MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Popular messaging app Viber has recorded a 291% growth in conversational business messages for 2021, a strong indication that Filipinos are more inclined to have two-way communication with brands. Conversational business messages aim to help customers select products, process orders, provide customer support, get feedback, and generally improve their overall brand experience.
Viber Business Messaging Solutions have allowed companies to strengthen relationships with their customers, proving an ongoing trend for 1-to-1 discussions between brands and users.
Today, globally, more than 8,500 brands rely on Viber business messaging solutions to communicate with their clients. The rest of the numbers support the growing inclination for brands to engage with customers through chat. In 2021, Viber in the Philippines recorded:
● An overall 112% increase of Viber business messages delivered, including conversational messages (real agent customer support) with 291% growth, as well as transactional messages (such as shipping notifications) which increased by 372% and promotional messages (like special promo codes) that went up to 108%
● A 126% surge in the number of new business message accounts to establish 1-to-1 connection with their customers (55% increase globally)
● A 23% growth in the number of chatbots, where customers get automated replies to requests in real-time 24/7
Brands have also leveraged advertising solutions to increase their visibility and attract new users. Last year, the volume of ads impressions on Viber grew by 56% in the Philippines and 70% worldwide, showcasing the significant interest from advertisers. Among the top-performing verticals in the world: health and fitness which grew by 90%, energy by 56%, and transportation by 51%. The app has also seen a spike in new advertising categories such as recruitment and local businesses, reflecting the pandemic’s influence on business and the job market.
Since launching in June 2021, Viber Lenses has also become another milestone for the company as more than 7.3 million users around the globe have put the Lenses to use for media such as pictures, videos, or GIFs and more than 5.6 million users generated more than 51.8 million captures in the app. The customizable and creative lenses have given brands a native and non-intrusive way to increase brand awareness and drive customers along the users’ funnel.
“For a long time now, it has been a part of Viber’s strategy to become a super-app – giving as many services with added value as possible throughout our users’ day and providing brands with more opportunities to interact with their customers in the native environment. For this, we are constantly working on improving our suite of business solutions to let brands and users seamlessly interact with each other at each step of the customer journey,” says Cristina Constandache, Chief Revenue Officer at Rakuten Viber. “The numbers mentioned above once again prove that we are developing our app in the right direction, as both users and brands increasingly use Viber in their day-to-day communication and routines.”
