Meta hosted its annual Conversations conference in Mumbai this week, marking their first event in the country. During the conference, the tech giant introduced several new WhatsApp features, including WhatsApp flows, easier payment for WhatsApp Businesses, and Meta Verified for businesses.
In an address during the event, Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, expressed his excitement about hosting the event in India.
She acknowledged India's pivotal role in embracing messaging as a powerful tool for both individuals and businesses. On the sidelines of the event, CNBC-TV18 exclusively caught up with Sandhya Devanathan, the Head and Vice President of Meta India, to discuss Meta's vision for business messaging, its plans for India, its excitement surrounding the festive season, and its preparations for the Lok Sabha Elections in 2024.
(edited excerpts)
If you can share Meta’s vision and its priorities for Business messaging? And how will it pan out for India?
Devanathan: I'm excited about Conversations coming to India. Part of it is a reflection of how important India really is especially when it comes to business messaging. If we zoom out, whether it's WhatsApp, whether it's Facebook, whether it's Instagram or more recently Trends, we have seen a lot of user uptake.
We have hundreds of millions of people on Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. And what we've seen is that what started as users reaching out to each other to build community, to connect with each other has now morphed into businesses and users connecting with each other, using our platforms. So we are seeing this big shift globally as well as in India, where we are seeing people using our platforms not just to connect with things they care about or people they care about, but also businesses that they are interested in or want to learn more about or make a purchase from.
So we're seeing that behaviour especially played out in India. Globally, I think we have 200 million businesses on the app using our WhatsApp business messaging app. So you see this organic behaviour translate to not just users but also what businesses do on our platform.
So coming closer home, to India, one of the things that we have noticed is exactly that just in the past year we have seen conversations from a user to a business double on our platform, and that's our ambition, really.
You talked about the vision for business messaging. Our vision for business messaging is how we enable what we are seeing, which is how today users expect businesses to meet them, where they are. They want conversations to be real-time. They want them to be instant, they want them to be personalised, and they want to be able to talk to a business. So what we are hoping to do with business messaging is enable those experiences.
You introduced some new features for WhatsApp including Flows-for a faster chat experience, Choose your Payments Service and Meta Verified, what was some of the feedback received from businesses using the platform and how will these features change their lives?
Devanathan: So across the board, pretty much everything we have launched has been because businesses or customers or users have come and told us that they either we have seen it play out on our platform or they have given us feedback that this is something they did like to see. And a lot of it is definitely within India's first lens. And so I'm very excited about, you know, how this plays out for India.
In our last conversation you mentioned how Meta is using India as an innovation hub. “Focus is on how we make India as a crucible for innovation for Meta globally,” were your words. What are the kinds of innovations which are being tried out in the Indian market right now?
Devanathan: In fact, many of the announcements we made today have an India lens to them. And that's why you see Mark making these announcements right here in India. I would like to highlight a couple of points.
First, JioMart serves as a perfect example of how we have adopted an India first approach. We anticipate that experiences similar to JioMart will unfold in other global markets for us. I'm very excited about the initiatives we're testing with WhatsApp and how they will resonate globally.
Likewise, on Instagram, we have various projects in progress, especially related to creators. There's more to come, particularly concerning reels, which also have an India lens perspective. I'll provide further details on that soon.
As India prepares for the Lok Sabha elections next year, what are some of the key priorities for Meta India as it moves forward, especially considering that Meta platforms are extensively used during elections?
Devanathan: We take election integrity very seriously on our platforms. We understand our responsibility in this regard, having witnessed 200 elections globally. We have accumulated valuable insights from these 200 elections, and we intend to apply those lessons in India. Our primary goal is to strike a balance between empowering users to have a voice and participate in the civic process while also combating hate speech and minimizing user harm. To achieve this, we've taken several steps.
First, we've established a robust fact-checking network in the country, partnering with 11 fact-checkers, which is our largest such network globally. This is one of our measures to combat misinformation.
Secondly, we've enhanced our security operations specifically focused on elections. These operations are in place during election periods to safeguard the platform.
Lastly, we've introduced increased transparency regarding political advertisements on our platform, making significant investments in this area.
Underpinning all of these efforts is our substantial investment in AI technology. We extensively utilise AI to identify and combat abuse and the presence of fake accounts on our platforms, dedicating substantial resources and funding to this endeavor. Overall, we believe that with these measures, we can ensure the integrity of Indian elections on our platform.
The festival season is here. What brand and business excitement on the platforms are you noticing?
Devanathan: I think that when we talk about the festive season in India, it holds significant importance for both businesses and consumers. During this time, there is a surge in engagement and consumer demand, as individuals purchase items for their homes, friends, and family, and make decisions that impact the coming year. I'll break down a few key observations:
Firstly, let's talk about business messaging. The excitement surrounding business messaging becomes more pronounced during the festive season. In fact, 66 percent of Diwali shoppers indicated that they would be more inclined to make a purchase from a business if that business were available on instant messaging.
Secondly, during the festive season, eight out of ten Indians engage with videos and short-form content. Additionally, 66 percent of Indians surveyed in a YouGov survey expressed their willingness to make a purchase based on a creator's recommendation.
Overall, I've been hearing from businesses about their focus on platform development and how they can accelerate their efforts to not only build their brand but also drive tangible results. As a company, we have invested in tools like Advanced Advantage and a suite of products that leverage AI. These tools empower businesses to simplify campaign mechanics and specify their desired outcomes.
AI then takes care of the rest. So, businesses can use our platform intelligently and align with emerging trends in the market.
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