App Monetization Insights: How Hydro Coach rapidly reached 22 new markets

FEB 09, 2016

We created The No-nonsense Guide to App Monetization to help you answer a burning question, “What’s the best way to monetize my app?”. Our new 5-part blog series provides additional tips straight from successful app developers.

This week, meet Christoph Pferschy, the app developer and designer behind Hydro Coach. Hydro Coach is a drink reminder and water intake tracker that’s been growing in popularity, now receiving over 5,500 downloads a day. Check out these tips from Christoph.

1. Start small to get big

Christoph is best known for his app Hydro Coach, but his company, Codium App Ideas, has a bigger vision. In his words, they’re on a mission “to create useful and high-quality health-related apps that are combinable to a single health & fitness system.”

But right now, Christoph is focusing on just one app – Hydro Coach. Why?

Because he believes the best way to accomplish a big goal is to focus on a critical piece and nail it. He chose Hydro Coach because he’s personally benefited from drinking more water and he saw that there was less competition in the space.

Now that his business is growing, he’s begun moving forward with his larger plan, connecting with other services and platforms. For example, he explains, “we’ve connected Hydro Coach to Google Fit to synchronize users’ weight and we’re also very proud to be featured as a partner app with Samsung’s S Health,” syncing all drink inputs with their platform.”

Consider Christoph’s approach to building a company: start small to get big. Focusing on too much, too early, might not allow you to build an app experience that user’s love.

2. Assess users’ needs before choosing a business model

Settle on a business model for your app before it launches. Spend time assessing your users’ needs and your business goals to get there. Start by asking yourself guiding questions that will help narrow down the decision for you like, “Who is your audience?”, “What value does your app provide?”, and “How do you intend to promote your app?”. Learn more about these guiding questions and business models in our No-nonsense Guide to App Monetization.

Once you do choose your business model, consider continually improving your app’s user experience, especially when it affects monetization. Christoph is meticulous about providing the best experience for all of his users, explaining,

“We try to improve each user experiment segment with small and careful changes over time. For example, we’ve fine-tuned the algorithm that determines when, how and how often ads are displayed, thanks to Manuela (our AdMob consultant). We also invest in small things that mean a lot to our users, like being sure to say ‘Thank you’ after a user makes an in-app purchase and making the flow after a purchase as smooth as possible. It all adds up.”

As you look through your app, be methodical when choosing your overarching monetization strategy. Once you’ve chosen your model, focus on tweaking the user experience and providing the best possible monetization flow.

3. Consider having your users help with localization

Christoph has done an amazing job getting Hydro Coach fully translated into 22 languages. His secret weapon? His users.

As he explains, “It’s no secret that translating the app is the first and most important step. So here’s my tip: ask your users to help translate. It results in a high-quality translation because people who are already using your app have the needed context and interest. There are several services for this that you can use, but you’ll be surprised how many people love to help.”

If you found these tips helpful, don’t forget to check out The No-nonsense Guide to App Monetization. Also, stay connected on all things AdMob by following our Twitter and Google+ pages.

Posted by Joe Salisbury, Product Specialist, AdMob

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