More than half of UK businesses now use mobile messaging apps such as Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger to communicate with their customers, according to a new industry report.
With the number of people using mobile messaging apps projected to grow to 3 billion by 2022, an increasing number of companies are engaging their customers through the likes of SMS, Rich Communication Services (RCS), Apple Business Chat, Facebook Messenger and Whatsapp – the latter of which is used by 54% of Millennials every single day, and 51% of Gen Z.
A report from Esendex, which commissioned PwC to carry out a survey of more than 4,000 businesses, shows how industries including IT and telecoms, retail, finance, professional services and manufacturing have significantly increased their spend in this area over the past three years, with further investments to be made over the next three years.
But SMEs are lagging behind large enterprises when it comes to the uptake of this newer but growing technology; only 45% of UK-based companies with fewer than 250 staff use this form of customer communication channel, as opposed to 62% of larger organisations.
The report also highlights the impact Covid-19 has had on mobile messaging, with more companies utilising mobile channels for emergency communications and alerts (up 42%), event-driven marketing (up 40%) and customer notifications and reminders (up 38%), when compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Amy Robinson, senior brand development manager at Esendex, comments: “Covid-19 has had a profound effect on not just businesses here in the UK, but across the globe. It has forced companies across all industries to reflect on the way they communicate with their staff and their customers and to make necessary adjustments and improvements in order to avoid getting left behind while their competitors harness the power of various communication channels including SMS, social media and online chat.
“From our research, the UK has a higher-than-average uptake of mobile messaging with 52% of firms utilising this form of communication channel, compared to 47% globally. There is a lot of talk that the pandemic has changed the way we live and work forever, with hybrid workforces expected to become the norm. The same can be said for customer engagement – many businesses have taken a real step forward over the last year in the way they connect with those who pay for their products and/or services; it’s likely that this trend will continue as companies put more emphasis on customer growth and retention during what is still a very tricky time.”
The 14-page report, which explores the rate of mobile messaging across the globe, identified more than 80 applications for business messaging, which can be categorised into the following ten major use cases:
Business operations
Customer communication
Marketing and campaigns
When looking at communication more broadly – across all channels including email, online chat and call centres – companies typically have five major use cases with the most popular being: internal communications, customer support, customer notifications and reminders, payments and collections and business process management.
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