The Wall Street Journal reported the other day that news email subscription TheSkimm is rolling out a paid premium service. For some industries – mainly tech, politics, and news – the emergence of the email newsletter as the product has proved successful, with brands like CB Insights, Mattermark, and others using newsletters as either the crux of their product … Continue reading Email Blast from the Past
VentureBeat has the story today of Facebook’s new partnership with Dutch airline KLM to integrate boarding passes, flight information, and customer service into Messenger. As I’ve written before, Facebook Messenger has completely embraced the platform approach and integrated everything from mobile payments to Uber booking to customer service, all in one app. And it’s compelling to see … Continue reading We Have Met the Future, and It Is Messaging
Over the course of my day, I bounce between a number of different chat apps, primarily Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Slack, and Google Hangouts. With the exception of Slack, none of these services offered a Mac desktop app, and so I needed to keep browser windows open for each of my conversations, which was very frustrating. Enter … Continue reading Franz
There was an article last month in AdWeek about how new parents are incredibly active on Facebook via mobile devices. Some interesting points they mention: New parents globally post 2.3 times more photos, 2.9 times more videos and 1.8 times more status updates than average users. Despite the popular perception that posts about Facebook users’ … Continue reading Digital Parenting
I first discovered Spotify on Facebook about five years ago – there was some sort of promotion or link – and now it seems appropriate that Spotify forged a tighter partnership with Messenger by allowing music listeners users to more easily share music through Messenger. I think that this helps both brands in significant ways. Facebook is out … Continue reading Spotify on Facebook Messenger
Twitter is getting deeper into the customer service game, and in so doing, seeking to combat Facebook Messenger. DigiDay reports: Twitter is making it easier for brands to initiate a direct message when private information is needed, say a record locator or a credit card number, with a new button within a tweet that directly … Continue reading For Help, Hit “Send”
On Wednesday, Facebook announced a substantial increase in revenue, earning $5.8 billion in Q4, and reaching nearly 1.6 billion users. What struck me was how deeply certain Facebook products – which until somewhat recently had been just side features – are now both intrinsic to its growth strategy and a direct threat to many of … Continue reading Out-Googling Google
Whatsapp, the popular messaging service owned by Facebook, announced that it will drop its $1 annual subscription fee, and instead make money on helping build business relationships between consumers and companies. This strategy is identical to Facebook’s evolution of Messenger, which now incorporates customer service capabilites, mobile payments, and other non-chat services. Whatsapp founder Jan Koum noted that the company will … Continue reading Whatsapp is Free
In 2013, Facebook tried and failed to create its own phone. Now Facebook has come back with a more considered vengeance, and announced today at F8, its developer conference, the inception of Messenger Platform, which will play nice with third party apps, and ultimately, I believe, achieve some of the results Facebook sought back in 2013. Facebook seems … Continue reading Facebook Messenger: The Trojan Horse
Facebook recently announced the rollout of a payments service which will be embedded within its popular Messenger app, leveraging its already-vast user base. This move was obviously a long time in coming, and it follows on the heels of Google Wallet, Apple Pay, and, most similarly, Snapchat’s Snapcash feature. I am certain that, down the line, Facebook … Continue reading Facebook Messenger, Now with Payments
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