Marketing Masterclass: Cash App X Bella Poarch

What does a mobile payment service company and a 25-year-old popstar have in common??On the surface not very much, but that’s the duo turning heads as Bella Poarch revealed herself to be Cash App’s latest ambassador.?The crossover comes on the heels of an increasingly competitive cryptocurrency market as Venmo, Coinbase, Robinhood and now Cash App all fight for the same userbase offering essentially identical services.?In that sea of sameness it can be difficult to stand out, and with the majority of people still wary of diving into the crypto-sphere, what (or rather who) does it take to convince them which platform they should trust??

TikToker Bella Poarch.

The singer announced through her Twitter and Instagram accounts that she’s partnering with Cash App to give away $100,000 in Bitcoin to users who drop their “$cashtag” in the comments.??It’s an elegantly simple marketing strategy that showcases the forward-thinking mindset of Cash App’s marketing team.?At a glance it may look like just another celebrity collab intended to drive awareness and create buzz, but it goes much deeper than that.?This campaign draws on a current topic that fall within the brand’s scope of service, and is presented through a zeitgeist voice whose audience perfectly aligns with the intended target demo.?

The rise of cryptocurrency over the past two years has been stratospheric, so it’s only right that a digitally based financial services company like Cash App would want to be a player in that space.?However, the app’s branding up to this point has established it as a platform for traditional currency transactions, and shaking that stigma requires a high-level activation.?The risk with activations of this scale is that oftentimes they can feel inauthentic, as it's easy for the execution to miss the mark.?This is because most marketing teams are still unfamiliar with large pushes through digital advertising owing to the nascency of the medium, and that inexperience shows.?

This is where Cash App, rather than reinvent the wheel, has leaned on a format that it’s well known for, its “$cashtag giveaway."?It’s simple enough, the brand broadcasts across its social channels that it’s giving away free cash, no questions asked. The only requirement is that those who wish to enter comment their “$cashtag” (their username) and follow the Cash App accounts.?To have a $cashtag a person must sign up for the service, and once they’ve signed up the likelihood that it becomes their default mobile payment service to increases considerably now that its readily accessible.?This is one of the brand’s most effective and dependable marketing tactics because it motivates engagement through an obvious end benefit to the participant.?It doesn’t beat you over the head with promos or pitches, it’s just…free money.?

As a marketing vehicle this giveaway offers a seamless transition to Bitcoin, it’s simply changing the format of the money being given away.?Where Bella Poarch comes into play is that her audience demographic aligns perfectly with who Cash App wants buying cryptocurrency on their platform, males between 18-29.?That cohort comprises 69% of Poarch’s audience on Instagram and 54% on Twitter (per Dovetail analytics).?As it so happens that’s also the group that is statistically most likely to buy or trade digital assets according to Pew Research Center.?With Poarch herself being 25 years old, she’s the ideal audience surrogate as a young person eager to enter the space.?While she might not strike you as someone with an acute interest in Bitcoin that actually works to Cash App’s advantage in her ability to be a bridge between her fans and the world of cryptocurrency, known for its steep learning curve which has acted as a deterrent to its mass adoption.??Her image dovetails perfectly with Cash App’s giveaway strategy as ideal method of easing users into Bitcoin because it isn't overly complicated.?There’s no metamask wallets, no seed phrases and no smart contracts.?The winners will simply be given the Bitcoin to do with as they please.

As a concept it's an intuitive way to get people interested by giving them a risk-free stake in the game, being a personal holder of Bitcoin is a much more compelling incentive to learn about what it is and how it works as opposed to drowning people in pre-roll ad info dumps or shiesty banner placements.?As marketing strategy, it’s working.?Her Instagram announcement has 1.3 million likes, outperforming 9 out of her 10 most recent organic posts.?Even more telling, it has upwards of 32,800 comments (the vast majority of which are $cashtags) which represents a 1500% increase compared to her typical 2,000.?Add in another 19,000 comments on Twitter and now Cash App is looking at 50,000+ direct, intentional interactions with its brand, and that’s without factoring in retweets, favorites, and other associated impressions.?

Humans are creatures of habit, securing loyalty early in person’s journey as a consumer by being their first brand for a given service or product is immensely impactful.?Cash App is equally aware of the stigmas associated with Bitcoin and the endless value there is to be derived from being the platform of choice through which users purchase it.?Collaborating with Bella Poarch through their tried-and-tested “$cashtag giveaway” campaign addresses both of these by utilizing a trusted and well-understood marketing format that gives users an easy onboard ramp into the world of cryptocurrency, presented by a voice that not only commands the attention of the ideal audience demographic, but who authentically exists in that demographic herself.?

A digital service working with a digital star to promote usage of a digital currency,

It’s not rocket science and it doesn’t have to be.?

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