VP of Messaging Products, David Marcus has today announced Facebook Messenger now has 800 million active monthly users.
In 2015, Facebook made a number of improvements to the Facebook messenger including making it faster, introducing video, emojis and customisation features. Other features also included sending and receiving money as well ordering a Uber ride directly from the Messenger app.
Facebook also introduced Business on Messenger allowing brands to communicate in real-time with their customers, although this is currently only available to select US businesses. This will be an interesting space to watch when they roll it out globally.
Facebook owned WhatsApp announced last year they have 900,000 active monthly users. With these two combined Facebook are dominating the messaging market.
It was a busy year! We created all these experiences with a mindset of helping hundreds of millions of people manage their daily interactions with people, businesses, and services more seamlessly than ever.
David Marcus also shares some themes for 2016 for the Messenger. These Include:
The disappearance of the phone number – David notes that the messenger has evolved so much beyond just sending texts, you can send photo’s, videos and so much more. You can do all this with just by knowing someone’s name.
Threads are the new apps – Facebook expect more interactions with brands will happen in threads rather than many different apps.
Innovation matters – Facebook will continue to experiment with AI in this space. “It’s still very, very early days, but the growing AI capabilities are bringing unparalleled convenience to simple, every day tasks like booking a restaurant, sending flowers, and making plans.” writes David Marcus.
For more reading on how this can impact marketers, this is worth reading: The future is messenger. The future is Facebook?
