Effective Monetization Strategies for Digital Products

Monetization! At first, most new Product Managers frown upon this word but it is an absolutely necessary element for any successful business model in the long run. Sooner or later, every successful product reaches a matured state when it must develop right monetization strategies. Below are some the key strategies PMs use to monetize their product / features.

• Pricing models - Fremium, Free trials, Registration fees can help products achieve their short term / long term revenue goals
• Add value/monetize value - Bring add-on / value added services for customers like gaming industry utilizes in-app purchases like extra lives
• Leveraging assets - Assets could be in terms of digital real-estate, technology/API platforms, premium content, user base or data of these users etc. Apart from advertising on platforms, companies can find some ways to use the assets themselves or through their partners. Amazon built a highly profitable AWS business out of their internal cloud platform.
• Securing/Maximizing CLV - Companies can use Subscriptions (Eg Prime), Bundling, Cross-selling or Up-selling opportunities to maximize CLV
• Alliances - Partnerships or Affiliates help companies to serve their customers in the voids left (example Insurances for flights, certifications etc). These also help in generating additional revenues through commissions/incentives
• Repackaging the product as service - Newsletters from blogs are created to target key audiences which is relatively easier to monetize

Remember! Honesty and Creativity are still keys to good product designs in the long run. Wherever possible always try to complement the user experience ( Paywall schemes on most news websites could not be very successful )