Indie Developer Growth Strategy: How My Apps Achieved Sustainable Growth

Indie development is a lonely marathon. Many only see the glamour of hit apps but ignore the continuous operation behind them. Today, I will review how my app matrix achieved sustainable growth.

1. Product Matrix Strategy

Don't put all your eggs in one basket. I adopted a "diversified" strategy:

• Traffic Products: Like "Handwriting Book", broad audience, low barrier, mainly used to acquire a large number of users, monetized through ads or low-priced IAP.
• Profit Products: Like "Life Cabinet", vertical niche, deep functionality, targeting users with high willingness to pay, using subscription or high-priced lifetime purchase.
• Innovative Products: Like "PrivAI", exploring new technologies (AI), seizing opportunities, and building brand influence.

2. Growth Flywheel

Just publishing an app is not enough; you need to build a growth mechanism.

• ASO Optimization: This is the foundation. Ensure each app gets organic traffic under specific keywords.
• Content Marketing: Share development processes and insights through blogs (like this one), Twitter, Reddit, etc., to build a personal brand and drive app downloads.
• Cross-Promotion: Recommend App B in the settings or launch screen of App A to reuse traffic.

3. Monetization Models

• Lifetime Purchase: Suitable for tools and low-frequency apps. High decision cost for users, but fast cash flow.
• Subscription: Suitable for content, service, and high-frequency apps. Stable revenue supporting long-term maintenance.
• Hybrid Model: Free basic version + Premium feature purchase/subscription. This is the mainstream model, ensuring a user base while filtering paid users.

4. Data-Driven Decision

Don't operate on intuition. Focus on core metrics:

• LTV (Lifetime Value): Revenue contributed by a user over their lifecycle.
• CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost): Cost to acquire a user.
• Retention Rate: Day 1, Day 7, Day 30 retention. An app with poor retention is like a leaking bucket, no matter how much you promote it.

Conclusion

Indie development is not just about writing code; it's a business. Balancing product, traffic, and monetization is the only way to survive in this competitive market.