Facebook's David Marcus Knows Why People Prefer the Messenger App
The way companies communicate with their customers is changing drastically, and Facebook’s head of Messenger says his company’s app creates a space for them to have a better dialogue.
David Marcus joined Cheddar CEO Jon Steinberg from the WPP Stream conference in Ojai, California Friday. He points out that no one ever seems to call companies anymore. Not only is the process tedious, he says, but it’s not the way clients prefer to communicate. Marcus thinks Messenger is a more viable and effective option than even traditional texting.
This push for consumers and companies to communicate via Messenger, which was created in 2011, comes at a time where communication apps are on the rise. Data research firm Statista projects that by 2019 2.19 billion people will be using mobile phone messaging.
Marcus said in September that Facebook Messenger had 1.3 billion active users every month. The company’s other product, WhatsApp, has over 1 billion daily users on the platform. According to Statista, WhatsApp is the most popular option worldwide, and Messenger ranks #3.
Marcus argued that the number of people choosing to communicate via Messenger continues to increase. “As a result [the app] becomes a great platform for businesses as well,” he said.
He points to a survey Facebook conducted found that over 64 percent of people across demographics would prefer to communicate with a brand via a platform like Messenger. But there is a generational difference. A study by Goldman Sachs found that 34 percent of millennials like a brand more when it uses social media, but that number drops to 16 percent in individuals over 36.
Facebook has sought to monetize Messenger through advertising.
“We have ‘Click to Messenger’ ads … you can buy ads that direct people to opening more conversations with your brands inside of Messenger.”
Integrating a system where brands and consumers can increase communication is reminiscent of Facebook’s active advertisement strategy. The tech behemoth one of the two dominant players in the advertising industry -- the other being Google. It rules display advertising with a projected market share of 39 percent this year and revenues at $16.33 billion, according to eMarketer.
Following a session in which investors saw gains across the major indexes, Wealth Consulting Group CEO Jimmy Lee says investors need to remember that midterm election years tend to be more volatile in general.
Stocks closed lower to end the last trading day of May, but the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones both rose over the past month. The Federal Reserve in early May raised interest rates by half a percentage point as it tries to fight inflation, but the question continues to linger: will we enter a recession as we try to tame inflation? Anthony Saccaro, Founder & President of Providence Financial, joins Closing Bell to discuss today's close, the possibility of a recession, where he is telling clients to look for opportunities, and more.
The semiconductor industry is at an inflection point as it tries to fully recover from the worst of pandemic-era headwinds. While Broadcom has announced it will buy cloud computing company VMware, Nvidia is lowering its current quarterly outlook. Meanwhile, TSMC and Intel are contemplating raising prices -- again -- thanks to higher materials costs. Where does the industry go from here? Ted Mortonson, technology strategist at Baird, joins Closing Bell to discuss.
Memorial Day rang in the unofficial start of summer here in the United States -- and with it, the unofficial start of summer travel. Whether consumers traveled by air or by land, they probably experienced some form of frustration over the weekend. Flyers faced delays and cancellations, and drivers faced the most expensive gas prices ever recorded on Memorial Day. Zach Griff, Senior Aviation Reporter for the Points Guy, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Next-generation gaming ecosystem Joystick recently raised $8 million in a seed round and is in the process of raising a $110 million Series A funding round. Gaming ecosystems are a relatively new type of platform in the Web3 space, allowing users to maximize their play-to-earn gaming opportunities, exchange crypto-currencies, and sell their digital assets. Joystick says its platform is flipping the current model on its head by giving players the opportunity to keep 100% of the revenue they earn. Robin Defay, co-founder and CEO of Joystick, and Michael Le, co-founder of Joystick and TikTok content creator, join Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Abe Stein, Head of Innovation at Sports Innovation Lab, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he explains why the top four spots on his company's 2022 list are European soccer clubs and discusses Sports Innovation Lab's plan to publish data on women's pro sports teams in the not-too-distant future.
Joel Birch, Co-Founder and CEO of Stacked, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he explains why he doesn't see any new catalysts that would lead to a Bitcoin rally at the moment. He also reiterates that now is a good time for long-term Bitcoin investors to buy low.
