Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook), announced that the WhatsApp Business application now serves over 200 million users, marking a four-fold increase in just three years. This surge in user base aligns with Meta’s strategic shift towards developing business messaging capabilities, driven by a sluggish economy affecting its core advertising business.
Meta plans to introduce new features that will enable small businesses to run ads directing users to the messaging platform without requiring a Facebook account. This move aims to facilitate personalised communication between small and medium businesses and their customers, enabling them to send messages like appointment reminders and holiday sale updates for a fee.
The monetisation of messaging apps, namely WhatsApp and Messenger, has been a key focus for Meta. Mark Zuckerberg views business messaging as the company’s future cornerstone, and these efforts align with that vision.
