Over the coming weeks Facebook will be rolling out a new version of Messenger to all its mobile users. This latest version will focus on improving the user interface taking it from 9 tabs down to 3: Chats, People, and Discover. Chat’s will contain all your message threads while People will store your contacts. The Discover tab will provide a way for business and customers to connect. This new simplified approach brings businesses to the forefront of the Messenger experience.
While this latest update isn’t explicitly targeted for business usage, when combined with an update earlier this year it does suggest Facebook continues to see a future in messaging.
That earlier update gave businesses more options to interact with their customers including:
New customization options in the customer chat plugin which lets businesses integrate Messenger into their own websites.
Added sender actions to let customers know if the agent has seen their message or is typing.
Updated the broadcast API to let businesses send messages to multiple subscribers with a single API request.
With the these latest updates, the acquisition of WhatsApp in 2014, and no longer requiring a Facebook account to use Messenger, it may appear that they are shifting their primary focus from the main platform to messaging. Perhaps Stan Chudnovsky, head of product at Facebook Messenger, said it best when speaking to CITYA.M.,
“We think that we are in the very beginning of a multi-decade cycle, where people are going to be shifting their behavior towards messaging, and businesses will be there to benefit from it.”
Facebook’s continued investment in Messenger and its 1.4 billion monthly active users are compelling reasons to consider adding it to your omnichannel messaging strategy. Chatbox makes it easy to connect Messenger and many other channels to one easy to use agent interface. To learn more about Facebook Messenger and other channels check out our post Messaging in a Multichannel World.