Facebook’s Zuckerberg bets big on messaging

The Issue: Recently Mark Zuckerberg set out his ‘privacy-focused’ vision for Facebook. He suggested secure messaging will be one of the dominant ways that we all communicate going forward, and also outlined plans to integrate Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger.

He also admitted that Facebook ‘doesn’t currently have a strong reputation for building privacy-protective services’. So, is this Facebook really listening to its customers’ security and privacy concerns? Or is Zuckerberg just saying what he needs to say to halt the decline in Facebook usage?

The SabioSense view:

We’re now living in a post ‘Peak Voice’ world, so how brands respond to this profound shift towards digital customer engagement is critical. At Sabio we see a bright future for asynchronous messaging within the customer journey, and it’s time for brands to start designing customer experiences that incorporate this capability. Facebook’s WhatsApp and Apple’s iMessage look set to dominate this space as both ‘fix’ the poor security associated with SMS, so Facebook still has an important role to play. However, given its security and privacy track record as well as the threat of potential regulatory barriers, the company has a lot of work to do if it is to establish itself as the default CX messaging platform going forward.

Many CX professionals may consider that these issues have permanently tainted Facebook, however its WhatsApp and Instagram brands could still prove its saviour! We’ll be discussing this key issue, as well as other strategies to ensure your customer experience is brilliant at our DISRUPT CX 2019 event in London on the 24th of April.

Stuart Dorman can be contacted at [email protected]