Content Marketing

Is WhatsApp following WeChat’s footsteps?

WhatsApp Vs WeChat

WhatsApp Vs WeChat

Facebook as the acquisitioning lead, plays the role of Tencent by taking over the controls and implementing the rules

WhatsApp Vs WeChat

  • The two social messaging apps are different from the other with their technological make up and navigation with WhatsApp reigning over the userbase (1.5 billion users) while WeChat stands at 898 million users with limited usage worldwide
  • WeChat is an amalgamation of many social media apps wrapped into one, that offer users a search engine, online shopping, mobile wallets, video calling etc while WhatsApp is limited to sending messages, pictures, sharing statuses and creating group chats. However, WhatsApp is gravitating towards the business sphere and has now introduced the WhatsApp Business version of its app, which is very similar to the subscription account feature in WeChat all with the aim of letting marketeers reach out to their untapped market of 1.5 billion consumers
  • WhatsApp is used actively by nearly 40% of smartphone users in Brazil, but its penetration level is well below 20% in China and 10% in the United States
  • Many of WhatsApp’s rivals have achieved a truly towering status in their home markets, with WeChat hitting 50% market penetration in China, LINE topping 60% in Japan and Kakao talk utterly dominating South Korea with more than 90% market penetration.

Facebook implements its policies after buying WhatsApp for $19 billion

WhatsApp marketing - Digital Crew
WhatsApp marketing – Digital Crew
  • While WeChat has been way ahead of its game with the data driven marketing, WhatsApp’s user data will now be driven towards improving Facebook ads and that will pave the way for marketing messages to be shot to WhatsApp
  • Facebook is getting ready to bring marketing messages to its WhatsApp messaging app, that was initially founded with a no-ads ethos, as well as tap user data from WhatsApp to inform ads on the social network
  • Facebook Inc’s WhatsApp messenger service will start charging businesses for sending marketing and customer service messages, as the social network company’s flagship brand faces slowing usage and revenue growth
  • Facebook had been looking at ways to monetize its WhatsApp service in the face of rising costs as it spends heavily to improve privacy safeguards and tackles concerns about social media addiction

WhatsApp To Start Charging Business Users Like The WeChat Subscription Account

 

 

‘The WhatsApp Business API is launching to let businesses respond to messages from users for free for up to 24 hours, but will charge them a fixed rate by country per message sent after that ‘– Tech Crunch

 

Introduction of In-App Services

WhatsApp had been laying the groundwork to introduce more businesses to the platform, giving brands a way to stay in touch with customers. Executives envision the messaging app to keep consumers informed about flight updates or deliveries and other similar functions for example, which have become standard in the messaging world. The data could also be utilized towards targeted marketing on WhatsApp, letting business enable shipping confirmations, appointment reminders or event tickets along with keeping consumers informed about flight updates, delivers and other identical features, that WeChat has long before ingrained into its ecosystem.

“Businesses will pay to send certain messages, so they are selective, and your chats don’t get cluttered. In addition, messages will remain end-to-end encrypted and you can block any business with the tap of a button” Whatsapp announced on August 1st, 2018.

  • The messages will be charged at a fixed rate for confirmed delivery, ranging from 0.5 cents to 9 cents per message depending on the country according to the Whatsapp blog
  • WhatsApp acknowledged that it is charging a premium compared to SMS rates. Wireless carriers typically charge businesses well below a penny per SMS, and the price is still close to a penny when including fees collected by intermediaries between carriers and businesses
  • WhatsApp had announced in January that it would start allowing small business accounts to communicate through the WhatsApp Business application, which has over 3 million active users

Conclusion

Other evidences of this APP aping  by WhatsApp were the recent introductions of information sharing when, WeChat introduced whitelisted sharing that required the original content creator to include a link to their official account whereas WhatsApp adapted a less elaborate version of this update and included the ‘forwarded’ feature, that let users know when a message has been forwarded to a individual or a group. WhatsApp has a long way to go in terms of their technological landscape and monetization, while WeChat continues to dominate the app market drawing in RMB 50 billion ($800 million) from bank transfers alone. It is estimated that WhatsApp could generate $5 billion to over $15 billion in the coming years because of its rate of usage and growth of users per month.

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