WhatsApp has brought the biggest revolution in mobile messaging across the globe. The idea of connecting people through a service where they can feel each other’s presence in real has been incredibly applauded worldwide. It is, in fact, a ‘super liked’ app for both messaging and sharing of videos and photos and now for free calling too. Happily, it’s not only about WhatsApp, but there is also a handful of chatting and messaging apps like WeChat, Facebook Messenger, Kakao Talk, Kik, Skype, Snapchat, Telegram, Dasher, Tango, Viber, Line, which have transformed the way people talk and send messages. It has brought significant changes in the digital social media.
Advancing in our ways of living and building a social connection via internet calls and messages, mobile chatting and instant messaging apps have become an important part of our everyday lives. According to research reports, an average user spends around 200 minutes a week using WhatsApp.
These apps aren’t solely used for chatting anymore. Users can do the international calling, video calling, group video chats, carry out important transactions like money transfers, cab booking through the apps itself.
Look at the data below (Statista) so as to know why mobile messaging and chatting apps can be a great business idea
- There are 1Billion monthly active WhatsApp users worldwide
- 697Million users access WeChat on a monthly basis
- Every day, there are around 150Million photo messages sent by Snapchat users
- 800Million people worldwide are active Facebook Messenger users
Recently, Mark Zuckerberg revealed how much time 1.65 Billion users spend on Facebook, Messenger and Instagram apps. To know more, click here.
It has been recorded that over 2.5 billion people around the world have registered to use at least one messaging app. This number is predicted to reach 3.6 billion in two years from now. Facebook and WhatsApp (also owned by Facebook now) are the market leaders in messaging apps.
What led to the popularity of IM apps?
Undoubtedly, it’s the rising trend of smartphones and the massive usage of mobile phones by people of all ages. Further, mobile apps have brought convenience and luxury to the users so much so that more than 50% of the times when users use their smartphones in a day, it is for accessing a mobile app. Messaging apps have outperformed social networks in every way.
One of the lesser mentioned yet important reasons for the growing popularity of these instant messaging and chatting apps has been the high cost of SMS in many countries while most of these apps are free to use. Needless to say, these mobile apps can do what a simple short message can’t. They allow sharing of videos, photos, contacts, emojis, video calling and much more from anywhere on your device. The best part is everything you share is sent as a personal message to the receiver; nonetheless, you have the liberty to create family, friends and professional groups in order to share data.
While each of the IM and chatting apps have these features in common, there are many third-party offerings that have set the stage apart. When it comes to choosing the best IM app, you can refer to the below details according to the type of task you need to perform:
■ WeChat is best for expanding your network. It has a unique feature called ‘Friend Radar,’ with which you can find friends who are nearby or in your vicinity and meet up with them. You can shake your phone and find potential contact who is also looking for a new friend. It also has introduced an interesting ‘Drift Bottle’ feature that allows users to throw a virtual bottle and whoever picks it up (on their messenger window virtually) becomes a friend.
- Kakao Talk is best for connecting with your favorite celebrities. A little complex to understand and use, you can dig in to find other ways to connect with people outside your network, which could be bands, celebrities, companies and others. A ‘Plus Friends’ feature allows you to see the feeds and updates if any of your favorite band, celebrity or friend shares new content. You can even chat one-on-one with a celebrity; you may get lucky if they reply to your message someday.
- Facebook Messenger is best for contact volume. It connects you instantly with all of your Facebook contacts, making you chat on a faster and simpler interface. Recently added, Facebook Messenger now allows you to message your non-Facebook friends using their phone number, just like an SMS for free.
- Skype is best for video calls. It is in fact known as the big daddy of video calling. Though eldest among all, Skype is still preeminent for office communications and formal meetings. With Skype credit (premium paid version), you make cheap audio and video calls internationally, both on mobile phone and landline numbers.
- WhatsApp is the best all-rounder app. WhatsApp can’t be surpassed for simplicity, reliability and contact volume. Today, anyone with a smartphone has this app installed on their phone. You can also make free calls to your WhatsApp contacts.
- Viber is best for sticker fans. You can find a sticker for almost every mood, expression, action through tons of free and paid stickers on Viber. ‘Viber Out’ allows calling any phone number anywhere.
Apps for Business and Marketing purposes
Interestingly, instant messaging and chatting apps are used for various business and marketing purposes too. They are used for branding and for providing many useful services to the users. For example:
- Snapchat has a quick money transfer feature, ‘Square’ that allows you to transfer money quickly to your contacts. With such money transfers, you can ask a friend to get you lunch or dinner from their office route.
- Similarly, Facebook has collaborated with Uber (the taxi service) to provide transportation to Messenger users. They can directly book a ride from the messenger app.
- Broadcast messages are yet another important feature the chatting apps provide, where any information like job post or a music concert to be held in your city or medical service needed can be broadcast in groups, to friends of friends as well as to non-connections.
- Spotify used various messenger apps to allow users to share playlists and songs within chat conversations
The business has become quite easy and fast using mobile chatting. The message sent is more personalized compared to what you sent through emails previously. Business instant messaging saves users from checking their emails again and again.
A Dutch airline named KLM is an excellent example of business through IM apps. As you book a flight with them, all the notifications regarding booking confirmation, flight updates and boarding pass are sent via KLM’s private chat window. Passengers can even talk to a customer care executive directly from that messenger window.
How Instant Messaging Apps Can Help Your Business?
It has been reported that companies/businesses today are finding ways to keep in touch with customers over messenger. They want to use these apps for providing better and immediate customer service. Some hotels like Hyatt Hotels Group allows their guests to ask for fresh towels, room service over chat messenger. You just need to send a message and you get the service in your room.
Instant messaging is the best private messaging channel that will help businesses improve your opportunities to connect with customers.
- A company can share segmented data with segmented audiences.
- Two-way personal communication builds trust among consumers and also intrigue them if a big brand connects to them through a personal chat messenger.
- People can be responded via fast and short messages.
- Higher engagement and conversion rate as messages sent on chat apps are opened and read often, within a few minutes
Apps like WeChat, Tango, Telegram are extensively used for business marketing.
If you want a mobile app built for your business, contact Konstant Infosolutions. The team also has expertise in developing chat and messaging apps. Check out the portfolio here.
Chatbots is the Next Big Thing
While social media, websites, mobile apps, instant messaging and chatting apps have touched the hearts of people and have led businesses to reach out to the global audiences via smartphones, we are entering into a new era of chatting- Chatbots (a chatter robot).
These are computer programs (a concept of artificial intelligence) that mimic a chat conversation with people. You can talk to an app like you do to a human being. Chatting with a bot is a lot more exciting as you can ask it to order a pizza for you, tell you a newly opened coffee bar- all through a chat window. Chatting bots is a new app that can also be used by business/ companies/ brands to carry out conversations with their consumers and answer their queries through voice commands and typed messages, with an all new customized experience.
What do you think the future holds for these chatting and instant messaging apps? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below. We’d love to hear from you.