Financial Literacy in a Mobile World:
Apportunities Abound
Jenni Brand
Chief Strategist
Bastille Marketing
September 30, 2014
What We’ll Cover Today
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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
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 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
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Checking/Savings; Mobile Deposits; Account Management
 BillPay; Mobile Payments
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PayPal; Google Wallet
 Investments/Stocks/News
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Yahoo Stocks; iPhone Native Stock App; LikeFolio
 Shopping; Purchasing
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Amazon, eBay, iTunes
 Rewards; Discounts/Coupons
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Wallaby, Larky; RetailMeNot
 Budgeting
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Mint, Budgt, Spendee, LevelMoney
 Literacy/Education (Gaming)
 Tools & Calculators
 Business/Travel
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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
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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)
Bonus Material
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
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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:
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Building the app
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Marketing the App
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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!
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
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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?
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Let them try a pre-release of the app and write an honest review
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Let them be the ONLY place people can download it for one week
before it goes live in the App Store
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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)
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Use a Platform Manager Like HootSuite
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Monitor Before, During, After
Preload Your Messaging
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Use the statistics to analyze the effectiveness of your messaging
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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
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Which platform (and why there!) on what day(s)
Customized messaging
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Adjust if necessary!
Coordinate Your Social Media Initiatives
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Frees your time to respond/converse authentically
Based on the unique characteristics of each platform
Determine which social media sites make the most sense
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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!
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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
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About.com/Mobile Devices:
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CNBC – Best Financial Apps of 2014:
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http://lifehacker.com/5828438/five-best-desktop-personal-finance-tools
Entrepreneur Magazine: App Market $77B by 2017
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http://money.cnn.com/gallery/pf/2013/12/11/best-financial-apps/index.html
LifeHacker – 5 Best Personal Finance Apps:
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http://www.cnbc.com/id/101312753
CNN – 15 Best Financial Sites:
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http://mobiledevices.about.com/od/additionalresources/a/Native-Apps-VsWeb-Apps-Which-Is-The-Better-Choice.htm
https://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor/2017-app-market-77-billion-industryinfographic-161200481.html
Entrepreneur Magazine: 5 Strategies to Get Your Users to Market Your
Mobile App for You
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http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/236477
Questions?
Thank You!
Jenni Brand
jenni@BastilleMarketing.com
202/714-0071