Decoding Monetization Models For Social & Chat Apps

WEBINAR: DECODING MONETIZATION METHODS FOR SOCIAL/MESSAGING APPS

PRESENTERS

TANVI KAPOOR Global Lead – Native Advertising Solutions, Product Marketing 7 Years of experience in the Mobile Industry [email protected]

SANDEEP JAIN Director – Business Development, North America 14+ Years of experience in Products and Technology [email protected]

WHAT WILL YOU LEARN FROM THIS WEBINAR

Ø  Holistic view of the social and messaging app ecosystem

Ø  Basic understanding of the principles to keep in mind when designing social and messaging apps

Ø  Comprehensive view of monetization methods for social and messaging apps

Ø  Some details on getting advertising right for social and messaging apps

GROWTH OF SOCIAL MESSAGING APPS

GROWTH OF SOCIAL/MESSAGING APPS

7% Shopping

7% Local Search

11% E-mail

11% General Info (Search, Sports, News etc.)

22% Play Games

18% Entertainment (music, videos etc.)

17% Social Media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter etc.)

6% Bill Payments

Ø  46% of mobile usage is purely on communication and entertainment

Ø  General talking and messaging has been replaced with images, emojis and video calls

Ø  Social and messaging apps are the preferred channel for distribution of content such as stories, videos, images, etc.

2014 – CHANGE IN “SOCIAL” BEHAVIOR

This picture is so going on Instagram!

BUILDING A SOCIAL MESSAGING APP

TYPES OF SOCIAL/MESSAGING APPS

ONE TO ONE

• Direct Messaging

• 2-Way Communication

• Example: Whatsapp, Viber, IMO (All messaging apps)

MANY TO MANY

• Group Chats

• 2-Way Communication

• Example: All messaging apps

MANY TO ONE

• Social Feed

• 2-Way Communication

• Private or Public

• Example: FB, TW, Path, Tango

ONE TO MANY

• Broadcast Messaging

• 1-Way Communication

• Example: SMS Broadcasts, RSS Feeds

ONE TO MANY TO MANY

• Channels

• Discussion and Awareness

• Example: Official accounts and Brand Channels

PRIVATE PUBLIC

WHAT MAKES A GOOD SOCIAL MESSAGING APP?

1. KEY VALUE PROPOSITION

Audience Segment + Nature of Usage

Identify your niche audience and what drives their social behavior

KEY VALUE PROPOSITION - EXAMPLE

à Caters to Comic Fans

à Share information on comics, books; Roleplay; Discussions on upcoming releases, etc.

2. ENGAGEMENT

à  Introduce guided interaction to make usage clear

à Create a network to begin with – based on

email id, phone number

Keep the principles of engagement simple and elegant

3. EXPRESSION

Focus on the modes of expression preferred by the key customer segment

4. DYNAMIC CONTENT

Give your users reasons to keep coming back to the app. Repeatedly.

à Humans are slave to notifications

à Updates – user generated + app generated

5. LOCAL FLAVOR & CUSTOMIZATION

Provide local flavors and audience specific features to create context and delight

6. OPENNESS

Take inspiration from the connected world

à Create an open system which links to other popular apps used by your audience segment

à Facilitate sharing of information from these apps

7. EXPAND YOUR HORIZONS

à Grow into a platform

à Recommendations for your users

à Apps, Games, Music, Merchandize, etc.

MONETIZATION METHODS

1. SUBSCRIPTION

Ø  Time Based Example: Whatsapp

Ø  Feature Based Example: LinkedIn Premium, Tinder Plus, Skype Calling Credit

2. PERSONALIZATION

Ø  Payments from personalized items like emojis, stickers and themes

Ø  Either directly through money or through virtual currency

Ø  Example: Path, Line

3. PURCHASES (AUXILLARY)

Ø  Extended app features – IAP from Games, Music Purchases, Merchandize

Ø  Example: Line, Tango, WeChat

4. PAYMENTS FOR OFFICIAL ACCOUNTS

Ø  Official accounts or channels – paid for by the brand

Ø  Useful for increasing engagement

5. TRANSACTION FEES

Ø  Transaction fees from payments to verified merchants

Ø  Example: WeChat

6. ADVERTISING

Ø  In-Line Ads in: Ø  Social feed Ø  Conversation History /

Contact List Ø  Photo Gallery

Example: FB, Tango, Kakao

Ø  Rewarded Video Ads in exchange for virtual currency

Example: Kik

BEST PRACTICES FOR ADVERTISING IN SOCIAL APPS

Ø  Easy Discoverability: Place the ad on the main page, within the first 2 tiles

Ø  Immediately Noticeable: Prominent, large ad units perform better. For

compact layouts, highlight the ad in a slightly different color to improve

performance

Ø  Clear Identification: Clearly mark the unit as an advertisement with a tag

such as “Sponsored” or “Ad”

Ø  Respect User Privacy: Steer clear of private spaces such as conversation

windows to avoid intrusion

“Partnering with InMobi for advertising was an easy choice, given the strength and flexibility of the InMobi platform and ability to seamlessly integrate native advertising in the BBM feed.”

Matthew Talbot SVP Emerging Solutions

BlackBerry

INMOBI IS THE LARGEST INDEPENDENT SOCIAL MONETIZATION PLATFORM GLOBALLY

InMobi Social Partners

CONTACT US

If you are interested in monetizing through ads, you can reach us

at [email protected]

Questions