BUILD, BRAND, LAUNCH. THE SAAS MARKETS GUIDE TO BUILDING YOUR OWN APP STORE.

Transcription

1 BUILD, BRAND, LAUNCH. THE SAAS MARKETS GUIDE TO BUILDING YOUR OWN APP STORE.

2 Welcome

3 This is Build, Brand, Launch, the SaaS Markets guide to creating your app store. This booklet provides insights into our SaaS Markets methodology when we partner with you to build your SaaS App Store. We would love to talk with you in more detail once you ve had a chance to review this document. Our details are on the final page. We look forward to speaking with you. WELCOME

4 The basics what is SaaS? Put simply, SaaS (Software as a Service) is a means of accessing hosted software from a third party company, via a browser. It has many other characteristics, but typically involves: Payment as you use it e.g. A monthly subscription (so no upfront investment required) Instant availability Most SaaS products are available as soon as you sign up Free trial The best SaaS companies let you try before you buy, so you can make an informed decision about what one is best for your business No IT overhead i.e. You don t need your own servers to run the software Access to new features and updates i.e. Because the software is managed and provided by a third party, you benefit immediately when they improve their software

5 Who uses SaaS? Total public cloud markets US$ Billions $180 SaaS is used by companies of every size, but at SaaS Markets we specialize in building App Stores that are focused on the small-to-medium business (SMB) sector. $160 $140 $120 $100 The chart outlines current and projected sizes of the market ($21.21bn in 2011 and expected to grow to $132.57bn by 2020). With such significant growth projections, SaaS Markets has chosen to work with companies in the following vertical markets to jointly create SaaS App Stores. These will allow clients to benefit from the savings, efficiencies and productivity gains that SaaS apps deliver. $80 $60 $40 $20 $ Source: Forrester Research, Inc.

6 Our 5 Key Vertical Markets for SaaS App Store Partnerships Banking and Financial Technology Retail Business to Business Brands Small Business Associations To become a MarketMaker Partner you must have a significant number of Small to Medium Business customers, as they will be the primary consumers of the SaaS App Store content. What s in this document? To understand what s required to create your app store, we have broken it down to 3 key elements: Build, Brand, Launch. The booklet looks at each of these in turn, addresses the high level activities involved at each stage and provides an outline of how we successfully launch your SaaS App Store. But first let s look at the platform we use to build your fully branded SaaS App Store. We call it MarketMaker.

7 MarketMaker

8 MarketMaker is the platform that SaaS Markets has created to make creating a branded App Store as easy as possible. It s a fully fledged App Store that requires certain customizations to make it your own. The best way to describe it is to take a look at the primary navigational elements of the store.

9 The Home Page: 1. App Categories We group apps by both Business Function and Industry, so users can easily find the applications that best suit either their job role or their vertical industry. 1. App categories 2. App search 4. Site search 2. App Search Users can easily search for an application using Free Text Search e.g. CRM, Customer Relationship Management or Customer Management. The search delivers results for apps in the central pane of the store, as per the image above. 3. Primary Site Navigation An intuitive, traditional menu structure allows the user to review the store quickly and easily. Your ad here. 4. Site Search Users can search the entire site using our Google-powered search engine. A site-wide search will deliver results for all related content, e.g. if searching for CRM, the user will be presented with all matching results for Apps, Product Demonstration Videos, White Papers, PDFs, Word documents, PowerPoint documents etc. Essentially, all content related to the search result will be ranked and displayed for review. 3. Primary site navigation

10 The Home Page (contd.) 5. Support 5. Support You can use our optional Live Chat service to request support. The support offered is informational. We do not provide advice, but rather we help users to navigate the store. If they need product support, we ll direct them to the relevant application partner. There is also a Call Me option, which allows the user to request a callback. Please note that EVERY App in the store has a DIRECT support contact as part of the App developer s standard profile, to make sure that users get speedy support with their queries. 6. Advertising placeholders There are various ad formats supported by the store, which can help generate revenue, or alternatively be used to promote your products and services. Your ad here. 6. Advertising placeholders

11 The Browse Products page 1. Random app display 2. Choose app view 1. Random App display If users choose to browse, a randomized selection of apps is displayed. This helps familiarize users with the range of available apps. 2. Choose App View The user can choose how they wish to see app results displayed. They can automatically filter and display results based on Top Selling, Top Rated or Free. 3. App Rating App ratings can be either internal or external. ONLY users in your store can internally rank the apps that they have used. External rankings can be taken from social sources, e.g. Likes from the Application Providers Facebook page. 4. Sponsored listing A source of revenue for the store is the sale of sponsored listings. The top 5 search results in each application category can be sponsored by the application sellers. Revenue generated from these listings gets shared with you as the market maker. 4. Sponsored listing 3. App rating

12 The Application Category Page(s) 1. Category Hierarchy Where appropriate, subcategories for each app type are provided for ease of search. 2. Application count 3. Compare 2. Application Count Denotes the number of apps available in the App Store for a given category. 3. Compare Clicking on the Compare button allows a user to add an app to the Compare function box (see point 4). 4. Compare function Up to four apps can be compared in a user-friendly matrix covering functionality, key differentiators, pricing and summary description on a single page. 5. Application Summary Each search displays as a short description, making it easy for the user to see if the app meets their criteria. 1. Category hierarchy 5. Application summary 4. Compare function

13 1000+ Apps to choose from The Application Profile page Saas Markets has profiled and selected the best apps available, so your customers enjoy an unrivalled choice across each business function. 1. Detailed App Description Users see a detailed description of the app, enabling them to judge its suitability quickly. 2. Demo and screen shots Click on the Play button for easy access to screen shots and video demonstrations of the application. All viewable in the in-site player. 3. Application Collateral Data sheets and app-specific PDFs are conveniently available in the profile screen. 4. Key differentiators Each app lists five key differentiators when compared with its competitors. Users can quickly determine what makes each application unique.

14 Application Pricing 2. Upsell 1. Clear pricing 3. Trial or subscribe 1. Clear Pricing Pricing for all apps is clearly displayed in the application profile, ensuring that the user can easily compare options and pricing. 2. Upsell If options exist for add-ons to the core application, e.g. an accounting app with an Expense Management add-on, these can easily be linked, maximizing revenue from each sale. 3. Trial or Subscribe The majority of apps in the store offer free trials, so users can try before they buy. If the user wishes to subscribe immediately, it s just a matter of clicking the Subscribe button directly within the application profile. Important: When a user clicks on the Trial or Subscribe button, they are shown a legal disclaimer informing them that they are leaving your app store and being directed to the website of their chosen app, and as such will be subject to the Terms and Conditions of the app provider. They must click on the I agree button before they are redirected to the shopping cart. This ensures that there is clear dis-association between the app provider and you, the market maker.

15 The Demo Center 1. Context specific demonstrations 2. Video demonstrations 1. Context-specific demonstrations The demonstration results in the central pane are driven by the application categories, making it easy for the user to see relevant product demos. 2. Video demonstrations SaaS Markets uses the product demonstrations from the application providers, ensuring an extensive library of content is available to you from Day In-site player To ensure consistency and an enjoyable user experience, SaaS Markets has embedded our own in-site player, so users don t need to leave your store to review and evaluate products. 3. In-site player

16 App University 1. Context-specific content All content displayed in the center pane is driven by the category selection, making it easy for the user to view information and relevant videos. 1. Context-specific content 2. Link path 2. Link path The simple link path shows the user where they are in the store at all times. 3. Subject matter The purpose of the App University is educational, so subject matter is relevant to the user s search. 4. Mixed content Video and document content is displayed within the university, making it easy for the user to educate themselves without extensive multi-site navigation. 3. Subject matter 4. Mixed content

17 The Resources page 1. Free and/or premium content Choose whether you want to provide some content at a premium, i.e. customer pays for it. Each resource type can be classified as either free or premium. 1. Free/premium content 2. Cart and payment processing 2. Cart and payment processing SaaS Markets provides shopping cart and payment processing as a core element of the platform, making it easy for us to accept payment for any premium resources that you may wish to charge for. That s an overview of the store and its components. Now let s look at the steps required to get ready for launch.

18 The 3 key phases

19 To put the three key phases into perspective, let s look at each one individually. The chart below provides some context for the types of activities involved in each stage. Typical Project Overview Commercial Review and agree commercial model Marketing Operational Agree outline launch plan App selection / classification Content selection / custom creation Store branding Launch plan and targets agreed App store launch Legal Review and agree terms & conditions Technical Agree technical delivery / architecture BUILD BRAND LAUNCH!

20 Build The Build phase essentially consists of choosing the types of apps you wish to include in your store and the type of content you wish to provide to your users. Let s take a look at each in turn. The apps SaaS Markets has done all of the hard work required to identify the best apps in the Market. With over one thousand SaaS Apps available, you have a readymade list to include in your store. This list is growing constantly, and will increase at the rate of approximately 200 per month for the next 24 months, such is the rate of growth in new SaaS apps coming to market. How do we choose the apps? Very carefully is the answer! On average, 80% of the apps that we review are rejected because they do not fit with the requirements of small-tomedium sized businesses. By focussing on quality rather than quantity, we ensure that SaaS Markets offers the very best apps available globally.

21 To make the apps easy to find, we categorize them by both Business Function and Industry. Business Function Categories Below are the typical business functions (Please note: this list can be personalized to suit your exact requirements) Administrative Business Management & Analytics Call Center Customer Relationship Management Data Management Facilities Finance and Accounting Help Desk Management HR & Training Software IT Marketing and Communications Project Management and Planning Sales Security Supply Chain Website and ecommerce Industry Categories Users who prefer to view the apps by Industry can choose from the following standard list of industry types. Again, this list is entirely customizable to suit users preferences. Advertising Agriculture Construction Consulting Education Energy & Environment Engineering Event Management Fashion & Apparel Field Service Financial Services Food & Beverage Government & Politics Healthcare & Medicine Hospitality & Travel Insurance Legal Manufacturing Media & Graphics Nonprofit Real Estate Retail Telecoms Technology Transportation

22 Choosing your apps What is App Store liquidity? Marketplace liquidity is Your apps This is one of your first steps. SaaS Put simply, it s the commerce a simple equation The App Store is a powerful Markets will provide advice and transacted in your App Store. It Sufficient number and choice of customer engagement channel. It s guidance on the optimal type and depends, of course, on two crucial apps + Sufficient number of cus- there to be capitalized on, to pro- numbers of apps for your specific elements: buyers and sellers. tomer transactions = Marketplace mote and market your company. App Store. It s important to realize Buyers are your customers, those Liquidity. At SaaS Markets, it s our Many of our clients have existing that without a sufficient number of small businesses that will utilize job to ensure that both of these web-based apps that they wish to apps, your App Store will fail. As a and gain benefits from the app crucial elements exist before we extend to their customers, in e- general rule of thumb, you should store. Sellers are the SaaS App launch an app store. We re in Banking, membership have sufficient choice and market providers, the companies that we favor of letting the users of the management and so on. We ll representation to make users feel have chosen to include in the App Store decide what apps are work with you during the Build that they re seeing the best of what s App Store. best for their business, so to begin phase to include these tools and available in the market. This is per- with, we would encourage you to apps seamlessly into your store. haps a good time to look briefly at include all of the apps we provide, the issue of App Store liquidity. with scheduled reviews at 3 and 6 months to determine what apps are most/least popular.

23 Next choose your content. Once you ve chosen your apps, a great deal of content will also be selected by default. For example, choosing an app also gets you any demonstration videos included with it in the demo center. If they have subject matter videos, these will be included in the App University. Any resources such as PDFs, Word documents, etc will also be included in the Resources section of the store, so much of the work is already taken care of. You may also wish to include your own content, such as presentation materials, customer videos, product demonstration videos and so on. Our team will is happy to take care of this, uploading the content directly into the store and making it available in a user-friendly manner. Customized content Customizing content is a great way to engage with users and promote your services. Say you want to create a video promoting the benefits of software as a service to your customers. SaaS Markets can create this content for you, or if you have the resources available within your company to do this, simply provide us with the content and we ll include it in the store. Other systems You may choose to deploy the App Store separately from the rest of your systems. But if you do wish to integrate, our in-house development team will work with you to create a more integrated solution. Often we are required to integrate with in-house CRM or management systems. Our support for industry standard integration methods such as web services makes this process painless, and cost effective for both parties.

24 Brand We ve made it easy. SaaS Markets designed the MarketMaker platform with you, our end user, in mind. We ve made it as easy as possible to create an app store that looks like it was built for you because it was! Your look and feel To make using the SaaS App Store as easy as possible, we combine the intuitive interface of the store, which we have developed, and combine it with your company branding. Our design team will work directly with your marketing/branding function to ensure that the App Store meets all of the corporate guidelines, and provides users with a look and feel that is 100% familiar. Customisable elements: Logo Color scheme Menu style Font (to the extent that it does not create menu appearance challenges) URL (we can support a vanity URL such as yourcompanyappstore.com )

25 A fully branded store that both supports and enhances your brand is what we are both looking for. MarketMaker allows you to create just that. Also, as mentioned in the Build phase of this guide, you can select a number of brand-enhancing services within Marketmaker. Custom content Creating your own branded content, like PDFs, videos and so on, is a great way to engage with customers and prospects. It also enhances your brand, by creating a connection between the business-enhancing apps in the store and your role as a trusted business partner. Banner advertising SaaS Markets manages a complete ad-serving solution for your site. The banner ads you run are contextually appropriate and highly targeted, e.g. retail-focussed ads in the retail app section of the store. Marketing services: To support the branding phase, SaaS Markets will provide you with access to our Marketing Services team to ensure the capabilities and potential of MarketMaker are maximized. We will work directly with you to protect and reinforce the key brand values of your business. Our team will provide support for: Site branding Color scheme selection Brand guideline protection Ad serving Custom content creation Site positioning Site tone of voice

26 Launch Launching your App Store is incredibly easy, thanks to the range of launch support services provided by SaaS Markets. We ll already have discussed, at project planning stage, how you intend to launch and promote the SaaS App Store As an example, we would expect App Store promotion for a banking partner to include: s to all customers informing them of the launch and inviting them to view the store Bi-weekly or monthly s informing customers of the new apps available Details of the App Store in all New Business welcome pack materials TV/radio advertising Online banner advertising Links to the App Store from the corporate Home page of the bank Promotion of the SaaS App Store at local branch level

27 These are examples of possible promotional opportunities. In practice, our Marketing Services team will work directly with you to create a launch plan that gives the App Store the optimum level of exposure to the target audience. A typical example of our Marketing Services at work: SaaS Markets employs industrial-strength marketing automation to all target customers. On receipt we can track who has opened, forwarded, reviewed, clicked on, deleted or ignored the . Should the recipient read the and click on a link to access the store, we track each of their activities in the store to gain insight into: All of these activities are tracked and scored against mutually agreed criteria. The customers with a high engagement score may then be escalated to a more active marketing campaign. Equally, if the interest is in your own products, we can easily lead score and pass these prospective leads through to the appropriate people in your organization. The apps that are of interest Demonstrations of interest Documents or PDFs they ve downloaded Pages they visited Pricing etc they may have reviewed Products and services they may have reviewed

28 Your Launch team is waiting! In short, we work hand in hand with you, as a partner to ensure the success of the App Store. USA SaaS Markets 2033 Gateway Place 5th Floor San Jose, California United States T 1 (408) Europe SaaS Markets Limited 4th Floor, The Herbert Building The Park, Carrickmines, Dublin 18 Ireland T +353 (1) Sales: sales@saasmarkets.com Client Support: clientsupport@saasmarkets.com Partner Support: partnersupport@saasmarkets.com Anything else: info@saasmarkets.com

29 Summary We hope that this booklet has given you an in-depth introduction to what we can do for you. We ve broken the process down so that having your own App Store is as easy as can be. We can t include details of our commercial model unfortunately, as this is sensitive information - and is customized for each of our partners in any case - but if you d like to discuss the three-step process in more relevant detail for your company, or explore deeper aspects of this potential partnership, do please contact us today. It s your first fantastic step on the road to building, branding and launching your own App Store, with minimum hassle and maximum results. Get in touch now!