Have you recently received a notification on your Whatsapp indicating that someone has sent you a “sticker”? Well, looks like your Whatsapp has updated too and now includes the ability to send and receive stickers. This brand new update was recently launched by the messaging giant a couple of weeks ago. Considering the quick and efficient roll out, we feel the project might have been under wraps and in process for really long. So let’s dig deeper into the Whatsapp stickers.

What are stickers?

Stickers are essentially a combination of an image and an emoji. They can be used in lieu of messages, emojis, videos, and images. Rolled out recently, they can also be downloaded separately as an additional pack from the phone’s app store or play store.

How to use stickers?

Have you updated your app? If not, go to the app store and see if your app has the latest version. If everything is in order, head back to Whatsapp and you will see a small button on the right side of your message box. You can click on the icon to send stickers to your contacts. By default, all users can access a small set of stickers. However, you can go to the app store and download even more stickers from different developers.

Opportunities for brands

So this is an extraordinary opportunity for the brands. For starters, Whatsapp has kept in mind the creativity of different developers by allowing them to build their own set of stickers and make them available on the app store. This set of APIs and interface makes it easy for anyone to publish the stickers, and that is where a brand or a company can step in. This is a huge opportunity for the brands to create stickers that relate to their target market. Stickers can be about the brand, use the brand’s tagline or name, and even feature the brand’s mascot, in case there is one. This brand new feature offers brands the opportunity to insert themselves in the daily lives of their target consumers.

Why will the stickers be successful?

Stickers have been available in iMessage, the native iPhone messaging app, for a while now. So how is Whatsapp different? Whatsapp has a massive user base that spans all the different operating systems. This allows Whatsapp to reach a larger audience and with the access to Facebook’s audience as well, there’s a sea of limitless possibilities.

At the end of the day, a platform that is innovative and keeps the users interested is the one that will succeed in gaining the largest user base. Backed by a tech giant, Whatsapp has covered the market quite rapidly. New updates such as the stickers only serve to increase its market share as it takes over the lives of the consumer.