The growth of social messaging and chat

This briefing covers messaging trends during lockdown, growth of popular new apps, and wider trends in the space, and is an edited version of a section in Econsultancy’s new Social Media Platforms Trends report, authored by Michelle Goodall.

By Econsultancy August 2020 17:08

Messaging and chat are exploding. Messaging apps have more users today than ‘traditional’ social media platforms.

Five years ago, the number of monthly active users (MAUs) on the top four messaging apps (WhatsApp, WeChat, Messenger and Viber) surpassed the number of MAUs of the top four social networks (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn).

In February 2020, WhatsApp announced it had 2 billion users. Although Instagram is a growth platform with a billion users, according to social media platform data from We Are Social and Hootsuite, it still is not as popular as Messenger, WeChat or WhatsApp.

This briefing covers messaging trends during lockdown, growth of popular new apps, and wider trends in the space. and is an edited version of a section in Econsultancy’s new Social Media Platforms Trends report, authored by Michelle Goodall.

Not yet an Econsultancy subscriber?

Subscribe today to access briefings, as well as all our reports, tools and templates.

Need help signing in?

EMEA/USA: +44 (0)20 7970 4322 | email: subs.support@econsultancy.com

Article Ecommerce

Google’s Shoploop: Can the search giant conquer shoppable video?

Google’s Area 120 incubator recently released Shoploop, a platform that aims to combine social, video, ecommerce and influencer marketing all in one place. Is it a revelation, or simply long overdue? Rebecca Sentance tested out the platform and spoke to experts to get their thoughts on Shoploop.

Article Innovation and Trends

How well-prepared are marketers for the impact of the third-party cookie crackdown?

With Google Chrome planning to block third-party tracking cookies by 2022, the demise of the third-party cookie is looming on the horizon. But new research from Econsultancy’s Future of Marketing Report suggests that few marketers still understand the implications of the crackdown – or have a plan in place for how to do without cookies.

Article Content Strategy

Does the Better Health campaign strike the right tone, and how might a junk food ban impact the ad industry?

The UK government has announced plans to ban the advertising of junk foods online and on television before the 9pm watershed. At the same time, the government also suggested that it is considering a blanket ban on all online advertising of sweets and fast food.

Article Ecommerce

Former Matches CEO: ‘The bigger we got, the less innovative we seemed to get’

Former CEO Dr. Nick Beighton – an ecommerce veteran who previously headed up ASOS – reflected on the luxury brand’s struggles in a keynote at the Retail Technology Show in Olympia London.

Article Digital Transformation

Nine practical steps for innovation

Tips to help with the research, the communication and the task of finding out what people want. In essence, how to have good ideas by asking the right questions.

Article Digital Advertising

Online formats took 78% of all UK ad spend in 2023: report

Online formats such as search, display (including social media) and BVOD drove ad spend growth in 2023, with out-of-home the only other medium to see increased expenditure.

Article Ecommerce

‘Retail media has changed completely’: The Mars Agency’s Katrina Smart on self-serve, off-site and what’s next

Katrina Smart is Commerce Media Director, Europe, at The Mars Agency, and has a decade of experience in retail strategy and media planning. We caught up with Smart to get an insider’s view on just how much commerce media has changed in the last two years. Smart also gives us the lowdown on what advertisers […]