iPhone hit ten years (yes it was 10 years ago!) and that started the App Store and the resulting app ecosystem. Fast forward and this growth is looking tired — app usage saw a low increase of 11 percent last year. However, top category apps today are messaging apps. Users are no longer downloading as many apps and time spent on messaging is going up.
What does that mean to Talent Acquisition?
Messaging is the new mobile
20% plus is the avg time spent on messaging on an average.
Between WhatsApp and FB messenger there are close to 1.5 billion monthly active users. WhatsApp continues to grow and hold the number 1 spot.
Instant response expectation
Candidates have a choice just like consumers. Consumer expectations are today getting shaped by experiences around that are delivering responses faster than ever. Live chat today is the new normal.
Source: https://mxg.se/news/2018/11/23/how-to-know-when-to-use-chatbots-vs-live-chat-max-grid-news-feed/
Business too have a need to move fast. Hiring teams are under constant pressure to reduce lead time. When consumer are already on a faster messaging channel does it make sense to stick to Email?
Shifting preferences
Users today are spending over 45% of screen time on Messaging and Social. More than 50% of that time is on mobile phone.
54% prefer Messaging over Email
In fact the 2016 mobile messaging report indicated a growing tilt towards messaging compared to phone calls.
50.6% users indicated they would prefer to get a message than a phone call from businesses.
Virtual Assistants & Chatbots
Last couple of years saw the meteoric rise of virtual assistants and smart speakers. Though started a few years ago with SIRI, things reached a rapid growth phase with Amazon Alexa, the speaker form factor and app store inspired 3rd party assistants.
In US alone there were 119m smart speakers by 2018, growing at 78%.
These speakers are shaping user behavior and expectations. Instead of the benchmark experience being Si-fi movies, today it is lot more realistic. Users are getting comfortable with the convenience of bots and the limitations too.
According to BI Intelligence survey data, Chatbots adoption has already taken off in the US with more than half of users between the ages of 18 and 55 having used them.
Source: The 2016 Mobile Messaging Report
Ready for notification
One key reason businesses flocked to mobile was this ability to send notification and reach instantly. Emails still work, but then it hard to argue to engagement levels. For hiring it makes perfect sense. No longer one has to compete for attention over emails. Calls work and often are brushed as the great “personal touch” thing, but the fact is it takes time and in many cases irritate people who are not expecting a call or at times find it awkward to receive such calls while at work. And that of course limits the time window for calls.
Messaging fits in perfect. Has the ability to notify, get an acknowledgment of receipt and yet remain discreet enough without demanding much of users time. No hassles of app downloads or annoying updates.
Go Omni-channel with Emploai Talent
Talent Acquisition is not just communication, engagement, positioning but hard reality of measurable outcomes i.e. actual hire on board. Platform therefore needs to go beyond trends and cover end to end that drives results. Emploai Virtual Recruiter leverages the messaging world and is available on WhatsApp , FB Messenger and Skype. However, there is still a world more comfortable with email and phone and Emploai Virtual Recruiter connects over their preferred channel. After all only outcomes matter.
Of course more about Emploai Talent and how you can leveraging messaging.
