The world is moving to messaging. We told you about .famvin on Telegram, and not many of you seemed interested 🙁 Many of you use WhatsApp.

In a public Q&A session November 2014, Mark Zuckerberg explained: “Messaging is one of the few things that people do more than social networking.”

And since 2014, Facebook have made huge strides in the messaging space, acquiring Whatsapp for $19bn and building Messenger up to 900 million users worldwide (buffersocial).

Let me paraphrase a section of this important buffersocial article entitled, “What this all means for marketers.”

Organic engagement on many social channels is in decline, but at its heart, social media has always been about connecting with people one-to-one. That’ll never change. What will change is the strategies and platforms we use to connect.

As missionaries transition to private messaging, it’s essential for Vincentian webmasters and Facebook/Twitter admins to remember that above all else, messaging interactions are opt-in experiences, much like email lists. And with permission also comes a higher set of expectations.

Content delivered through messaging apps and bots will need to be relevant and more personalized than a Facebook post to your whole audience, and oftentimes users will need a reason to open up a conversation or opt in.

Personalized content and ease of interaction and are great ways to encourage opt-in.

Are you getting ready for personalized content? We’ve already started with Telegram!