How I increased my mobile app revenue 130 times in 3 years
A real story about a hobby project: my experiences, problems, and solutions.
Preamble
Three years ago, I realized that it was time to try to “look into tomorrow” and somehow keep track of my funds from different sources. Keeping track of funds in a notebook didn’t seem like the best option at the time, so I thought about creating some kind of plan, which I’ve been following ever since. My specialty is iOS-development, and I decided that it would be good to invest in the creation of the project, which would clearly display the funds in different sources. And that’s what happened next — you can read below.
I see the goal — I go to it.
I stumble along the way, but I still walk.
Mistake number one. Not analyzing your competitors.
How many times have we been told that it is worthwhile to see what is going on around us before starting something new?
Since I have never made it a priority to make money, this stage was safely skipped at the initial stage.
Oddly enough, there is a silver lining to this. If you spend a lot of time analyzing your competitors, the train with them is already far away. The main purpose the app served in the first phase was to create goals and display the progress of their achievements.
Almost after the first version and surprisingly good feedback, it was decided to expand the functionality and add sources of funds. So the app added goals, savings and debts, as well as future planned expenses and statistics.
Mistake number two. Not working with user feedback.
I really want to believe that I did not allow it in the mobile app
As a user, I would absolutely hate for my review to go unnoticed, be it good or bad. The user spends their time and writes their own impressions. As a developer, I try my best to respond to absolutely all of the feedback left on the app page and sent through the feedback section.
Since there aren’t many users in the app (this will be discussed below), you can also respond on your own. If we’re talking about thousands of reviews a day, it’s probably best to leave this role to a professional.
My experience: it’s worth analyzing all the feedback, implement a feedback section through google forms, and add a direct link to the VK group. You could also have a chat room on Telegram, for example.
Mistake number three. Not releasing regular updates.
And don’t write comments on them
I have my main job, after which I may not have the moral strength for anything, and that is probably the main stumbling block to development in general. And then there’s family, plus other things that are mandatory.
The approach I’ve taken is that if you release updates regularly, albeit not at very regular intervals, it’s better than releasing an app, conventionally, with a complete redesign every 10,000 years.
Mistake number four. Do not use free tools for promotion.
I learned about Product Hunt, for example — only in 2019, and thanks to it, in particular, I got at least some increase in downloads not only for iOS, but also for macOS.
If you write in the comments about other similar resources, I would appreciate it.
By the way, interesting fact, Apple has a pretty good free course to study the principles of advertising and you can get a certificate after you pass it. As they say, it’s a small thing, but it’s nice.
Statistics at the moment
In July 2019, there were 90 downloads per month. It peaked in January 2022 with 4,200 downloads (most likely due to the fact that we have to enter the new year with new goals). The cumulative number of installations recently exceeded 30,000.
In July 2019, the app brought in $3.56, and at its peak in January, $ 456. You could say that revenue went up to $ 456. Up 13,000% if you manipulate the numbers.
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Want to Connect?
My telegram channel is here
If you want to see my app in action please download it here
