a war of words. who's winning the battle for chat app supremacy?
DESCRIPTION
In April last year we reviewed the movers and shakers in social chat apps: WhatsApp, Kik, Snapchat and Path in ‘Chat, sharing and the future of social media’. Here we’ll take another look and see how the landscape has changed. We’ll also see how the major social networks have responded.TRANSCRIPT
© 2014 TBG
© 2014 TBG
A WAR OF WORDSWho’s winning the battle for chat app supremacy?
© 2014 TBG
SOCIAL CHAT APPS
In April last year we reviewed the movers and shakers in social chat apps: WhatsApp, Kik, Snapchat and Path
See ‘Chat, sharing and the future of social media’ here
8 months on, we’ll take another look and see how the landscape has changed
We’ll also see how the major social networks have responded
© 2014 TBG
WhatsApp is steadfastly a messaging app
No extended platforms, games or advertising – and no place for brands
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48 billion messages per day, up from 20 billion in April
16 billion sent and 32 billion received
Source 1, Source [email protected]
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MONETISATION
$0.99 a year after a free trial period of one year but those who installed prior to the subscription payment model will not be charged
If 50% of their 400 million active users are subscribers, then that’s $200 million a year revenue
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KIK
For brands, Kik is a more interesting prospect, as they are building a platform where shared content is viewed within the app
This means more user time within the platform, and more opportunity for advertising and the distribution of branded content
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KIK
Kik has doubled in size from 50 million to 100 million users since April
640 million messages are sent per day
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KIK
Recently One Direction partnered with the platform to promote their latest album
© 2014 TBG
KIK
MONETISATION
Kik’s founder said that he sees a future for monetising within Kik’s Cards via advertisements and mobile shopping, while he hopes to keep the core messaging service a “pure” experience
© 2014 TBG
SNAPCHAT
Snapchat, the self-destructive image sharing app is growing fast but it has some image problems
Security leaks, hacks to save images and its ‘sexting’ reputation means it’s a no-go for most brands
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SNAPCHAT
Users share 400 million snaps per day, up from 150 million in April
The app has around 60 million installs and 30 million monthly active users
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SNAPCHAT
Snapchat has unveiled Stories – a kind of news feed where users can post a snap that expires in 24 hours
This opened up the platform for brands to broadcast messages to followers in a more traditional way (and the possibility for Snapchat to eventually charge brands for this)[email protected]
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SNAPCHAT
MONETISATION
Snapchat will struggle to attract the big advertisers because of its slightly dirty image.
Brands that use the platform and are comfortable with this image (like Taco Bell and MTV’s Geordie Shore) could eventually pay to reach Snapchat’s niche demographic.
© 2014 TBG
PATH
Path isn’t a dedicated chat app, but it does have messaging features
It also caters for users looking for a more private social sharing experience, limiting friends to 150
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PATH
Doubling its registered users since April, Path now has 20 million users
Path, like Whatsapp, is resolutely ad- and brand-free
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PATH
They’ve recently added new features allowing users to create an ‘inner circle’ of friends
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PATH
MONETISATION
Users can buy in-app items or sign up to the premium subscription service
Users pay a hefty $14.99 a year to access the full suite of stickers for chat and filters for shared photos
© 2014 TBG
SOCIAL CHAT APPS
MESSAGES SENT PER DAY
SMS: 27.5 bnWhatsApp: 16 bnFacebook: 10 bnKik: 640 mSnapchat 400 m
This pie chart gives an idea of the relative size of the chat apps that we’ve mentioned, in terms of daily messages sent, compared to SMS and Facebook Messages
It show that Kik and Snapchat have a lot of catching up to do
(There aren’t any published figures for Path)
© 2014 TBG
SOCIAL CHAT APPS
To see how Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have responded to the rise in chat apps and find out how Twitter is involved in developing a cross-platform native ad server visit Inside Social
Read more at: inside-social.tumblr.comGet the insider’s view on all things social
CONTACT
TBG London: +44 (0) 20 7428 6650TBG New York: +1 917 933 [email protected]