MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Rakuten Viber, one of the world’s leading apps for free and easy communication, has recorded a substantial increase in the number of new businesses started using Viber to send messages to their customers and place ads amid the global health crisis.
Viber’s suite of business solutions has shown significant expansion and results with a recorded 21% increase in business messages sent worldwide during the last year; while a 37% growth shows more brands are exchanging transactional messages with their customers. The messaging app has also noted that there has been a 58% surge in the number of new business channels launched by brands.
And in the Philippines, the numbers are even higher. The amount of new brand-owned business channels launched soared by 211% and business messages sent have increased by 244% with transactional messages growing by 299%, showing that Viber became one of the dominant platforms for businesses in the country when it comes to delivering quality customer service. Through this Viber business solution, brands are able to provide their customers with notifications about the products or services they availed—from the status of their lab tests or food orders to updates on the delivery time of their groceries and appointment with a dentist and more.
With this new trend on the rise, it’s safe to say that more brands are starting to see the importance of strengthening 1-to-1 conversations with their customers rather than just send one-way messages. Businesses realized the value of building dialogues with their customers to provide customer support, receive feedback and reviews, place orders and enhance their overall brand experience.
Viber is also making concrete steps to improve every users’ experience with business messages. The app now allows brands and their customers to exchange documents and other files through business channels. Users can also now pin their favorite brands on the top of their chat list, so they won’t have to miss important messages.
As more brands take 1-to-1 conversations with their customers one step further, Viber also noted that chatbots’ popularity all over the world increased by 48%. That’s because chatbots allow organizations to provide consumers with a more efficient way to respond to their needs—all without having to boost manpower. chatbots in general have been proven to improve the customer journey, as they allow brands to give an automated reply to requests in real-time, 24/7.
This upswing in businesses choosing Viber coincide with the app recording a 421% growth of users across the Asia Pacific (APAC) region in 2020, with a 24% percent increase in the Philippines — which proves that users are relying on messaging apps more than ever to converse and spend time with family, friends, and colleagues. And as any advertiser would do: they follow where the customer is.
As a result, Viber has noted a 115% increase in direct advertisers globally with top business verticals including food delivery which grew by 174%, social media by 244%, and mobile games by 122%. The app has also seen a spike in advertising from other industries such as fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), retail and e-commerce, technology, telecommunications, finance, entertainment, and automotive. Viber’s direct advertisers in the Philippines have also surged by 312%.
On top of this, Viber has given both brands and customers a solid reason to worry less about data threats and abuses as one of the most secure messaging apps in the world.
In a hyperconnected world that’s now driven by a mobile-first approach, brands should always be on their toes to get ahead of the competition. With the habits formed and embedded amid the current situation, it shouldn’t be a surprise that brands have started flocking to messaging apps and utilizing solutions like Viber business messages and ads to solidify their business goals. The sooner brands realize this, the earlier they’d be able to adapt to the changing of the guard, ride out the challenges, and thrive.
