Make the Most of Instant Messaging
Platforms to consider for your next campaign
The emergence of instant messaging platforms presents a unique opportunity for you. WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger lead the charge, but Google is not prepared to go down without a fight. It recently introduced Spaces and is testing messaging functionality within YouTube. Using these platforms as an awareness and marketing tool is at the nascent stage, so you have a chance to do something original.
Advertising on WhatsApp arguably presents the most opportunity. It has 1+ billion users and has shown no signs of slowing down. WhatsApp does not offer paid advertising, so organizations must go in the back door. None have done that better than Absolut. It hosted an exclusive party for a new product launch to which only two tickets would be available to the public, so Absolut created Sven, a virtual doorman on WhatsApp who controlled access to the party. Folks would message Sven and offer him all kinds of bribes and stories on why they should be invited to the party; he responded in real-time to people, which strengthened Absolut’s brand image and mysterious allure.
Last month, WhatsApp introduced an app that allows people to use WhatsApp on desktop. That lets community managers more effectively manage their conversations and better engage with their audiences in real-time. Additionally, publishers have begun to implement a WhatsApp share button on their content, which consistently ranks third in terms of share activity (behind email and Facebook).
The cost of WhatsApp is fairly minimal, and it can be a way to personalize interactions with people, drum up support and touch an audience in a way that few of your competitors are doing.
YouTube
Rather than needing to leave YouTube to share a video, with integrated messaging, users can share directly within YouTube. This provides a better engagement platform and better experience for mobile users, who now spend on average 40 minutes per day using YouTube.
People who share videos can include text or emoji, so consider creating a custom emoji to go with your video. With creativity, you can make your video reach even more folks than before and invite a bigger impact.
It’s important to note that this feature is still in beta. Select users will have the feature enabled, but anyone who receives a video from beta users will also have the feature activated.
Google Spaces
Google recently forayed back into social media and messaging with Spaces, a social media app that fully integrates with Google’s services within the platform. Any Google content can be viewed directly in Spaces and becomes searchable by text and image.
In its early stages, Spaces will work best as a community engagement tool to build around a single topic to foster a deeper sense of community and results.
Looking Ahead
Messaging apps have grown exponentially in popularity and represent an untapped opportunity. Emerging apps will consistently flood the market, and it’s paramount not to try to utilize all of them. Tightly define your strategy and objectives and then use emerging portals to complement them. The chance for unique differentiation like Absolut narrows by the day, so the time to act is now.