Today, if one is lucky enough to amass millions of followers or fans, it’s hard not to think of the millions it can generate in revenue. The monetization potential has been made clear by social media sites, and yet sometimes what traditional social media has to offer doesn’t seem enough. This is the situation the Kardashians found themselves in nearly a decade ago. They thought that if they could get their “followers” to follow them to their own app, they could charge them money and convert their follower count into dollars. The Kardashians’ logic was sound and their path is tempting, but it ended in failure. How did their seemingly bright idea of ​​solo apps fade away? Why hasn’t this become the model for all social media stars?

Content is queen

Kim Kardashian West debuted on the App Store with a game called “Kim Kardashian: Hollywood,” which earned the star and her development partner $200 million in annual revenue. The game was free, but players could purchase in-game currency, “K-Stars,” to buy in-game items such as special clothing and furniture. This seemed to pave the way for the Kardashian sisters to have their own apps, and by 2015, the whole family was getting involved.

Kim Kardashian West, Khloé Kardashian, Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner each launched their own subscription apps, all of which shot to the top charts in the App Store. The Kardashian-Jenner apps were free, but offered additional content to any subscribers who paid $2.99 ​​per month.

The difference between Kim’s first launch and the solo apps that followed was that a game offers very clear content and an experience that you can’t find anywhere else. But the sisters’ solo apps largely shared content that was offered for free elsewhere – namely on Instagram. That difference was significant: Kim’s game lasted nearly a decade, while the solo apps died within three years. With the rise of social media, consumers are used to getting content for free, which makes monetization even more difficult. When an audience has to move to another platform, celebrities and developers have to offer deeper access to exclusive content.

Value is crucial

The importance of rich, high-quality content to the success of a content creator’s standalone app is illustrated by one of the few solo apps still in existence: Martha Stewart TV. Martha Stewart has produced seasons of popular TV shows, and as she said at the app’s launch, “Wherever I go, I always get asked where to find those classic TV shows—everyone misses them.” At launch, her app made over 750 episodes available to an audience she desired; that added value to her fans. In contrast, the Kardashians’ and Jenners’ apps offered content that could be found elsewhere. Vox put it quite scathingly: “Can you remember a time when you didn’t have easy access to Kourtney Kardashian’s healthy living and motherhood tips? Or Khloé Kardashian’s workout tips and product recommendations? Or Kylie Jenner’s personal music preferences?”

Safety in numbers

While the promise of having your own app seems tempting to generate as much revenue as possible, there are also problems when you are the only celebrity using an app. Taylor Swift experienced this trap. Her short-lived app The fast lifewhich debuted at No. 1 on the App Store in 2017, fell to No. 56 on its third day and to No. 793 in its second week. The main reason for this was its content moderation system, which couldn’t handle all the racist and homophobic users who seemed to have adopted this dedicated app as the perfect place to vent all their anger. And Swift wasn’t the only one whose app suffered this fate. Jeremy Renner’s app came and went in about six months because the app’s community was incredibly toxic. But that’s not the only reason being on an app with others is beneficial. Marketing costs can mount to exponential levels when trying to get fans to download a specific program. You already have so many other apps at your fingertips—Instagram, TikTok, and others—that it’s often more cost-effective to distribute content on a shared platform, assuming you can get fans’ attention there. Platforms like Patreon, OnlyFans, Substack, and Fireside help celebrities and creators maintain control by owning and monetizing their content, while also providing them with the same “security in numbers.” Fans also continue to have the benefit of being able to access all of their content in one place without having to download additional applications.

Back to basics

While it’s understandable that the Kardashian-Jenners liked the idea of ​​being a big fish in a small pond—so small that they were the only fish, and it seemed reasonable to be able to convert their followers into subscribers to their solo app, time has shown that they don’t have much to lose by sticking with a shared platform. Each of the Kardashian-Jenner sisters has more than doubled their follower count on Instagram in the past six years, and as of July 2024, Kourtney has 222 million followers, Kim has 362 million followers, Kylie has 398 million followers, Kendal has 292 million followers, and Khloe has 308 million followers. Considering that Kylie earns $847,544 per sponsored Instagram post and no longer has the costs of maintaining a solo app, she clearly shows that there are many reasons to enjoy life as an influencer in a big social media pond.