Facebook will now let publishers distribute content through its messenger and will announce this update at its annual developer conference in April. Mark Zuckerberg hinted about the future of the messaging platform in his upcoming Facebook F8 Developer Conference in April.
Last year Facebook announced that they are going to be expanding the messenger platform to a more robust form. The famous Facebook messenger will now soon allow publishers share their content automatically, which is not currently possible through the social network’s messaging service.
Earlier this year, TechCrunch reported that Facebook has started testing a tool for other developers to build chat bots. Publishers are increasingly exploring messaging apps for sharing their content, such as – BBC News uses Viber and WhatsApp, The Huffington Post uses Viber, The Economist uses Line, among others. German tabloid Bild, a famous German newspaper, is analyzing delivering news to its readers through Facebook Messenger but it still uses some private tool for that. You can read more on this in the article by NiemanLab.
Once Facebook allows publishers to use its messaging app, publishers will have access to another platform they can use for sharing their stories.
Last month, Facebook also reported that its messenger has grown to more than 800 Mn monthly active users all over the world, making it a top used app compared to other similar options in the market. As the number of users grows, publishers are more attracted to selling brands via sponsored messages. Publishers are waiting for Facebook’s upcoming F8 conference to find out updates regarding the messenger, which will allow them to distribute their message or stories through the messenger.
Initially, Facebook is targeting partnerships with bigger businesses as their customer feedbacks are more consistent and fast. At present, users can’t buy things from businesses directly via the messenger app, but when it will get open for businesses, it would help in engaging buyers more actively. As we see more businesses join this new messenger feature, marketers will get more proactive to supercharge their digital marketing strategies.
