API could bar them from this ability. In any case, if they are allowed, they should start by asking themselves the following questions:
- Can you just charge people for [the app] outright?
- Are you selling anything, be it physical goods, in-app purchases or subscriptions?
- Do you have a good place to put ads in your app?
The first is not a question of whether charging is allowed or not because this has been determined beforehand – but whether they believe that people would actually pay for it. Should one pay for an app or not? Would YOU pay for this app or not? Developers could charge, is the app provides a solution that solves someone’s problem.
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Secondly those who would like to sell any products in their apps should use end-to-end solutions to manage the entire process – inventory-tracking, payment management and POS. If they only want to use the payments API developers should consider one of Twitter‘s integrated options – Stripe for example.
Thirdly, developers should try to use banners and interstitials within their apps. Native ads are also an option. However, interstitial banners, although more difficult to implement, they can “command higher prices from advertisers” so they are more lucrative in the long run. Finally, ads should be tested, to see how and where they interfere with usability of the app itself.
It should really be about experimenting as well. The whole idea isn’t as straightforward as one would think. Developer advocate at Twitter, Bear Douglas explains that,
[quote]At the end of the day, don’t be afraid to experiment a little bit. It may take you a little while to hit on the perfect balance of revenue sources for your app, but it gets you that much closer to making it a real business.[/quote]
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