Facebook Messenger is Taking Over

Are you on Facebook Messenger? If you’re not- you’re missing out.

There are currently 800 million users on Facebook’s messaging app. Facebook Messenger was the fastest growing app in the U.S. last year, and is now the second most popular app of all time- behind Facebook itself. With so many users, Facebook is currently looking at different ways to capitalize and make the most of the messaging app.

Messenger is already pretty versatile- allowing users to not only send a message, but to use stickers, photos, videos, voice clips, GIFs, and even video and voice calls. Experts feel that there will eventually be a decline in traditional cell phone calls and texts due to Messenger.

A few weeks ago, my spouse was travelling for work, and was in Canada. He didn’t want to pay the fee for making an international call, so instead, he called me via Facebook messenger. No fees. It was pretty amazing.

This messenger app will also start to replace other apps that exist to do things like purchase airline tickets, flowers, and taxi or Uber rides. Facebook had a limited roll out of it’s new “M” last year- which is an assistant tool that helps make dinner reservations.

How can this affect small businesses? Well- the number of messages sent to businesses on Facebook has doubled over the past year. There are concrete plans to boost communication between businesses and users. We also know that people use mobile devices more than desktops for many things, so the plan is to make it easier for businesses to communicate with customers. Facebook says that they will “also do more to enable additional businesses and services to build the right experience in conversations.”

So- if you do NOT have Facebook Messenger- download it today!