Which monetization model? [HELP!]
I need some suggestions about how to monetize a mobile app I'm building.
👉 What does this app do?
Studio (name is temporary) is a mobile app that can help you in studying and memorizing. It's based on PQ4R concept, so you have to think about it as a support tool while you study a subject on books or other media.
👉 How Studio can help in studying?
Studio let users create notes (text, vocal, photos), questions and mind maps. The most important feature are questions. Writing a question and its answer is part of the learning process. When users will build their own library of questions/answers they can use the self-test feature.
👉 Is it SaaS model appropriate?
I think SaaS model would be simply great but I'm not sure it fits well for Studio. I think apps like Freeletics and similar where you pay a monthly fee in order to access premium contents.
The problem is that Studio provides no content at all! All contents (notes, questions, etc.) are user generated.
A feature for a subscription could be Online storage + sync for multiple devices VS Local storage on phone.
👉 What about freemium?
This is probably the most reasonable option. I could offer a Lite version where you can work with 1 course only and/or limiting the features or the number of notes.
👉 Ads?
I think ads would ruin the experience of this kind of app. This is a tool you need to use while you study something, ads are too distracting.
👋 What do you think? Do you think is anything I could add in order to justify a recurring payment?
Hi Diego
How big is your target audience? That will determine a lot of things.
For freemium to work, you are looking at at least 10 million users and if you have to rule out Ads then monetization will become even more difficult.
I feel the saas model will be a better choice. You can add more value to you app by integrating it with leading learning sites because that's the way most people are learning these days, for example integrating with linked learning, Lynda.com, Udemy. That way user acquisition could be smoother
Cheers
Preeti
Hi Preeti, thanks for your reply.
I don't know actually but it should be quite large. My app would be used by university students and a small percentage by high-school students. The app will be localized in English, Spanish, German and French.
It's years I'm not in the mobile app market so I don't know what is an expected conversion rate. Do you think 2% could be too optimistic? Students from universities can spend big money for this kind of tools. Maybe they're not many but the ones who purchase have a richer wallet.
About ads, I have not decided to rule out definitively, still considering.
I'm not sure I understand what you mean. What kind of integration are you thinking?
Thanks!
Diego
Hi Diego
2-5% is the average conversion rate for companies doing good so it sounds achievable.
I do feel that ruling out Ads makes sense for a study app so you should stick with that
What I meant with integrating is that in your app university students can see which online courses they are already following on say Coursera and add notes/mind maps whatever to that online course. There are APIs provided by major companies in some cases and apps just use them to integrate.
On a side note, If freemium makes sense for you, one paid feature could be the ability to share notes created by other users of course with the creator's permission. Students always borrow and value other student's notes.
Cheers
Preeti
Hi Preeti,
I'll examine the possibility of integrating with such services, sounds really interesting.
That's a VERY cool idea, thank you!
So, in the perspective of the freemium model, the paid features could be:
(*) contents are organized in courses. Each course can have many subjects. Each subject can have notes, questions and mind maps.
(**) sync could be a further option which would require a subscription in order to cover expenses for hosting and database (currently I'm using Firebase).
Sounds like a good plan!
Good luck
Cheers
Preeti