One of the major messaging trends currently are stickers. In addition to standard emoticons which are often provided by an operating system (iOS, RIM, etc.) or even by a messaging app, a lot of messaging services nowadays are adding all sorts of stickers.

Stickers allow a more individual expression

Stickers can be everything that enable a more funny and more individual expression: Things like nicer emoticons, comic figures, popular toy heroes and lovely animals are typical examples. Many stickers are actually made by famous artists and designers. Since the sticker trend emerged in Asia, many popular stickers are pretty unfamiliar in Western Cultures.

Stickers are one of the main messaging trends of this year

WeChat, Line, Viber, Path and KakaoTalk are just some of many messaging apps following that trend. For them it is a great way to monetize their app, since the stickers are sold in packages which normally cost between $1 and $2. Users in Asia seem to love stickers and often buy several of these packages. That generates millions of dollars of revenue for some of these messaging apps.

Stickers

Stickers get expensive but there are alternatives for more personal expression

In general stickers are fun, and probably we will regularly see new stickers and designs. The possibilities here are basically endless. The question is, if stickers might be just a short term trend? Well, some users like teenagers will always enjoy sending new stickers…especially to close friends and family. However, the majority of users might get bored of them and will hesitate spending money on a relatively expensive feature.

In order to make messaging more personal and enable users to better express themselves, there are also other innovations on the way: Grouptime now allows sending messages with personal fonts and themes. More on that in one of the next articles.