Mobile messaging has changed the way we live, but I believe we are just getting started. Having set the tech world abuzz since January 2015, messaging is the big meta-trend of the next few years.
The two main advantages of messaging are that it is (a) asynchronous and (b) personal. A voice call forces you to postpone all other mobile activities, but the asynchronous message allows flexibility. You can share files and contacts, check the news, and have simultaneous conversations with others, all at the same time. Moreover, the message mimics how humans actually interact and you know that another person is on the other end. This is why mobile messaging apps have such high engagement, better than even social media and game applications.
Nevertheless, the story of the mobile message has just begun. Having worked in this field since August 2014, I see five key trends that could further transform how we use the message.
1. Search as a conversation
The traditional web search is ill-suited to the mobile medium. A mobile search needs to be personal and contextual, rather than throw up 10 links for a string of keywords. Indeed, the stage is being set for search applications that incorporate chat. It should be no different from having a conversation and a good example is Luka, an app that deploys AI-powered chat to help users find good places to eat.
Google Search has also been taking the conversational route by providing direct answers to many questions and tailoring search results based on users’ search history. It considers context, as one might in a conversation. With Google Now taking app usage into account (e.g. which apps are open and when, what related information might be required), search results have become more user-specific. And this specificity is expected to grow once Google Now On Tap enters the fray, allowing users to seek information even while engaged with other apps.
2. Consumer-to-business chat to grow
Real-time communication is simpler thanks to growing hyper-connectivity, but there is still no easy way of connecting with a large brand or a local business. While most customers dread having to contact the call centres of large brands, marketers have never really taken to solving customer issues over social media.
In India, for example, people are still doing business in the old ways—looking up numbers on directories, seeking information and scheduling appointments by phone, making payments in person, and so on. But a change is afoot. Many businesses are already using WhatsApp to connect with customers: Grocers are taking orders over chat, interior designers are sharing designs over chat, and everything—from setting up meetings to price negotiation—is being done by tapping away on a mobile keypad.
As the tribe of smartphone users continues to grow, I believe businesses will offer dedicated apps to connect with customers. The real conversation will happen via the app on a one-on-one basis, though marketing communication might flow through bigger platforms like WeChat and WhatsApp. Business apps with a live chat feature will be the way forward, especially in a market like India, where the uninstall rate of apps is high and consumers have too many options.
3. Looks and feels like chat, but isn’t just chat
Mobile messaging apps like WhatsApp started out as free variants of the SMS, but their multimedia support has transformed the mobile message. Besides exchanging text bubbles, users now make voice calls, share images and contacts, and more. Going forward, mobile chat will become more interactive and discreet, in order to facilitate various actions, whether seeking recommendations, making payments and purchases, or playing games.
Hike Messenger achieved this quite successfully during the cricket World Cup earlier this year. The mobile application set up a dedicated chat window to provide users with detailed scorecards of the games, along with related news, polls, and the ability to share updates with other users.
Watch out for further developments in this space, as even global players like WeChat and LINE are unsure about how things could unfold in the realm of customer engagement via message.
4. Greater focus on machine learning
The growth of mobile messaging should give a much-needed fillip to research and development in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and natural language processing (NLP), among others. Although the marginal utility of diverting more resources into these areas drops sharply at present, increased focus on these technologies will help messaging apps to scale up and find success.
People already access various kinds of information on a web browser. For example, when you land on an Amazon product page, it is something of a conversation (although not in so many words): ‘Hello, Ankur. Here’s the Dell laptop you were looking at and here are its features. Our other users love it and have rated it 4.3. If you don’t like it, we have these other related options for you to check out!’ Chat could make this exchange seamless by deploying NLP and ML. With repeated use, the app’s ability to comprehend the user’s needs and preferences would improve.
5. Peer-to-peer chat will get unbundled
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