Presentation slides from Trushar Barot (@Trushar), Apps Editor for BBC World Service/Global News. Presented at the Online News Association conference in Chicago 2014

1. Chat Apps:
New Frontiers of Mobile
Audience Engagement
@Trushar
Apps Editor, BBC World Service/Global News
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2. Blackberry Messenger:
London riots
2011
Image: shapersofthe80s.com
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3. WhatsApp growth rate
Chart: BusinessInsider.com
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4. These are mobile first
social media platforms
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5. BBC News on chat apps timeline 2014
April May September
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6. Indian elections pilot
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12. Emoji enables your
audience to tell you
how they feel about
a story, not just
what they think
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15. Breaking news
cartoon alert
☚
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16. Whatsapp
Positives +
● Biggest audience/user
based
● Very low unsubscribe rates
● Feedback very positive
● Anecdotal evidence:
we are reaching new users
Negatives -
● Very labour intensive
● Not possible to work
collaboratively
● Instability of the app
● No analytics
● No promotional help
available from
WhatsApp
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17. WeChat
Positives +
● Easy to learn publishing
platform
● Basic analytics/stats
● Promotional help from
WeChat
● Slick presentation/user
experience
● Stable platform
Negatives -
● User behaviour much
more passive
● Limited: 1 daily push alert
● Smaller user base
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19. BBM
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20. MXIT
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22. What we’ve learned so far….
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23. The chat app push alert is the
most potent content delivery
system in history
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24. Chat apps enable you
to be more intimate with
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your audience

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Chat apps can improve
the communication
workflows of your teams

26. Chat apps content that works well:
#GoFigure
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27. Chat apps content that works well
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28. Video and Image aspect ratios
for chat apps
✓ This is GOOD
✗This is BAD
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29. Chat apps and UGC
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30. trushar.barot@bbc.co.uk
Produced with the assistance of Esra Dogramaci ☚
@trushar
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