Kevin Spain

Recently, I put together a Meetup for folks interested in mobile business applications.  My theory is that the next several years will see the creation of exciting mobile-first and mobile-only applications for business.  I wanted to connect with entrepreneurs and others who shared this view.  I wasn’t disappointed.  We had dozens of great people come by.

Dave Barrett, CEO of Expensify, was kind enough to present to the group on what has driven his company’s success on mobile.  For those of you who don’t know Expensify, it’s a fast-growing expense reporting app that makes getting reimbursed by your employer a breeze.  Their app is fantastic.  If you haven’t checked it out, I recommend you do so.

Despite the fact that you can sign up and use Expensify via both mobile app and Web, 80% of Expensify’s new customers come from mobile app stores.  Dave credits this largely to two things.  First, a big part of expense reporting is submitting receipts.  Capturing receipts with the camera on your phone makes complete sense — and this is what initially causes people to look for an app like Expensify in an app store.  To this point, Dave mentioned that Expensify really started to take off when auto-focus cameras began appearing on smartphones.  Proof you never know what might be a catalyst for your business.

The second reason Expensify sees strong customer acquisition on mobile is the fact that it comes up highly in app store rankings for terms such as “expense” and “receipt.”  I hear very few mobile business app companies talking about app store optimization (ASO) right now.  However, based on what Dave is seeing, I suspect this will soon change.

If you’re looking for tips and tools for managing ASO, check out the App Developer’s App Store Optimization Cheat Sheet that Apptamin refreshes regularly.  It’s a great resource.