Facebook Messenger Stats & Trends

Facebook Messenger for business offers brands a way to connect with customers via messaging. Since its launch in 2015, it’s surged in popularity: Today, people and businesses exchange billions of messages over Facebook Messenger each month. Here’s what you need to know about Business Messenger usage—all of the most important Facebook Messenger stats and how you can get the most out of the platform.

Facebook Messenger — The Stats and Trends That Make it Perfect for Business

Using Facebook messaging for business gives you access to one of the world’s largest online audiences. Facebook has 2.9 billion monthly active users and Messenger has 988 million monthly active users. Here are the key Facebook Messenger stats you need to know to succeed on the platform.

As a messaging app, it’s second in popularity only to WhatsApp (which Facebook also owns). Geographically speaking, Facebook Messenger—and by extension, Business Messenger usage—is more dominant in the United States and Canada, whereas WhatsApp is more popular in EMEA, Latin America, and parts of Asia. However, Facebook has plans in the works to merge its various messaging properties—Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp messaging, and Instagram DMs—so these distinctions might become less important over time.

According to Facebook’s own research, Business Messenger usage is highest among these top five industries:

• Professional services
• Retail
• Local entertainment
• Public good
• Media

Businesses are already seeing great results from using the platform to book appointments, answer customer questions, and sell products. For instance, Sephora built an appointment booking experience on Messenger which led to a 60% increase in in-store appointment bookings, as compared to their traditional channels.

Facebook Messenger Usage Statistics: What Businesses Need to Know

There are three key Facebook Messenger usage statistics you need to know:

1. Facebook Messenger users skew older than other messaging platforms

While Gen Z dominates other messaging platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger’s biggest users are Millennials and Gen X. Based on user demographics in the U.S., Facebook Messenger’s largest user base—25 to 34-year-olds—account for 25% of Facebook Messenger users. This is the biggest demographic, followed by 35 to 44-year-olds at 20%. That makes Facebook Messenger the ideal platform for businesses targeting older twenty-somethings and middle-aged adults.

2. Facebook Messenger is the most accessible messaging platform

Even though Facebook Messenger’s user base skews older, that’s not the whole story. You don’t actually have to be a Facebook user to chat with a business over Messenger. Facebook has long allowed folks to sign up for Messenger without creating a Facebook account. Now, with the release of Guest Mode, it’s even easier: Using Guest Mode in the Facebook Messenger plug-in allows anyone to message a business as a “guest”—no Facebook Messenger account required.

With the coming merger between Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram Messages, soon it will be easy to message users from any of those platforms in one place. Given how accessible Facebook Messenger already is to use, it’s the ideal starting platform for a business that wants to be available to the maximum number of customers.

3. Facebook Messenger is a hub for development and innovation

Facebook engineers are constantly improving the way businesses and customers interact. Their most recent innovations include: Facebook Shops, a mobile-first shopping experience that allows businesses to easily create an online store on Facebook—and then use it across the entire Facebook family of apps; Facebook Pay, which allows customers in a limited number of countries to make payments directly in Messenger; and customer stories ads, which brands can launch directly in the Facebook Messenger app.