Developing an app for your business might have taken a lot of time and resources but let us assure you, that you are in the right direction. A mobile app is more than just a tool for your trade. Business owners and app developers have found a way to bring more money into your brand and business by monetizing your app. 

What does it mean to monetize your app? 

Monetizing your mobile application means generating income from another source. If you’re a cannabis dispensary app owner, it means that you can improve the influx of money beyond selling the plant. In line with this, we would like to share with you 5 techniques on how you can earn from your mobile app.

5 Ways to Monetize Your Mobile App

Set Up In-App Purchases or Develop A Pro Subscription

One of the most common tactics mobile app developers and owners have are the in-app purchase and pro-subscription options. If you have already built a strong community for your brand and there is good traffic, offering these options would help generate more income for you. 

While it is great for a customer to experience all that your app and brand have to offer for free, you also have to think about other ways to sustain your business. Apps across niches offer in-app purchases and pro subscriptions to customers who want to access certain app and brand offerings or get exclusive access to certain products. Some of the best examples of in-app purchasing options are games and photo editing apps while brands like Adidas and Nike launch app-exclusive access to certain shoes or clothing to drive more traffic and generate more dollars.

Develop Your App To Carry In-app Ads

There are two types of cannabis dispensary apps. The first one is a brand-exclusive app which only carries one brand and another is a marketplace which allows multiple brand owners to display and sell their products. In-app advertisements are just as good as the paid advertisements you see outside like billboards. 

If you have the data to show that your app has high traffic and engagement rate, you can offer competing and non-competing businesses a slot to banner their businesses in your app. Ad placement rates are dependent on where their ads will be placed. For brands who want their product and logo on your landing page, you can definitely charge more. If you are a cannabis dispensary marketplace app owner, you can also charge brands to have their brand and products on your virtual shelf.

Launch App-Exclusive Events or Product Access

We have mentioned earlier that big brands like Nike and Adidas have members-only exclusive access. With this perk, subscribers can get their hands on the most coveted product in the market at a certain price. Owning a cannabis dispensary business, you can further monetize rare and high-quality products by making them more premium with the exclusive product access benefit. Your customers will either need to spend a certain amount to access these items or you can roll out a special subscription.

Another way to monetize your app is to launch app-exclusive events with special access. With this, you can also invite other brands to pay a fee to partake in your event to sell and promote their goods. You can also give other benefits to special access subscribers such as extra discounts or special promo days.

Related: 3 Unique Ways To Boost Your Pot Shop's Loyalty Program

Affiliate Marketing Programs

One of the newest and most popular ways of marketing and generating more revenue for a brand is through affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing makes use of brand ambassadors specifically those who have established a strong following on social media. One of the most effective ways to drive sales to your app aside from selling ad spaces is to collaborate with significant figures in your business industry. Releasing a special collection or allowing these people to have their own discount code they can mention every time they post content. 

While the aforementioned looks like a way to market your business, you can also partner with smaller influencers who have established their name in the industry online. You can offer them their own promo codes and plug your business in exchange for using their content on your platforms to help them generate more traction. While this approach may be more challenging especially if you do not have a lot of traffic and engagement right now, it is an opportunity where you can invest more time to think of ways how to make this aspect of your business grow as well.

Build A Great App

It is a no-brainer that in order to execute the aforementioned strategies, you have to make sure that you have a good app first. Not all apps are built the same. Some apps are capable of launching time-bound ads that users cannot skip instantly and as well as interactive ads. This is a strategy of large app developers especially those in the gaming industry. You see, each app has its own purpose and capabilities. If you are looking to monetize your app, users and prospect partners should see the value in your app and not just in your business. 

Choosing the right app developer is an important driver of the success of your business. They should be able to expand and be flexible should you want your app to cater to the strategies mentioned above.

Building a mobile app for your business is just one way to keep up with the times and edge out your competitor. While a mobile app is a great tool for your business, you also have to think of ways how to generate additional income. We hope that this piece has been helpful in putting into perspective the opportunities of developing an app for your cannabis dispensary business. While each and every industry is unique from one another, we can always pick up tactics and execute similar business styles tailor-fit to our product and service.