Continuing our series of summaries of the ZenithOptimedia’s 2016 Trends, here’s number four.
We believe instant messaging will become a key social platform in 2016, as young consumers seek to personalise their social interactions, presenting new marketing opportunities for brands.
The likes of Facebook and Twitter are losing appeal among the young, who now focus on building personal relationships with selected groups of friends and family, rather than broadcasting their lives to everyone on their social networks. Instant messaging offers them the chance to be part of a select group and to share real-time conversations and photos with friends on their mobile.
Instant messaging works when content is limited but genuinely relevant and valuable. For brands, it is about delivering experiences that are more personalised and interactive than mass communication, and have a higher chance of converting a transaction.
Instant messaging apps have been around for a while, but to see the true global potential of instant messaging, we need to look to China. China’s WeChat points to new possibilities for m-commerce and shows the potential of being both a platform and a mobile portal. The West is starting to catch up – Facebook Messenger and Snapchat Instant messaging now offer m-commerce – but WeChat offers a wider range of services. These include hailing taxis, ordering food, buying movie tickets, playing casual games, checking in for a flight, sending money to friends and many more – all in a single, integrated app with communication at the heart.
M-commerce on instant messaging requires brands to adopt a personal and rewarding approach. For example, Burberry in China successfully integrated a memorable personalised experience across the consumer journey on WeChat. To drive conversion, its followers were able to view The London Fashion Week AW14 Womenswear show; unlock exclusive audio content; and personalise digital versions of pieces from the catwalk, which they could then share. Instant messaging enables brands to profitably serve their customers in a personal way and to design brand experiences that make them feel valued.
Click here for a summary of ZenithOptimedia’s 2016 Trends: Empowering the Mobile Consumer, and a link to the full report.
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