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Financial Literacy in a Mobile World: App ortunities Abound. Jenni Brand Chief Strategist Bastille Marketing September 30, 2014. What We’ll Cover Today. What are Apps, Really? Do Enough People Rely on Mobile Phone/Tablets? What Apps are People Using (Besides Facebook)?
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Financial Literacy in a Mobile World:Apportunities Abound Jenni Brand Chief Strategist Bastille Marketing September 30, 2014
What We’ll Cover Today • What are Apps, Really? • Do Enough People Rely on Mobile Phone/Tablets? • What Apps are People Using (Besides Facebook)? • Who Is Using All Those Apps Anyway? • Types of Popular Financial Apps • The Strategy & Marketing Of An App • Entry into the App Market – Is It For You? • App Audience: Who Should You Target? • How to Successfully Promote Your App (or How Social Media Can Drive Awareness (and Usage!) of Your App • Bonus Material
What are Apps, Really? • According to Google: • Native (or Mobile) Apps v. Web Apps? • Native/Mobile – Built for the Device & Resides on the Device (Plays nicely with it) • Web App – Built for the Web & Runs on the Mobile Browser
What Apps are People Using (Besides Facebook)? According to ComScore: 79% of SmartPhone Users (US) access apps 26 days out of every month
Mobile Opportunity for Financial Apps • Entrepreneur Magazine estimates that by 2017, the App Market will be a $77BILLION Industry • According to mPay: • 60-100Million Un- or Under-banked people in the US • Un-Banked and Under-Banked HAVE CELL PHONES Represents a $2BILLION Mobile Opportunity
Types of Popular Financial Apps • Banking Institutions • Checking/Savings; Mobile Deposits; Account Management • BillPay; Mobile Payments • PayPal; Google Wallet • Investments/Stocks/News • Yahoo Stocks; iPhone Native Stock App; LikeFolio • Shopping; Purchasing • Amazon, eBay, iTunes • Rewards; Discounts/Coupons • Wallaby, Larky; RetailMeNot • Budgeting • Mint, Budgt, Spendee, LevelMoney • Literacy/Education (Gaming) • Tools & Calculators • Business/Travel • Expensify • Retirement
The Strategy & Marketing Of An App:Entry in the App Market – Is It For You? Questions & Considerations: • Do you have the BUDGET? • Build It, Test It, Launch It, Performance Daily Maintenance, Deliver Regular Updates, Track Performance, and Re-launch It as Technology Changes? • Where (Which Marketplaces) Will You Release It? • iTunes, Google Play, Amazon App Marketplace, Blackberry • What Is the App’s Future? • Do You Have a Plan for Its Sunset? • Have You Researched Competitors? • Is There An Existing App That Achieves Your Goals – That You Could Partner With/Promote?
The Strategy & Marketing Of An App:App Audience: Who Should You Target? Questions & Considerations: • Know Your Existing Audience (& Involve Them) • Survey them on Mobile App Usage; Ask Them What They Want; Release it to Them First…) • Know the Mobile App Market & The Rates of Adoption • While your target today many not be school-age kids, they will be your target soon – consider including them in your decision making process for the longevity of the app • Consider HOW Each User Audience Uses Technology and Their Comfort Level With It • KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid…. • Design for Your Users – Yes, But Design for Users Who Don’t Yet Know You – What’s In It for Them?
The Strategy & Marketing Of An App:Leveraging Social Media for App Awareness • Be Specific And Strategic in Selecting What Platforms to Engage In • Do You Already Have A Community (audience) Within that Site? • How Will You Engage With Your Community? • What Will The SPECIFIC Message Be for that UNIQUE Audience • Launch/Promotion; How-To; Customer Service; Reviews & Feedback
The Strategy & Marketing Of An App:Leveraging Social Media for App Awareness General App Launch Ideas for Social Media Platforms: • Facebook: Contest & Advertising • Twitter: Tweet Reviews and Feedback from Other Sites • YouTube: How-To Videos; Q&A Videos on Most Frequently Asked Questions • Pinterest: Screen-shots; News Coverage; How-To Docs • Instagram: Screen-shots; Contest • Tech Communities: Pre-Release Testing; Reviews • Blogs/Bloggers: Contests/Giveaways (Giveaway a SmartPhone with Your App Pre-loaded)
The Strategy & Marketing Of An App: “If you build it, it they will come…” This is no Field of Dreams – You NEED to tell EVERYONE about your app Have a SOLID plan for your app, including: • Pre-planning the app • What are your goals for the app? Do they align with the target audience’s goals? • Who is the target audience? Are you sure…? • What else is out there – how is your app better/different? • What are your competitors doing? Are you filling a need or jumping into an already crowded pool? • What is the lifecycle of the app? • How do you plan to sunset the app and when? • Are you going to charge for the app?
The Strategy & Marketing Of An App: • Building the app • Are you building the app yourself with a DIY option or are you hiring a contractor? • Have you budgeted enough to cover testing and unforeseen issues? • Have you planned for testing, testing, and more testing… what about a limited release to beta-testers? • How complex do you want your app to be? Is that necessary? • DON’T FORGET TO SUBMIT THE APP TO THE iTunes App Store – approval is not automatic! • Marketing the App • Do you have a solid marketing plan to support the roll-out of the app? • Is there a strategy behind the plan or is it just promotional efforts? • Have you allocated enough dollars for the marketing initiatives? • How does the marketing of this app fit within the overall marketing plan for the organization? • How will you market it at various intervals in its lifecycle? • New Feature Upgrades & Roll-Outs (Timing/Schedule)
The Strategy & Marketing Of An App: How Will Your App Be Perceived (in real-life)? Answer The Following Questions BEFORE You Build the App: • What Is It? • This should be a 1-2 short sentence explanation – a 10 second or less elevator pitch. • What is it – is NOT about you! The what should not include your company’s name, goal, mission or marketing slogans… • Who Should Use It? • Why Should They Use It? • WIIFM– What’s In It For Them? How does it make their life easier, better… • When Should They Use It? • How Should They Use It? • Why Should They Tell Someone Else About It?
The Strategy & Marketing Of An App: Once You’ve Nailed Down the Message… What Are the Nuts & Bolts of Marketing the App? • Website • Feature the App Description/Announcement Prominently on Your Website with a Link to the iTunes App Store/Android Marketplace • Email Newsletters/Print Mailings • Inserts in unrelated mailings • Invoices, Quarterly Statements, Lobbying Updates, etc • Email Signatures & Voicemail • Press Release & Traditional Media Outreach
The Strategy & Marketing Of An App:Social Media For App Awareness • Social Media Release & Online Outreach • Industry AND Audience Bloggers • Don’t target everyone & anyone – be strategic about who you market to with which message • Offer exclusive content • Release it strategically online BEFORE the traditional media gets it • Rather than announcing the app is going to be on their blog in your social media outlets – LINK to their blog post about it… Idea: Know a blogger with a huge following among your key audience? • Let them try a pre-release of the app and write an honest review • Let them be the ONLY place people can download it for one week before it goes live in the App Store • Or give it away FREE on their site only for a limited time
The Strategy & Marketing Of An App:Social Media For App Awareness (cont’d) • Use a Platform Manager Like HootSuite • Monitor Before, During, After • Preload Your Messaging • Frees your time to respond/converse authentically • Use the statistics to analyze the effectiveness of your messaging • Adjust if necessary! • Coordinate Your Social Media Initiatives • Make sure you know which hand is doing what • Each platform should SUPPORT the others, not override or ignore • Have a definitive day-by-day plan • Which platform (and why there!) on what day(s) • Customized messaging • Based on the unique characteristics of each platform • Determine which social media sites make the most sense • You do not need to use ALL of your social media sites – be strategic
The Strategy & Marketing Of An App:Social Media For App Awareness (cont’d) TALK (2-way engaged conversation) With Your Audience About The App • ASK them about it: • What do they like? What do they not like? • What else could you add to it? • Would they recommend it to a friend? • LISTEN to what they are telling you and respond accordingly – highlight some great feedback in your posts. • SAY THANK YOU! And mean it. • Does your audience want a change? Make it and TELL them you did! • Can’t change something? Tell them you HEARD them. • Did you screw something up? SAY YOU MADE A MISTAKE… • INVITE them to tell their friends – and make it easy for them… • REQUEST that they “Rate” the app in the App Store or Marketplace
Productivity Apps That Rock! Want a Little More Free Time in Your Day? Check out these Awesome Apps • Evernote – Your Brain…On Your Phone • HomeRoutine – For the List Maker Junkies • LucyPhone – Hate Waiting on Hold with Big Companies? • Readability – Make Mobile Web Browsing Easy to Read! • Slice – Mail Order Manager Extraordinaire • HoursTracker – When Every Minute is Billable • Doodle – Scheduling Meetings Made Easy • HootSuite – Manage Multiple Social Media Sites at One-Time
References & Resources • About.com/Mobile Devices: • http://mobiledevices.about.com/od/additionalresources/a/Native-Apps-Vs-Web-Apps-Which-Is-The-Better-Choice.htm • CNBC – Best Financial Apps of 2014: • http://www.cnbc.com/id/101312753 • CNN – 15 Best Financial Sites: • http://money.cnn.com/gallery/pf/2013/12/11/best-financial-apps/index.html • LifeHacker – 5 Best Personal Finance Apps: • http://lifehacker.com/5828438/five-best-desktop-personal-finance-tools • Entrepreneur Magazine: App Market $77B by 2017 • https://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor/2017-app-market-77-billion-industry-infographic-161200481.html • Entrepreneur Magazine: 5 Strategies to Get YourUsers to Market Your Mobile App for You • http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/236477
Thank You! Jenni Brand jenni@BastilleMarketing.com 202/714-0071