Messaging is Still the Fastest-growing online behavior within the Social Landscape
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Published in
3 min readApr 28, 2017
Messaging will add 1.1 Billion new users by 2018
Clear leaders are emerging in the messaging landscape; Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp are global, others dominate locally
The Messaging boom is about price. Sending an SMS is 63 times more expensive outside the U.S., while messaging apps are free
WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger are the only global players, leaving them in a great position to capitalize on messaging
As major Asian messaging platforms reach scale, they have launched new first-party and third-party services as app on top of messaging, capturing significant messaging revenues
Apps built on top of messaging enable users to solve broad problems; messaging becomes a hub for consuming content, playing games, and conducting transactions
Almost half the growth opportunity for messaging players is in the Middle East & Africa; North America presents a significant opportunity if messengers can displace SMS
Apple’s Messages has the potential to gain significant market share, and Apple’s platform control could support smarter apps
New Consumer businesses are being built on messaging platforms — this will expand as messaging bots become more ubiquitous
In the US, low cost means consumer businesses can leverage both SMS and proprietary messaging platforms like Apple iMessage
Enterprise is moving towards app-enabled messaging with bot integrations. From Systems of Record to Systems of Engagement.
What users do in native apps today, they will also do in messaging apps tomorrow, presenting an enormous revenue opportunity
Asia-Pacific platforms illustrate the revenue opportunity in messaging. The Global players are just getting started.
Square One Labs is a startup studio powering and automating better messaging experiences. We’re a technology company building messaging services that help you bridge the gap between your online and offline life.
