Can you imagine your day without social media? Most people can’t, so it’s pretty clear why social networking applications are getting more and more demanded these days. Instagram takes its rightful place in the top list.

It feels like it’s high time to design a clone of Instagram and successfully monetize it. Are you tempted by this idea yet? We shall distinguish some key points to pay attention to in order to come up with a prosperous app.

How to make it special

Of course, you can follow the Instagram example, meaning, you could install similar features and allow the audience analogous possibilities, and that’s the right way to go. However, it’s not the best idea to copy it on the dot. Your solution has to be special, and here are a few options to achieve this goal:

• Adequate navigation. Don’t neglect the usability point when you build a photo-sharing app. The navigation should be well-thought-through making sure visitors won’t need to take superfluous steps to find content, post pictures, and the like;
• Regular platform improvement. No matter how great you make it from the very start, in some time the software will become obsolete. Thus, to create a popular social network service (and to keep it that way), you shall continuously improve it to perfect your app;
• Individualization. The interests of the audience must be taken into consideration, and in the best-case scenario, you shall find an individual approach to each person. You’ll need to examine users’ behavior for the purpose;
• A special niche. The examples of demanded frameworks prove the importance of targeting a particular niche. Think what segment to focus on: landscape design, science, fashion, or something else;
• Localization. You could make a program, localize, and target it to a particular region/country. In such a case, it’s essential to take into account various points, say, traditions, religion, history, and the like.

Monetization

Clearly, you expect your social networking application to make a good profit. We’d like to distinguish the most effective approaches to monetize a resource akin to Instagram:

• Advertising posts. You have probably noticed that from time to time on Instagram you can find certain advertising posts (sponsored ones). They’re published to promote a specific product or service. They could even be presented as a carousel of pictures, that’s why it’s called “Carousel Ads”;
• In-application purchases. You can help the audience make purchases with no unnecessary clicks, and you as an owner will get your commissions. By the by, you could sell different goods, both real and virtual;
• Advertising stories. That would be one more way to monetize a system similar to Instagram. It means regular stories of users are interspersing with some sponsors’ posts;
• Advanced features. We’re talking about a Freemium approach when people need to pay something extra to enjoy more sophisticated functionality. It’s a working strategy to follow. Make sure you give your users a choice: they can take advantage of basic features which don’t require any fees, or they could benefit from premium parameters;
• Data sale. Unfortunately, there are solutions whose owners feel fine selling the personal data of their audience. They don’t neglect such an approach since it’s a nice source of revenue, particularly, when a platform is focused on a certain group of users.

It makes sense to choose a few approaches to monetize your photo-sharing service. If something doesn’t work the way you expect, you can try another model.

By and large, building an Instagram-like framework represents a high-level task. The process will require significant investment, both financial and time. Surely, you’ll be able to make money after having properly implemented the monetization model, however, you need to invest first.

You have to understand that the development will imply a considerable amount of work to be done. Moreover, it’s pretty clear that in case you want to succeed, you won’t be able to save pocket.

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