There is a lot of hoopla going around that OTT (Over the Top) messaging will take over mobile messaging in the coming years, but that’s not true. There are quite a few studies that have been carried out to understand the business trends of OTT and Mobile messaging, and it’s quite clear that both the messaging mediums have got their own significance in the marketplace. There is no doubt that OTT messaging which includes WhatsApp, Facebook, WeChat, Viber etc., have made a huge impact in the global market. But that doesn’t mean that Mobile messaging doesn’t have its own importance in terms of customer acquisition and engagement.
3 strong reasons as to why OTT Messaging cannot take over Mobile messaging in the near future:
1. Companies rely on Mobile messaging: There are a massive number of companies who have experienced the power of A2P Messaging, in terms of reaching out to millions and that too with little cost spent on marketing related activities. Companies strongly believe in A2P Messaging, and how it has helped them improve their revenues over a period of time, and thereby improved their customer acquisition and engagement rates.
2. 2 Factor Authentication (2FA): The real potential of Mobile messaging lies in providing 2 Factor Authentication. Companies have leveraged upon 2FA and thereby carried out their business activities in a better manner. 2FA builds credibility between the customer and the company thereby improving customer relations and enhancing customer engagement.
3. Developing and emerging markets should be taken into perspective: The power of SMS can be experienced anywhere in the world, no matter how remote the location might be. But in the case of OTT messaging the same cannot be said, as they still doesn’t have a proper channel to reach emerging markets. Countries like Nigeria and Somalia can be taken into perspective, where though SMS has made its presence over the years, the same cannot be said about OTT messaging.
Another important aspect that can be taken into consideration is that most of the companies strongly rely on Mobile messaging for business communications, whereas when it comes to WhatsApp and Facebook which comes under OTT messaging, majority of the text messaging part is used for personal or informal purposes.
Businesses worldwide that have relied on Mobile messaging for brand building and customer engagement were around 19%, when compared to OTT services like WhatsApp and Facebook which stood at 1.4% and 2.1% respectively. Another key point is that in the case of OTT messaging, there has to be an internet connection, but when it comes to text messaging there is no need of internet connection.
You might know that not all regions across the globe have got internet connection. ‘Ubiquity’ and ‘Reliability’ are the two most important assets of SMS Messaging, because of which companies doesn’t want to switch to any other communication channel, thereby sticking to the traditional text messaging platform.
There will be around 2.19 billion OTT messaging users around the globe by 2019. When it comes to text messaging, around 52.5 trillion messages will be sent by the year 2020. This clearly shows that in the coming years, Mobile messaging will have its own unique presence worldwide.
