Square is a financial services and digital payments app that launched 14 years ago and became the gold standard for driving adoption and advocacy. In terms of adoption, gross payment volume on Square has grown from $6.5 billion to $112 billion in just 8 years.
When Square launched in 2015, more than half of its customers had found the app and signed up organically, as opposed to Square targeting them.
Square demonstrates the high adoption and advocacy that brands can achieve by thoughtfully leveraging the ‘visibility’ strategy, making it easier to see, and so easier to imitate.
More specifically, Square successfully made its product advertise itself, created behavioural residue and sourced information to attract vendors and increase word of mouth.
Square made its products advertise itself - The founders were focused on clean design and beautiful hardware, but during early prototypes and product demos, their concept was overlooked. Inspired by a store in Japan, to grab people’s attention, they wanted to make the credit card reader look ‘cute and tiny’. They switched out aluminium for white plastic and squeezed out any extra millimetre to make the card reader as small as possible. The end result meant the hardware only worked 80% of the time, compared with the traditional and functional readers that worked 100% of the time. But, the newer, smaller card reader did what it was intended to do - spark conversation. It created a moment of ‘wow’ for both vendors and customers whenever they processed payments. It was even featured in the MoMA.
Plugging into an audio jack of a phone, Square’s credit card reader was instantly recognisable and advertised itself in the same fashion as an Apple product. It only cost $0.97 to manufacture which meant they could offer the free sign-ups to merchants and packaged it in a custom, distinctive box, further enhancing squares image as a brand to pay attention to.
Square initially targetting highly visible markets such as food truck operators, local artists and artisans and farmers. These locations made it easy for vendors to see when others were using Square, making it more likely that they would adopt the product themselves.
Next, Square creates behavioural residue in the form of digital receipts. At the bottom of each receipt, which customers receive via email, Square leaves a note to the consumer to get started with Square. This additional touchpoint raised awareness of the B2B brand among end users. A simple call to action generated organic advocacy.
Finally, Square sources information for potential customers, showcasing success stories from other merchants. They offered data on how Square impacted business growth and sales, quoting figures like 126% year-over-year average growth.
By making this typically private information public, potential customers can see how others operate with Square.
For companies interested in making their brand more visible, Square provides a few key learnings:
🔑 Market your product where other potential users can see it
🔑 Encourage both adoption and advocacy with a low barrier to signing up
🔑 Successful use of visibility happens and the intersection of product design and product marketing
See you next week as we dive into part 5 of the series; Practical Value.
Have a contentful day 🌞
Emma