by CodeFuel Staff | Mar 24, 2015 | Monetization
Monetization platforms monetize your software for you, so you can spend your time focusing on what you love: writing great code. These platforms, such as the industry-leading CodeFuel product suite, serve the dual functions of monetization and promotion.
If you haven’t heard of these toolboxes, it’s not very surprising. Monetization platforms are a relatively recent development in the marketing world. But, given their solid rate of growth and the amount of value they add to the marketing industry, they are clearly on their way to becoming global standards.
Pick a Platform
There aren’t many high-quality platforms to choose from. Most of those that do exist are only following in the footsteps of CodeFuel.
When you evaluate potential contenders, however, examine these factors to find out which one leads the pack:
Features and Benefits – The first thing you’ll want to check is certainly the features and benefits that the product suite offers…if it even is a product suite. In many cases, monetization platforms aren’t actually platforms at all: they’re simple advertising tools.
A full-service platform should include:
- Monetization Solutions
- Promotion Solutions
- Multiple Advertising Options
- Analytics
- Fast Integration
- Advanced API
- Cross-Platform Compatibility
- And So On
Company History – Take a look at the company’s track record, size, valuation, and so on. Some companies have just started up, while others have a history of growth and expansion. Visit third-party websites to view the company’s reputation.
Quality Partners and Users – High-quality users are the kind that converts, and high-quality partners are those whose judgment you would trust. Do they develop apps that you would feel comfortable advertising? If so, great, because these are the types of apps you can use to help monetize your installs.
Choose the Right Tools for the Job
Naturally, you won’t need every tool in the monetization chest, but you may be able to use more than one. Examine what the platform has to offer and see if it fits your needs.
Here are a few examples of the types of tools that will help you monetize your app, browser extension, or website:
Smart Installer – A pay-per-install program advertises third-party offers during the installation process, and each time someone converts on an offer, you earn money. The installation can be customized to fit your brand and optimized to boost conversions.
Search Monetization – Search monetization is an innovative monetization method that includes both a search function and a monetization function. This ingenious strategy adds value to the app and the user, without overtly marketing to them. Each search earns you money.
Targeted Advertising – The most effective ad networks are often the most specialized. CodeFuel’s DisplayFuel, for instance, cultivates a select inventory that is specifically designed for software developers.
Analytics – The analytics hub will be your window into your monetization campaign. You will want analytics data that is both easy to understand and easy to customize if the need arises.
This set of tools offers something for just about every developer. You may only use one tool or you may use them all. But once you’ve started, it’s time to track your campaign.
Analyze and Improve
After you’ve chosen your network, picked your tools, and started your campaign, you’ll need to analyze and improve your marketing funnel.
Don’t worry, monetization platforms make this a piece of cake.
Pay attention to the most important information first, such as the number of conversions, downloads, and abandonment rates. As time goes on, you’ll be able to make use of more advanced analytics features, real-time reporting, and custom functions.
Monetization Platforms and Conversion Funnels
Don’t be scared by marketing terminology. “Conversion funnel” is the only one you should be concerned about. The conversion funnel is simply another name for the sales funnel.
The sales funnel is the old idea that customers go through four stages on their way to the final purchase: awareness, interest, desire, and conversion.
Monetization platforms allow you to develop the entire funnel simultaneously, from conversion to promotion.
Promote
The final step to monetizing your software with monetization platforms is promotion. After all, without growth, you won’t be able to get the traffic you need to earn money.
Fortunately, you’ll find that monetization solutions, such as specialized ad networks and pay-per-install networks, are ideal solutions for software promotion. The very same monetization platform can also serve you as a promotion platform.
As you can probably see, monetization platforms are complete solutions for developers, software publishers, and advertisers. From ad-powered monetization to search monetization and analytics, the right monetization platform will take you from zero to 60 in the amount of time it takes you to insert some code.
by CodeFuel Staff | Jan 8, 2015 | Monetization
Software monetization in 2024 has evolved considerably from years previous. In this summary of the year’s developments, we’ll highlight some of the major trends as well as key developments that indicate the direction monetization will take next year and beyond.
Major Monetization Changes in 2024
Every time a new technology is introduced into the internet ecosystem, new monetization opportunities arise. And with those new opportunities come floods of new marketers, developers, and publishers who want to capitalize on the new market.
This has been the case with desktop operating systems, smartphone platforms, browser extensions, and other extendable platforms. Of course, with these new marketplaces comes new challenges…what’s here one day could be gone the next.
Browser Extension Monetization
Software monetization has always been a thorny problem for many developers, but browser extensions are even worse. It is quite difficult to monetize browser extensions while maintaining the user experience. Some of the best examples are cases where the developer has found a way to align the extension’s monetization solution with the user experience.
StumbleUpon’s browser extension, for instance, is a perfect “extension” of the company’s business model. Yet the monetization method is so well disguised that many users don’t know how the company earns money.
Search monetization is another example of a monetization solution that integrates functionality with revenue generation. Browser extensions or software programs that integrate this functionality into their browsers, for instance, earn money when users perform searches.
At the other end of the spectrum, however, we have developers who don’t integrate monetization and functionality. In some cases, developers have actually covertly hidden their monetization method in the code. In one case, for example, a developer used an extension to turn regular links into affiliate links without telling users.
This is one instance of a browser extension gone wrong. This extension may have been one of the factors that caused Google to update its terms of service in an attempt to force Chrome extension developers to keep extensions “simple and single-purpose in nature.” The result is a strict terms of service that makes monetization that much harder.
Pay-Per-Install and Bundling
Though extension monetization has hit a couple roadblocks in 2024, pay-per-install and software bundling are still two reliable monetization methods. A few years ago, Apple was throwing some wrenches into the works by rejecting some pay-per-install apps. However, this response on Apple’s part was a reaction to incentivized installs that were designed to manipulate user reviews or chart rankings.
For apps that don’t attempt to manipulate App Store rankings – or for software programs that don’t use app stores at all – pay-per-install and bundling are still one of the best ways to monetize the download.
Bundling can refer to rolling up several programs into a pay-per-install program. Or it can refer to bundling as a pricing strategy.
This strategy received some attention in 2024 when Thom Yorke, the lead singer for Radiohead, offered his music for sale as a BitTorrent Bundle. Though bundling itself is nothing new, it has taken some time for traditional industries – and even the software industry – to catch on and catch up.
As we move into 2024, it is likely that more software developers will realize the potential for bundling as a monetization solution.
Display and Video Advertising
New monetization solutions are emerging with new technology. Display advertising and video advertising, for instance, have begun to show promise even as other forms of advertising begin to decline. In the past, video ads were once too unwieldy to transmit over wireless networks or across multiple platforms.
But technology has helped advertisers overcome this hurdle. Major social networks, from Facebook to Twitter and Instagram, began introducing video ads into their content.
As wireless bandwidth increases, as technology itself becomes more robust, and as the cost of video production decreases, video ads themselves will become more widely available to more modest budgets…not just major brands on major social networks. Several video advertising companies already offer video ads to developers as a way to monetize apps. In fact, a 2014 study found that 3 out of 4 mobile video ads happen in-app.
Mobile Monetization
As the crowds of consumer eyeballs move from desktop to mobile, so too do the marketers, software developers, and advertisers. Though freemium has been the most popular monetization strategy for most developers, in-app advertising produces nearly the same amount of revenue, despite being less popular.
Given the competitive nature of the app markets, it is only natural that consumers would avoid spending money as much as possible – after all, everything digital is free. Why should customers have to pay for anything?
For software developers, the above-mentioned monetization methods, such as pay-per-install, in-app display ads, and so forth, will be the way to go in 2024.
This year, we have seen several monetization milestones come and go. While the occasional misuse of browser extensions has thrown up some roadblocks for the rest of the development community, mainstream app and software monetization continues to plow forward successfully with installation advertising, bundling, and in-app advertising. If this year’s developments are any indication, the mobile-first future will also be display-first and maybe even video-first.