Mobile messaging and Chat will dominate the marketing landscape

ManyChat, the fastest-growing Chat Marketing platform for marketing agencies and small businesses, revealed its list of 2020 industry predictions. The list identifies the trends that will have the most impact on marketing initiatives for marketers, marketing agencies, and small businesses.

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“The way people connect with businesses always mirrors the way people connect with each other,” said Mikael Yang, ManyChat CEO and co-founder. “There wouldn’t be an email marketing industry if millions of people weren’t using email to connect with each other, there wouldn’t be a social media marketing industry if millions of people weren’t using social media, and there wouldn’t be a Messenger Marketing industry if billions of people weren’t using messaging apps to connect with each other. And by looking at all of this, this is what makes me say that Chat is the future of marketing.”

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ManyChat’s predictions for 2020 include:

1. Mobile messaging app users will surpass the number of social network users. There are already over 2 billion people using messaging apps and it will become the preferred method of communication, growing tremendously year-over-year. With an expected 90% penetration in this market by 2022, according to eMarketer, the growth will be remarkable. Businesses will need to focus on connecting with their customers via this preferred method of communications, using messaging apps to build and nurture those relationships. As mobile messaging apps become the preferred medium for consumer communications, businesses should focus on actually connecting with customers via their preferred medium. This requires businesses to adapt to the new wave of preferred communications for consumers.

2. Chat will become the leading form of communication with businesses as phone calls continue to shrink in volume.  The amount of people who prefer to talk via the phone versus text is significantly waning. We expect to see a rise among all age groups in their use of messaging apps as their number one way to communicate. Overall, 50% of people already prefer text according to eMarketer, including 21% of 55-year-olds and older, who prefer using explicitly messaging apps per data released by Salesforce. To increase engagement, businesses should add an automated call to action by inviting customers or prospects the option to text or message the company via the consumer’s preferred method of communication.

3. Companies will focus on a more integrated approach to B2C communications in 2020 as Chat leads the way businesses can enhance the customer experience. With more than 2 billion people using messaging apps, businesses can now connect with customers from the start of the relationship, through the transaction and beyond, without ever leaving the Chat interface. It’s instant, interactive, private, personalized, and engaging. While Facebook Messenger will remain the preferred way for businesses to connect with customers, we will see apps like Instagram and WhatsApp become compatible with Messenger for a more integrated Chat solution.

Marketers will evolve their marketing strategies to include and focus on Chat Marketing to dramatically change the way businesses acquire, retain, and service their customers. Marketers should look for a CRM solution that can utilize, store, and segment various interactions through messaging apps.

4. Small businesses will adopt new ways to communicate with customers including iMessage and the rollout of RCS (Rich Communication Services). 55% of the U.S. uses an iOS device and it is the biggest operating system in the country. All consumers who use iOS devices already have iMessage installed because it’s the default app.

5. Adoption of Chat Marketing among industries like real estate, finance and investment, and legal will continue to surge. In 2019, ManyChat saw a significant rise in real estate consultants, lawyers, financial planners, and investment managers using the platform. We expect more companies within these industries will focus on a multichannel approach to grow their businesses.

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