Brief:
- Messaging app Viber added a feature that lets brands and users create customized stickers to decorate their messages. "Create a Sticker" provides software tools to design personalized stickers that "can convey a message better than words," per an announcement shared with Mobile Marketer.
- Viber lets users keep their stickers private or publish them for others to use. Users can download public sticker packs by clicking on a link in the sticker pack page or by tapping and holding on a sticker. They also can report public packs that violate Viber's restrictions on user-generated content (UGC).
- Viber has released thousands of curated sticker packs throughout its history. Last year, its users added stickers to their messages more than 30 billion times, according to the press release. New sticker features are available for Android devices through the Google Play store, and will soon be available on iOS and Viber Desktop.
Insight:
By providing software tools to create UGC, Viber can help to engage brands and consumers with its platform while giving them greater creative control over the user experience. Facebook and Snap have adopted similar strategies by releasing software to create customized augmented reality (AR) experiences that users can share with friends and followers. As a result, artists, engineers and influencers also have created huge libraries of AR content that showcase their creative and technical expertise.
With the "Create a Sticker" feature, Viber could cultivate the same kind of environment as brands have with their own sticker packs, as marketers have gotten on board with branded digital sticker packs that let customers and company representatives add flair to their messages while boosting awareness through organic UGC.
Mars candy brand Snickers generated 42 million views among people who turned themselves into brand advocates by decorating their mobile messages with images and stickers. Realtor Re/Max last month introduced a similar branded digital sticker pack aimed at elevating connections among brokers, homebuyers and sellers while they message on mobile chat platforms.
About 71% of Americans use digital stickers, emoji and GIFs, saying they can better express their feelings through visuals than text alone, according to a survey by GIF-sharing platform Tenor and Harris Poll. The survey also found that 69% of U.S. adults feel more connected to the people they frequently message with when expressing themselves through a combination of imagery and words, suggesting that efforts to incorporate sticker packs into the mobile marketing mix could resonate with consumers.