Apps for Financial Literacy - Understanding the Apportunities

Financial Literacy in a Mobile World: Apportuni4es Abound

Jenni Brand Chief Strategist

Bas4lle Marke4ng 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 & Marke4ng 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:

!  Na4ve (or Mobile) Apps v. Web Apps? !  Na4ve/Mobile – Built for the Device & Resides on the Device (Plays nicely with it)

!  Web App – Built for the Web & Runs on the Mobile Browser

Do Enough People Rely on Mobile Phone/Tablets?

Who Is Using All Those Apps Anyway?

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 es4mates 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 Ins4tu4ons

!  Checking/Savings; Mobile Deposits; Account Management

!  BillPay; Mobile Payments !  PayPal; Google Wallet

!  Investments/Stocks/News !  Yahoo Stocks; iPhone Na4ve Stock App; LikeFolio

!  Shopping; Purchasing !  Amazon, eBay, iTunes

!  Rewards; Discounts/Coupons !  Wallaby, Larky; RetailMeNot

!  Budge4ng !  Mint, Budgt, Spendee, LevelMoney

!  Literacy/Educa4on (Gaming) !  Tools & Calculators !  Business/Travel

!  Expensify

!  Re4rement

The Strategy & Marke4ng Of An App: Entry in the App Market – Is It For You?

Ques4ons & Considera4ons: !  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 Compe4tors? !  Is There An Exis4ng App That Achieves Your Goals – That You Could Partner With/Promote?

The Strategy & Marke4ng Of An App: App Audience: Who Should You Target?

Ques4ons & Considera4ons: !  Know Your Exis4ng 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 Adop4on !  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 & Marke4ng Of An App: Leveraging Social Media for App Awareness !  Be Specific And Strategic in Selec4ng What Plaiorms 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/Promo4on; How-‐To; Customer Service; Reviews & Feedback

The Strategy & Marke4ng Of An App: Leveraging Social Media for App Awareness

!  Facebook: Contest & Adver4sing !  Twijer: Tweet Reviews and Feedback from Other Sites !  YouTube: How-‐To Videos; Q&A Videos on Most

Frequently Asked Ques4ons !  Pinterest: Screen-‐shots; News Coverage; How-‐To Docs !  Instagram: Screen-‐shots; Contest !  Tech Communi4es: Pre-‐Release Tes4ng; Reviews !  Blogs/Bloggers: Contests/Giveaways (Giveaway a

SmartPhone with Your App Pre-‐loaded)

General App Launch Ideas for Social Media Plaiorms:

Bonus Material

The Strategy & Marke4ng 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 bejer/different? !  What are your compe4tors 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 & Marke4ng Of An App: !  Building the app

!  Are you building the app yourself with a DIY op4on or are you hiring a contractor?

!  Have you budgeted enough to cover tes4ng and unforeseen issues? !  Have you planned for tes4ng, tes4ng, and more tes4ng… 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

automa4c! !  Marke@ng the App

!  Do you have a solid marke4ng plan to support the roll-‐out of the app? !  Is there a strategy behind the plan or is it just promo4onal efforts? !  Have you allocated enough dollars for the marke4ng ini4a4ves? !  How does the marke4ng of this app fit within the overall marke4ng plan for the

organiza4on? !  How will you market it at various intervals in its lifecycle?

!  New Feature Upgrades & Roll-‐Outs (Timing/Schedule)

The Strategy & Marke4ng Of An App: How Will Your App Be Perceived (in real-‐life)?

Answer The Following QuesBons BEFORE You Build the App:

!  What Is It? !  This should be a 1-‐2 short sentence explana4on – 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 marke4ng slogans… !  Who Should Use It? !  Why Should They Use It?

!  WIIFM – What’s In It For Them? How does it make their life easier, bejer…

!  When Should They Use It? !  How Should They Use It? !  Why Should They Tell Someone Else About It?

The Strategy & Marke4ng Of An App:

Once You’ve Nailed Down the Message… What Are the Nuts & Bolts of Marke4ng the App?

!  Website !  Feature the App Descrip4on/Announcement Prominently on Your

Website with a Link to the iTunes App Store/Android Marketplace

!  Email Newslejers/Print Mailings !  Inserts in unrelated mailings

!  Invoices, Quarterly Statements, Lobbying Updates, etc

!  Email Signatures & Voicemail !  Press Release & Tradi4onal Media Outreach

The Strategy & Marke4ng 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 tradi4onal 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 4me

The Strategy & Marke4ng Of An App: Social Media For App Awareness (cont’d)

!  Use a Plaiorm Manager Like HootSuite !  Monitor Before, During, Aoer !  Preload Your Messaging

!  Frees your 4me to respond/converse authen4cally !  Use the sta4s4cs to analyze the effec4veness of your messaging

!  Adjust if necessary!

!  Coordinate Your Social Media Ini4a4ves !  Make sure you know which hand is doing what !  Each plaiorm should SUPPORT the others, not override or ignore

!  Have a defini4ve day-‐by-‐day plan !  Which plaiorm (and why there!) on what day(s) !  Customized messaging

!  Based on the unique characteris4cs of each plaiorm

!  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 & Marke4ng Of An App: Social Media For App Awareness (cont’d)

TALK (2-‐way engaged conversa4on) 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

Produc4vity Apps That Rock! Want a Lijle More Free Time in Your Day?

Check out these Awesome Apps

!  Evernote – Your Brain…On Your Phone !  HomeRou@ne – For the List Maker Junkies !  LucyPhone – Hate Wai4ng 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 Mee4ngs Made Easy !  HootSuite – Manage Mul4ple Social Media Sites at One-‐Time

References & Resources !  About.com/Mobile Devices:

!  hjp://mobiledevices.about.com/od/addi4onalresources/a/Na4ve-‐Apps-‐Vs-‐Web-‐Apps-‐Which-‐Is-‐The-‐Bejer-‐Choice.htm

!  CNBC – Best Financial Apps of 2014: !  hjp://www.cnbc.com/id/101312753

!  CNN – 15 Best Financial Sites: !  hjp://money.cnn.com/gallery/pf/2013/12/11/best-‐financial-‐apps/index.html

!  LifeHacker – 5 Best Personal Finance Apps: !  hjp://lifehacker.com/5828438/five-‐best-‐desktop-‐personal-‐finance-‐tools

!  Entrepreneur Magazine: App Market $77B by 2017 !  hjps://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor/2017-‐app-‐market-‐77-‐billion-‐industry-‐

infographic-‐161200481.html !  Entrepreneur Magazine: 5 Strategies to Get Your Users to Market Your

Mobile App for You !  hjp://www.entrepreneur.com/ar4cle/236477

Ques4ons?

Thank You! Jenni Brand

[email protected] 202/714-‐0071