All is not said and done when an app is created and available on an app market. For a mobile app to be successful there needs to be analysis and implementation of what makes a user more valuable. Tracking the "lifetime value" of users is an integral part of a mobile app to have continued success.

Lifetime value of the user includes but is not limited to the following metrics:

• Ad spend
• Generating new users
• User engagement
• Conversion rates
• And of course how you monetize. 

The idea of "lifetime value" is to utilize all of these metrics while analyzing them to determine what needs to be changed or enhanced and what is driving the value, and thus revenue, to your app.

Tracking Revenue

Apps should look at their revenue model when it comes to user generation. Is revenue focused on new users downloading the app or is there value that established users can create within your app? Consistently getting more and more customers is a tough act to do in the long term, so a better strategy would be to monetize within your app to the users who are already there.

Tracking High Value Users

New users are great for apps to be successful however new users are not as valuable a metric as the revenues from each user are. With that said, time and energy should be focused gaining high value users that will be frequenting your app and driving more revenue your way.

Acquiring high value users should be tracked to then better spend your marketing dollars on campaigns that are working and bringing in value rather than those attracting low value and other users adversely affecting your bottom line.

Once high value users start to pour in you should drive even more revenue towards your app by seeing what is and is not working within the app. Analyzing actions within the app can determine what works best to drive revenue (i.e. a red “purchase” button over a white one).

Another approach that could be helpful is to not just see what converts best, but analyzing what your highest value users are doing within the app. If, for instance, users who drive a lot of revenue tend to read the contact page, attempt to drive more users to that page through things such as making the contact button bigger, or encouraging users to contact you. All apps are different and so are their user bases, so it is not a one size fits all approach in that if something works for one app doesn’t mean it will work for the other.

Determining the best lifetime value of your users will help tremendously in bringing more revenue towards your mobile app. Focus on a monetization strategy, find your campaigns most useful for bringing in high value users, then analyze the in app behavior of those high value users to create more high value users.