Meta has enlisted some of its execs and partners to weigh in on the technology that will shape 2024. Unsurprisingly, the list maps to Meta products like Conversational Commerce. Also unsurprisingly, AI is on the list. But despite those factors, there are still some notable insights and projections peppered into the commentary.

Before diving in, here are the three main areas Meta focused on, and you can see the video below for more color…

1. Messaging will help businesses get more done: People want to communicate with businesses the same way they communicate with friends and family – sending a message. In 2024, people and businesses will get more done right within a chat.
2. Creative natively built for Reels will drive better campaign performance: With over 200 billion reels plays per day across Instagram and Facebook, Reels continues to turn attention into action. Businesses will continue to meet new and existing customers where they consume content with strong creative built natively for Reels to see even better campaign performance.
3. A new era of AI digital experiences will unlock results: Generative AI tools will help businesses create and scale ads quicker and more effectively. AI will move from being a buzzword to a staple that will help creative teams generate more output and learn what drives the best performance.

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Conversational Commerce

For the sake of this article, we’ll zero in on Meta’s first bullet – an area otherwise known as conversational commerce. It utilizes messaging channels for customer acquisition and support. The thought is that many consumers – especially younger ones – are already active in messaging apps.

The result is businesses utilizing messaging channels to engage with new users and existing customers. For many users, this familiar communication channel beats picking up the phone and waiting on hold. And for businesses, it’s a way to have an ongoing dialogue, quite literally, with opted-in customers.

Beyond a sizable consumer market, conversational commerce is applicable and prevalent across business verticals – including traditional SMB “headings” and brand categories like apparel. It can be used for everything from confirming your dentist appointment to checking retail product availability.

Seeing these demand signals and sensing opportunities, messaging apps have leaned into B2C communications. In fact, SMB customer support has become the primary business model for messaging apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Apple Business Chat. Even Walmart wants a piece.

Here are a few ways Meta in particular has pushed the ball forward over the past few years.

Facebook Opens the Floodgates for Conversational Commerce

Instagram Marries Shoppability and Conversational Commerce

Place Rewind: Facebook Drives Towards ‘Conversational Business’

The Everything App

As opportune as conversational commerce is, it could also be a means towards a larger end. Specifically, it’s a gateway to the holy grail of consumer apps: the everything app. Also known as super apps, this is where Elon Musk is taking X. And a few models already exist throughout Asia, such as WeChat.

The benefits of having an everything app are fairly clear, in terms of sticky and persistent user behavior, not to mention all the ways to monetize that engagement from several angles. Those possibilities include a mix of subscriptions, payment processing, and local advertising or sponsored content.

For these reasons, several companies are pursuing some version of this vision. And each version traces back to that business’s strengths or starting position. For example, Uber for a while has been angling towards using its pervasive transportation app as a springboard towards on-demand everything.

As we’ve discussed on This Week in Local, the best positioning likely comes from existing payment apps, which could bode well for players like PayPal and Square/Block. We say that because it’s the hardest part to execute (think: regulatory, technical). But a close second goes to existing communications apps.

And that brings us back to Meta (and X), given Messenger and WhatsApp. Like WeChat, these started as staples in daily P2P communications. After reaching a critical mass of users and engagement, they introduce commerce into the mix. That’s where Meta is now… the question is how far it can go next.

Ep. 32 Asks Will Apple GPT Kill Siri & Does “X” Mark the Super App?

Header Image Credit: Alexander Shatov on Unsplash