Mobile messaging is on the rise. According to eMarketer, more than 1.4 billion people used mobile messaging apps in 2016—an almost 16 percent increase from 2015.
According to Nielsen’s Facebook Messaging Survey, 59 percent of people use messaging apps more now than they did two years ago, and 56 percent expect to use messaging apps even more in the next two years.
If you think messaging is just for chatting with friends, take note: 59 percent of Nielsen survey respondents said they use messaging apps to connect with friends and family, while 67 percent said they expect to use messaging more to communicate with businesses. for the next two years.
What is the Messenger app?
Messenger apps allow users to send messages to each other one-on-one or in groups. Messaging apps are also sometimes called chat apps. WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and WeChat are among the most popular messaging apps.
These apps are essentially a newer form of messaging that uses the app’s interface and the internet rather than traditional SMS services to send the message. It’s a way for people to stay in touch without paying SMS fees, which can be exorbitantly expensive in parts of the world where unlimited messaging plans are not the norm. Some are standalone services (eg WhatsApp) while others are linked to a more traditional social network (eg Facebook Messenger and Instagram Direct).
Why should you use a messaging app for work?
Simply put, your business should be using messenger apps because your customers use them and expect to find you there.
According to Business Insider, the top four messaging apps now have a larger combined user base than the top four social networks. More than half of respondents to Nielsen’s Facebook Messaging Survey said they were more likely to make a purchase from a business they could send a direct message to.
Messaging is especially important if you’re marketing to customers in the Asia-Pacific region, where more than half of all messaging app users worldwide are.
Messenger apps should be on your radar as an important way for readers to share content via dark social, i.e. private channels that don’t sign up as social shares and have no referral source attached.
The vast majority of online sharing (84%) now takes place in private channels like direct messaging, so even if you’re not yet using a messaging app to market your business, your readers are likely using them to expand the reach of your content.
The best messaging apps for marketers
What is the best messaging app for your business? It depends on who you want to reach and where in the world they live.
Whats up
This largest of mobile messaging apps has 1.2 billion monthly active users worldwide who send more than 50 billion messages every day. Less than a quarter of these users are in the United States; The app has much higher penetration rates in Asia, Europe and South America.
WhatsApp communication relies on phone numbers rather than friend connections, as the app was originally designed to replace SMS messaging. Newer features like video messaging and document sharing make the service more robust and all messages sent through the app are encrypted for security.
facebook messenger
Direct messaging was originally included in the main Facebook interface, but has now become its own app: Facebook Messenger. It offers the same basic functions as WhatsApp, but is designed for communication between people who connect as Facebook friends instead of using their phone number. Facebook describes Messenger as “the world’s new social living room where people can hang out, share, chat, play games or buy things.”
Facebook Messenger’s platform now has 100,000 monthly active bots in the system, making it an essential app for business bots. 20 million Facebook Pages, including active and automated messages on Messenger, people exchange 2 billion messages per month with businesses on Facebook Messenger.
There’s more on WeChat 889 million monthly active users. With over 90 percent of current users in China, WeChat is also Africa’s fastest growing social communication platform.
WeChat features vary by region, but in most cases, this chat app offers much more than just messaging, combining with chat and games to create an entire mobile ecosystem with services like WeChat Pay and WeChat Wallet. Twenty-one percent of WeChat users in China access the service more than 50 times a day.
skiff
Kik describes itself as “the only chat platform created specifically for young people.” It has 300 million registered users, 72 percent of which are in the United States and the majority are between the ages of 13 and 23. Forty percent of all U.S. teens are active on Kik.
The youth focus means the interface is designed to seamlessly combine GIFs, stickers, photos and emojis. Kik was one of the first to truly adopt bots in messaging and now encourages users to interact with bots individually or in groups for content and games.
Liner
Line has 218 million users, primarily in Japan, Thailand, Taiwan and Indonesia – one of Japan’s most popular social networks. The platform offers video and text messaging and photo sharing. The messaging interface makes heavy use of highly detailed character-based stickers – like 40,000 along with 6,000 emojis.
Companies can create Line Official Accounts to message users, share coupons, and set up messaging bots.
KakaoTalk
KakaoTalk has around 49 million users, of which more than 41 million are in Korea.
In addition to the basic messaging features, the app offers video and audio filters and the ability to send gifts directly to your friends through the Kakao Gift Shop. Brands and celebrities can create profiles as “Plus Friends”.
How to use messaging apps for marketing?
Messenger apps provide a much more personal and direct form of communication than traditional social networks or other forms of marketing; so you need to take a different approach that really puts the customer’s wishes and expectations first. Let’s take a look at some brands that are already using messaging apps with great success.
customer service
Remember when people phoned to talk to customer service reps? That’s it for 2004. Emailing for customer service is fast becoming obsolete, too, as Messenger apps restore the connection to a customer service representative to real time.
Hyatt was one of the first companies to use Facebook Messenger as their customer service channel, back in 2015. At the time, the company’s director of digital strategy hailed the addition of the messaging app as a social care channel as a “no”. -more intelligent.” It provides the convenience of connecting in a social, yet private environment that allows the hotel chain to request information that should not be shared publicly, without moving the conversation to a different channel, such as email.
Keep in mind that providing customer service through a messaging app requires the presence of real people to respond to customers, and customers can expect to be able to reach you 24 hours a day. Hyatt’s Facebook Messenger displays the message: “Usually it responds immediately.”
Make sure people responding to messaging app requests are well-communicated and have the authority to resolve customers’ problems quickly: According to Forrester Research, 73 percent of online adults say valuing their time is the most important part of providing good customer service.
chatbots
According to Kik, brands using chatbots on the network are seeing three to four times higher open rates for push notifications than typical open rates for brand emails. This is because messaging bots often create a fun, interactive experience that leads to valuable insights for both the consumer and the brand.
Sephora’s Kik bot uses “Beauty Uncomplicator” tests to gather information about exactly which products a particular user is interested in and the kind of information they need to get the most out of those products. It can then introduce users to products they never knew they wanted to look for by offering product recommendations and tips.
Kik says that between 70 and 90 percent of users who chat with lifestyle brands have completed the quizzes they offer; That’s an incredible completion rate that should make any marketer think.
Chatbots can also be used for interactive games. Disney uses a Facebook Messenger bot to promote the DVD version of the movie Zootopia by guiding users through tasks to solve cases, working with the lead character Officer Hopps, while The Washington Post uses bots to guide users through trivia games on Kik.
content curation
Messenger apps give content providers an easy way to connect the right readers with the right information, opening up a huge new potential audience. The Wall Street Journal gained 2 million followers on Line within 15 months of opening an account.
BuzzFeed uses WeChat to connect users with content based on keywords like “cats”, “lol”, “fail” and “win”. Instead of going to the BuzzFeed site and searching or scrolling for articles there, users can simply type a short keyword in the WeChat app and access the latest news that interests them.
CNN’s Facebook Messenger news bot uses a similar method to provide keyword-based content, but it also learns more about the user with each interaction, allowing the bot to offer better content recommendations.
Social media moves fast and keeping up with the speed of change (new platforms and changing best practices) can be difficult. Learn the essential social media marketing skills you need to stay one step ahead of the group with Moyens I/O Academy’s free training.
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