7Park Data publishes a new Insight report on current business landscape and opportunities in messaging

It’s hard to imagine that online messaging predates millennials, a generation that seems to spend more time on their mobile devices than interacting with people in real life. But we’ve come a long way from the 1960s instant messaging systems to today’s messaging apps that offer a wide range of services and features, and millennials both embrace and drive the upgrades. In recent years messaging apps have morphed into entertainment platforms and business conduits that connect users to different aspects of daily life, not just to each other. In 7Park Data’s latest Insight report, we take you from the history of messaging to current competition analysis (in the United States and abroad), to the role of Snapchat, to opportunities ahead. Here are a few key takeaways from the Snapchat & The Evolution Of Mobile Messaging: Share This Story report.

• Messaging is larger than social media: Based on 2016 usage data, eight of the top 20 apps in the world with the highest number of sessions are messaging apps. Despite the fundamental differences in their reasons for existence, social networking and messaging apps compete fiercely to gain and retain users.

• Copycats heat up competition in the United States and abroad: In their battle for new users, especially younger demographics, companies hurried to copy Snapchat’s successful features, such as photo filter and ephemeral messaging. The move paid off for Facebook’s Instagram (Stories) and the South Korean Snow, a Snapchat clone that has been a hit among millennials in South Korea and Japan, and has done well in China, where Snapchat is banned.

• The future of Snapchat as a media platform: As cloud and live streaming services continue to disrupt linear TV and Snapchat capitalizes on its existing partnerships with video and media content providers, Snap’s mobile media platform appears as a natural place for novel media content and advertising opportunities.

How exactly did Instagram Stories affect Snapchat’s user engagement? How are messaging apps competing for ad money? What role does content play in the future of messaging apps? Request the report to find answers and gain insights into the growth strategies of the leading players and unique views of consumer behaviors that are shaping this fast-changing market.