Making use of local channels
A few days ago I and the members of the Founders Lounge Uganda received an invitation to be attend an event hosted by Sling. This is a relatively new Fintech (Financial Technology Application) in the Ugandan space which lets you send and receive money across the world as well as interact in some way with Crypto…at least in the form of a Stable coin. While many and rightly so consider cryptocurrencies rather unstable and volatile, stable coins on the other hand are pegged or attached to a currency which ensures their more predictable state.
Marketing coups and an analysis of the sector
To attend the event and to access a choice set of gifts, the company carried out a marketing coup by attaching attendance to registration, download and use of the app. This way, if successful the company would be guaranteed to at least onboard 100 new potential users.
Sling is coming into an interesting space. We have products that have come in to solve the issue of unbanked Africans in general which make up the majority. This sector of Financial Technology Applications is also the leading driver of growth of ten attributed to about 80% of Venture Capital Investment on the continent. The duopoly of MTN and Airtel both foreign owned also have a major foothold in the Fintech space and so any serious player has to find a way of interacting with them.
Regional Outlook
Regionally you cannot mention Fintech without talking about MPESA. Personally I have made use of both Chipper Cash App and Eversend and more recently Opera Mini. The use of the first two were made attractive because of the ability to interact on some level with cryptocurrencies as well as the option of purchasing stocks for a dollar. This is quite promising especially for dividend stocks which can provide a decent inflow for significance investment amounts.
The chance to download Sling gave me an opportunity to interact with the interface. At first I thought that the only option for adding cash was though the use of Cards but both MTN and Airtel are represented. Additionally the group provides some incentives for those who invite new users as well as a welcoming gift for first use.
The format of the program
There were broadly speaking two parts to the event. The first were general conversations with a chance of the team to interact with attendees at least in general terms. The second was a more focused deep dive with what are referred to as breakout sessions. These were split into
- Engineering and Applicationn Development led by Dominic Black
- Design and Product with Simon Amor
- Marketing with Sheena Shiravi
- Expansion with Gwera Kiwana
- Feedback Video Q and A to solicit responses from new users
Influencers, Campaign Maps and Marketing Funnels
While I was unable to be part of all these sessions, I attended the one most relevant to my direct operations as a mag and pod publisher.
In the marketing part Sheena guided the attendees through some strategy ideas as well as a responded to a few questions.
Major takeaways. Those present were concerned of the fees that are often attached to send in and receiving money. A need was identified where users could hold on more to their cash and at least let it circulate in the closed system. Sheena also addressed the issue of strategy and marketing approach by making reference to funnels. She also highlighted the need to find the right influencer and to be very specific about what you want that person to achieve. As an aside she highlighted the value that the team places in very active monitoring of individual posts through a very rigorous spreadsheet differentiating between impressions and actual conversions as well as a host of other stats provided by standard social media tools.
Product Suggestion
There was a neat little trick that Sling used to reward participants in their feedback program. As a gift, those who answered a few questions were rewarded with a voucher of UGX 30,000 or about $10. Simply scan and receive onto your sling account. Would love to see a collaboration between supermarkets and other shopping centers with this type of product for Gift Vouchers redeemable or accessible at to Sling users😃
Another option would be to be able to provide these vouchers to friends as gifts where I print from my sling and then give them away to friends for use in recognized stores 😍
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