New research from On Device Research suggests that WhatsApp is now more popular for social messaging for smartphone users than Facebook Messenger, WeChat, BBM, Line etc. The initial reaction is: so what? Clearly this is of interest to: a) a provider of social messaging; b) a user of social messaging; or c) a network operator that sees these applications as a threat to SMS revenues, but what about marketers? Should social messaging be seen as:
(i) A cool new way to interact with mobile consumers?
(ii) Another way for un-cool companies to invade their customers’ space?
(iii) Yet another niche mobile channel, or should that be niche channels (considering that social messaging services are not generally interoperable and often don’t work on all types of smartphone) that requires investment in skills, tech and manpower to use/monitor/manage.
Not wishing to be swayed by one’s own (often cynical) thoughts, mobiThinking asked the authors of the research On Device Research. Here is the response. Below that are the results of survey in slide form and then text.
What On Device Research thinks about social messaging for marketers
“The explosion of social messaging apps is an opportunity and a challenge for brands and marketers. From one point of view it’s a great additional distribution channel (think Twitter 2-3 years ago, when brands starting flocking to it) but it also ads another property to the marketing mix. A channel that requires nurturing, maintenance – just like other social channels these will work the best if approached as a genuine conversation with fans.
“Line for example has “official accounts” already used by such stars as Paul McCartney (who has 7.7million followers compared to 1.7 on Twitter), Katy Perry, FC Barcelona and Rafa Nadal. Globally there are 334 official accounts so far.
“Snapchat is great for tapping into young audiences and engage them to participate in marketing campaigns via photo submissions. CarThrottle, a car news site aimed at 20somethings, very quickly reached a critical mass of contacts, allowing it to build new content off fan-submitted pictures. They receive 20-30 new snaps in 4 hours even without special promotions. Here’s an example.
“Another brand using Line is the TV series The Walking Dead but no engagement figures have been released. Line itself cites features such as “on-air” mode that allows real-time chatting with subscribed users, and paid / branded premium sticker packs.
“Before rushing into adopting a new channel marketers have to answer a number of questions:
1. Is my core audience a heavy user of a specific social messenger?
2. Can I reach them just as well via an established channel?
3. Does the social messenger offer a clear way to engage the target audience?
4. Do I have the resources to not just launch a campaign but also maintain it?
“It’s worth noting that because of the nature of the chat apps and their relative newness not many brands have tried using them. While the risks involved with an untested channel are high, the rewards and first mover advantage of doing something new and creative are also high.”
On Device Research survey into social messaging use
Note: Results are based on a survey. Don’t take it as gospel truth. On Device asked 3,759 Android and iOS user in US, Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia and China – that’s a sufficient survey group to make it credible. But the best thing about On Device is that they conduct surveys using mobile Web. That’s right they conduct research about mobile, by asking mobile users using mobile technology – seems obvious doesn’t it.
Below there should be a slideshow from slideshare. If it doesn’t work, view it here or read the highlights of the research below.
Food for thought: Highlights from the research
• Top three social messaging apps on smartphones in US, Brazil, South Africa, China and Indonesia shows that Facebook Messenger leads only in the US. Number of survey respondents that use:
US: Facebook Messenger 46 percent WhatsApp 35 percent Twitter 24 percent.
China: WeChat 93 percent; Sina Weibo 46 percent; Skype 6 percent.
Brazil: WhatsApp 72 percent; Facebook Messenger 49 percent; Skype 30 percent.
South Africa: WhatsApp 68 percent; Facebook Messenger 47 percent; BBM 34 percent.
Indonesia: WhatsApp 43 percent; BBM 37 percent; Line 36 percent.
• Messaging apps aren’t just competing against each other. They are challenging calling, texting and emailing on the phone. Q: How often do you use these ways of staying in touch on your phone? Percentage of respondents using 10+ times per day: Social messaging 63 percent; Voice calls 31 percent; SMS 40 percent; Email 24 percent.
• Two main reasons which drive people to use multiple instant messaging apps
1. Having different friends using different platforms is the biggest reason – the network effect is a challenge all messaging platforms need to overcome to grow.
2. Different apps for different features is a close second.
Only 12 percent globally said they use different apps for friends vs. for strangers (for dating, commerce etc.)
• 58 percent use a variety of IM apps because their friends are spread over different networks.
• Average number of messaging apps installed? Indonesia 4.2; South Africa 4.1; Brazil 2.6; China 2.4; US 2.1
• Big differences country-to-country. The popularity of WeChat is mostly driven by China where it is 93 percent of respondents said they used it once a week (next was Indonesia 20 percent)
• BBM shows significant popularity in Indonesia and South Africa. The survey excluded BlackBerry owners so people who use this messenger have installed the BBM app which was released 3 weeks prior to the survey. Percentage if respondents who use BBM (on Android): Indonesia 37 percent; South Africa 34 percent; US 13 percent.
• 1.2 billion photos a day Shared via just 4 services. According to company reports: Instagram 55m; Facebook 350m; WeChat 400m; Snapchat 400m; photos shared per day.
• How do instant messengers make money? (according to The Next Web, October 2013).
Stickers, e.g. US $0.99 for a set of 16 in WeChat.
Line makes over $10 million a month this way.
Promoting other apps and games that monetize via in-app purchases
Subscription fees Source: The Next Web, October 2013
• Stickers are well known and actively used by almost 40 percent of smartphone users.
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