Have you heard the saying, “Health is Wealth”? Essentially it means that good health is equal to good wealth. Surprisingly, the saying is true when it comes to the business, especially health-based mobile apps or mHealth apps. A certain number of strategies work behind how mobile apps monetize and increase revenue.
There is no doubt that healthcare and wellness apps are boosting more revenue. This list of apps includes heartbeat measuring and sleep patterns apps to apps for physical exercises like yoga and Zumba and even the apps on mental health like meditation and mindfulness, and the list continues.
According to the reports, it is estimated that the global healthcare app revenue was around $37 billion in 2019. And about 70% of consumers say technology is an important part of their health. Further, the research also mentioned the importance of virtual care, robotics, and products backed by AI.
What is mHealth, and why is it important?
mHealth, also known as mobile health, is basically the use of applications in smart devices for achieving health goals. Today, mHealth apps are well-known for education and in creating awareness, diagnostic and treatment, remote data collection, remote monitoring, chronic disease management, and more.
During the Covid-19, people were shifting more and more to digital platforms in order to avoid physical contact. Patients, healthcare practitioners, and people were constantly monitoring their health through remote apps, thus creating a business opportunity.
Digital healthcare app creators currently take more than 25% of the market, like mHealth application development company and aggregators. However, only 4% of app publishers have more than 1 million downloads.
Mobile app development companies have a plan and adopt proper healthcare and medical mobile app revenue models that can be considered the competition at bay.
What to keep in mind while creating mHealth apps?
It is important to understand the market, the consumer, and the related product to boost sales and revenues when building any application.
Let’s understand how all these three work.
The market
Here the term ‘market’ means the size, geography, and competition. Today, the healthcare app market counted around a 6.51% increase in 2021! This is because the popularity of mobile health apps has been increasing at the speed of light in the last few months.
Then there are fitness tracking and reshaping apps that are boosting users with data to track and fulfill their health goals. The mHealth apps are estimated to reach a whopping $200 bn or more by the year 2025 due to the use of smartphones, availability of the internet and rise in connected devices, and more.
The consumer
The consumer is someone who is aware, informed and keen to adapt to change. Technology today is seen as a help for those in need. Everyone uses it, including doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies that are turning to digital healthcare devices for efficiency, better data management, accessibility, and solutions.
mHealth app
Adopting and using mHealth apps are considered for wellness, monitoring and tracking, recording data, and many more things.
How to monetize mHealth apps?
Competition is and was always fierce when it came to app monetization. So when you think of value and revenue earned from mobile-based health apps, here are some considerations:
- As you know, all the apps uploaded to the Play Store and App store don’t generate revenue. So, to make profits, the strategy is to diversify the portfolio and offer apps that offer a specific purpose to the target audience.
- No app will start generating revenue instantly. You will need patience, smart promotions, and tactics. It will take around 3-5 years to deliver the desired results.
- The location of the consumers and mobile platform also plays a vital role in generating revenue. mHealth app developers boost more sales by building native iOS and Android apps.
- Also, your apps getting millions of downloads doesn’t generate revenue. Although it leverages to drive revenue, installs denote engagement and popularity.
Also, have a look at some app monetization strategies that can create value, sales, and even revenue:
Registration fee and subscription model
One of the most common ways to make money is through registration or subscription fees. This is perfect for aggregators who can pay and register for users who are looking for medical practitioners, wellness experts, etc. But, on the other hand, users also need to pay a minimum subscription fee to avail these services.
Freemium
Freemium is the word derived from ‘free’ and ‘premium’, which is considered the most popular app monetization strategy. This system functions on the premise of adding value to the users.
Here, users can download the app and use it for a few days for free and then can pay for the features to upgrade.
In-app purchases
This is the best feature, especially for the health apps with gamification attached. With this feature, users can buy credits to power up. This will also help customers in paying for their appointment or consultation charges and more.
On the other hand, there is another option for app monetization called merchandising, where the app can act as a marketplace for selling products to the users.
In-app ads
Another popular way of making money is through in-app ads that allow apps to tie with external brands to advertise on the apps for a fee. Like TV ads, brands need to pay companies to showcase their products.
Ads help in making money, but at the same time, it has to be done in style. While ads help in making money, they shouldn’t be intrusive or affect engagement. That is where a UI/UX designer comes into the picture. He is the one that ensures that the ad is strategically positioned to be visible.
Wrapping up
Appslure is a leading mobile and web app development company with a team of experts having experience building mHealth apps. They use Artificial Intelligence which offers them real-time data, provides insights, trigger alerts, and more.
Also, it is a leading IT Solution company in the sector; they have lots of latest tools and technology stack to get you started in your AI health app journey. So, what are you waiting for? Contact Us and get started with your mHealth app today, as it is already on the rise!
