Messaging Apps 2016: The Rise and The Potential

Mobile is taking over the world, and messaging apps are no longer just for a quick catch-up between individuals, but are quickly becoming connectivity tools through which marketers can target consumers.

There are over 700 million active users of WhatsApp, and since Facebook took it over for a whopping $22 billion in 2014 (when the messaging app user base increased by a staggering 100%), it uncovered some major possibilities. One is for customer service and simple requests, like table bookings and reservations, and another is to create ‘click to message’ ads on Facebook, where consumers can quickly chat to a representative about the product or service advertised on their newsfeed, without leaving the page. Also, the ads themselves are to be more targeted, with talk of WhatsApp sharing user data with Facebook to provide stronger insights.

Messaging is also predicted to affect the corporate world. Slack is a prime example of this, providing a platform for group messaging between teams, where media and files can be shared instantly and informal language accepted, decreasing the time taken to compose emails (48.6% fewer internal emails to be exact). You can have multiple conversations going constantly, which makes for a much more efficient use of time in group decision making…but this is just the tip of the iceberg, according to app creator Butterfield: “We’re still at the beginning of a major transition in how people communicate and work together.”

To suggest how an app might take F2F networking into the 21st century, Knock Knock is a new app that aims to stop the “oh god where did I put their card?” or “who was that again?” moments. The app simply picks up on other users nearby and if you ‘knock’ 3 times on their profile, you can share your details. You can be selective too, passing on your home address to one person in the group, and your LinkedIn profile or Twitter handle to another.

Finally, despite major criticism of Mark Zuckerberg’s purchase of Snapchat, the marketing possibilities are becoming more apparent, albeit still not fully exploited. With over 100 million active users, the ‘Discover’ section of the app is the first sign, with users being able to see what’s happening for major brands and events over the world, in real time. It’s USP is the real-time face to face interaction, which has the potential to create stronger emotional connections between consumers and brands, public figures, celebrities and more. There’s a lot of other speculation too, like ‘snapping’ QR codes before your timer runs out as another way to increase monetisation. We will see!

Maybe Mark Zuckerberg does know what he’s doing?