Drawing on data from 628 billion mobile interactions in 2025 and a historical review of 3.8 trillion messages over the past 20 years, the report charts the evolution from single-channel messaging to complex, AI-powered omnichannel experiences.

The data reveals a significant shift in how brands engage with customers across West Africa, where Infobip has over five years of continuous operation.

Nigeria leads the region’s digital communication growth, with WhatsApp growing 23% as brands accelerate adoption of conversational channels.

Across the continent, Email grew by 70%, WhatsApp 17%, and other chat apps 7x. Industries driving regional growth include Energy, Utilities & Waste, which grew 104%, and Production & Manufacturing, which grew 5x, reflecting strong demand for reliable, multichannel communication. AI adoption is supporting customer acquisition and service enhancement.

Key findings for West Africa:

• Agentic AI is enabling the next major steps in business messaging. Moving beyond simple chatbots, AI agents are now capable of autonomous, goal-driven interactions, orchestrating complex customer journeys across channels.
• Single-channel communication is now obsolete for global brands. Ten years ago, 73% of platform traffic was single-channel. By 2025, that figure has dropped to just 2.3%, as 98% of interactions now span multiple channels.
• Nigeria is emerging as one of West Africa’s most dynamic digital communication markets, with WhatsApp continuing to dominate as the primary conversational channel for consumer and business engagement.

Ante Pamukovic, chief revenue officer at Infobip, commented:

“Our 20-year anniversary data set gives us a unique vantage point to see not just where we are, but where we are going. In West Africa, brands are orchestrating conversations across WhatsApp, Email and Voice. The future is omnichannel, conversational, and increasingly powered by Agentic AI. In this new world, Infobip provides the infrastructure enabling businesses to meet their customers on the right channel, at the right time, with the right message.”

Filip Filkovic, Africa Sales Director at Infobip, added: 

“In Africa, the big shift is that brands are no longer thinking in terms of isolated channels, but in terms of scalable customer experience platforms. It matters less whether a message goes over SMS, WhatsApp or email, and far more whether that interaction resolves an issue, protects the customer, and creates value in the moment.”

As Infobip marks 20 years of innovation, the launch of the Messaging Trends Report 2026 sets the stage for the company’s next evolution, enabling autonomous, AI-driven customer experiences through its new AgentOS platform.

Meanwhile, WhatsApp already has over 3 billion MAUs in 2025, with projections heading to ~3.14 billion by year-end. 

For any small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) thinking about customer engagement and brand storytelling, that’s opportunity.

Every day your customers open apps, swap messages, and watch updates. If your brand isn’t in the right channel, you might just be invisible. 

Today on brand comparison, we’re looking at two well-known competitors, WhatsApp and Telegram. We’ll compare them from the standpoint of customer engagement and brand storytelling, with a goal to help you decide which platform fits your brand’s voice, your community and your vision.

WhatsApp

Owned by Meta Platforms, WhatsApp is everywhere. With over 3 billion users in 2025, it is the most used global messaging app. 

In business mode, its dedicated apps (WhatsApp Business & Business API) have over 1.2 billion lifetime downloads.

Telegram

Telegram, founded in 2013, once niche and privacy-focused, has exploded. It hit ~1 billion MAUs in early 2025. It provides public channels, large communities and automation via bots.

Why this “quiet competition”?

Because these tools are evolving into platforms where brands tell stories, not just chat. SMEs usually treat messaging apps as one-more channel for support. But with these tools, you can build community, broadcast, and engage directly. Where you place your brand does matter.

Core Capacity & Feature Comparison for SMEs

Here’s how they stack up in terms of a brand that wants engagement + storytelling.

1. Reach & Audience

• WhatsApp: Huge global footprint; available in 180+ countries. Because many customers already “live” there, using WhatsApp may require less effort to reach them.
• Telegram: Smaller than WhatsApp in raw numbers, but quickly growing and especially strong among tech-savvy or globally dispersed communities. Some markets show very high penetration. For a brand looking to build a new community beyond its immediate locale, Telegram provides interesting reach.

If your brand’s community is primarily local, familiar with WhatsApp, that may be the safe option. If you’re aiming for global, cross-region, open-community storytelling, Telegram gives you more scope.

2. Engagement & Interaction

• WhatsApp: Primarily one-to-one or small group messaging. Business version supports quick replies, catalogues, broadcast lists. Because users open WhatsApp often (3–4 times per day) in many markets. 
• Telegram: Supports large-scale one-to-many “channels”, huge public groups, file sharing, bots for automation, no heavy algorithm filtering of content.
  For storytelling: Telegram lets you publish posts, updates, content that stays accessible; WhatsApp is more intimate, direct, conversational.

3. Storytelling & Brand Content

Storytelling means narrative, rich media, sustained engagement.

• On WhatsApp, you might run weekly updates, share behind-the-scenes via Status, respond personally to customers. But broadcast reach is limited (you rely on contact lists or groups).
• On Telegram you can build a channel of thousands, even tens of thousands, post multimedia updates, pin content, create bots or automated sequences. Because your messages go directly to subscribers, you avoid feed algorithms that bury your content.

So if your brand story is: “We’re a local crafts business, we want to talk personally to each customer, answer questions, build trust” → WhatsApp makes sense. If your story is: “We’re a thought-leader brand, we want to publish content, build a large audience, run community events” → Telegram has the edge.

4. Automation, Scale & Community Management

• Telegram: Very strong here. Bots, open API, large group sizes, flexible administration. Ideal if you want to scale to big audiences and automate. 
• WhatsApp: Also provides Business API integrations, but with more limitations (device number, message templates, opt-in rules). Excellent for customer service, personal outreach. So if your brand wants to scale quickly with automation, Telegram might win. If you want high-touch personalised engagement, WhatsApp may serve better.

5. Privacy, Trust & Compliance

Trust is important for SMEs.

• WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption by default in chats; its global scale and association with Meta raise regulatory questions. In the EU it has been classed as a “Very Large Online Platform.”
• Telegram offers encryption too, though not always default for all chats, and its business tools are still evolving.
  From an SME perspective: if your customers care about privacy, both platforms are acceptable, but WhatsApp’s ubiquity may give you more trust on the ground.

6. Costs, Monetisation & Business Model

• WhatsApp generated estimated revenue of approximately $1.785 billion in 2024, mostly via WhatsApp for Business. Also spending on WhatsApp Business is projected to hit ~$3.6 billion by 2025.
• Telegram revenue in 2023 was ~$342 million, growing quickly.
  For SMEs: WhatsApp has mature business tools but cost/messaging templates are important. Telegram offers lower barrier and greater freedom for broadcasting, but monetisation is less structured. Consider implementation effort, cost of maintenance, and whether you’ll need paid messaging or automation.

Use-Case Scenarios: Which Platform for What Type of SME/Brand Story

Let’s pick practical scenarios.

• Local service business in Lagos (e.g., an artisan workshop)
  Needs to build personal trust, answer queries, send reminders, and share pictures of finished work. WhatsApp Business suits perfectly. Direct, familiar, high open-rate.
• Creator brand/online education brand (global audience)
  Wants to publish weekly content, build community, run live sessions, and sell subscriptions. Telegram Channel + bots is the stronger fit. You can send broadcast content, automate sign-ups, and manage large audience.
• Hybrid approach
  Why pick one? Use WhatsApp for customer support, one-to-one conversations. Use Telegram for broadcast storytelling (company updates, insider content, community events). Each platform handles a different job.

Regional & Market Considerations (with focus on Nigeria/Africa)

In Nigeria and Africa at large, Many users already use WhatsApp daily for personal communication. Using WhatsApp means you meet customers where they are. 

Telegram is growing but may lag local adoption depending on segment. According to research, Telegram has strong uptake in countries like Nigeria, Malaysia, Indonesia. For a Lagos-based SME, the choice may depend on your target audience: if they’re urban, tech-savvy, globally oriented, Telegram works. If they’re local, mobile-first, WhatsApp might be better.

Also consider data costs, phone compatibility, and feature familiarity. If you assume your audience might not download and consistently engage with a new platform, going with WhatsApp is safer.

Challenges, Risks & Pitfalls

No platform is perfect.

• WhatsApp: Broadcast reach is limited; heavy reliance on contact lists; group size and broadcast list size constraints. Also, because everyone uses it, noise is high and users may ignore brand messages if they feel spammy. Being “just chat” may limit narrative depth.
• Telegram: Community building demands content discipline. Having a large channel is one thing; keeping subscribers engaged is another. Also, in some markets, Telegram may have lesser penetration, so your reach could be weaker. Automation requires skill; if mishandled you risk disengagement.
• Spam & trust risk: Both platforms have misuse potential. For example, WhatsApp has been used for fraudulent message campaigns. If your brand uses messaging badly, you risk being ignored or marked as spam.
• Compliance/regulation: WhatsApp’s size means it is under regulatory eyes (e.g., EU rules). Telegram, with less centralised control, may raise questions about moderation. SMEs must ensure opt-in, respect privacy laws, manage data properly.
• Content fatigue: Sending too many messages, poor quality content, or irrelevant updates can kill engagement fast. On Telegram you may publish to large numbers, but if you publish too irregularly or too often without value, people unsubscribe.
  Mitigation: treat each channel, both WhatsApp and Telegram, like media, plan schedule, content calendar, varied formats, monitor metrics, adapt.

Recommendations & Strategy Framework

Here’s a roadmap for SMEs to decide and act.

Step 1: Audit your audience and communication needs

• Where are your customers now? WhatsApp? Telegram? Both?
• Do you want direct support (one-to-one) or community building/broadcast (one-to-many)?
• What resources do you have (time, content, automation ability)?

Step 2: Choose your platform(s)

• If your brand’s priority = direct interaction, local service, WhatsApp is priority.
• If priority = broader narrative, content publishing, community growth, Telegram is strong.
• Consider using both: each for a distinct role.

Step 3: Content strategy

• For WhatsApp: set up a Business profile, define broadcast list strategy, schedule updates, use rich media (images, short videos), keep it conversational.
• For Telegram: establish a channel name, content themes (story arcs, behind-the-scenes, exclusive updates), schedule posts, possibly integrate a bot for registrations/feedback.

Step 4: Engagement/automation plan

• Use automation where sensible (quick replies, FAQs) but avoid losing human touch.
• On Telegram you can use bots for subscriptions, polls, and user-generated content.
• On WhatsApp, you may keep direct responses for high-value queries, and broadcast for regular updates.

Step 5: Measurement & refinement
Track metrics like: open/view rate (on Telegram channel posts you can see views), reply rate, unsubscribe/leave rate, conversion rate (e.g., from message to sale or booking).
Refine: If a broadcast sees low views, tweak time or content. If you see unsubscribes, review frequency. Over time you’ll know which platform is giving better ROI.

Example: A fictional Lagos‐based boutique “Elegance Lagos”

• Use WhatsApp Business to send appointment reminders, new arrival photos, one-to-one styles advice.
• Launch a Telegram Channel “Elegance Community” where you post weekly style stories, behind-the-scenes, customer spotlight, teaser previews, create a poll for next collection.
• Measure: WhatsApp replies and bookings; Telegram channel growth and click-through to website.

So, both WhatsApp and Telegram are solid, but they serve different purposes for the SME brand. If I had to pick one, I’d say: for immediate, direct customer engagement and trust building, go with WhatsApp. 

For building a larger scale brand narrative, community and broadcast capability, go with Telegram. But the smartest brands will use both, with clear roles for each.

Don’t treat either as just “chat” platforms. Treat them as storytelling platforms. Because your customers are not just messaging, they’re expecting experience, community and value. 

And in this competition of channels, WhatsApp and Telegram, the winner will be the brand that sells where its audience already lives.

Now: you are ready. Pick your platform, set your plan, start telling your story.

It’s a time when business leaders try to stay ahead of the curve by pre-empting trends so that they make informed decisions with strategies to improve their competitiveness and enjoy more success.

Of course, the world is undergoing rapid transformation where businesses are forced to find innovative and successful ways of collaborating and communicating with their increasingly digitally savvy customers who have more choice than ever before.

We have the benefit of the rise in intelligent agents to make our lives more effective and easier whereby we give the AI agents objectives, or prompts, to achieve, which – if done at scale effectively – could change the environment in which we work and improve the bottom line.

With this in mind, it is worthwhile noting the key trends that will be driving business communication in 2025 and beyond, so that organisations can make the right decisions on where to invest and which partners to engage.

The rise of AI

A recent McKinsey survey created a useful snapshot of the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). Steering clear of overhyping AI, it is helpful to appreciate that there has been significant adoption globally in the past year, from about 50% uptake previously to 72% in 2024.

The highest adoption rate is seen in the professional services sector, and the functions that are seeing the most value from AI adoption are marketing and sales, and product and service development. Businesses are now spending 6% of their digital budgets on AI initiatives.

Yet across functions, only two use cases, both within marketing and sales, are reported by 15% or more of respondents.

Organisations are still early in the journey of pursuing its opportunities and scaling it across functions and only 5% of respondents could attribute an increase in EBIT due to the implementation of generative AI.

AI is engaged with in three main ways, organisations that use existing solutions as is, those who customise AI tools with their own data and systems, and those that develop their own tools. Looking ahead, the leaders across industries will rely on both off-the-shelf solutions and tools that are adapted and shaped specifically to their unique needs.

We are entering an age where winning organisations build ecosystems that blend proprietary, off-the-shelf and open-source models.

However, one of the main trends going forward is not just going to be the adoption of AI technologies, but governance around how it is deployed across organisations.

Successful organisations will develop clear strategies and processes that protect them from inherent risks, while unlocking the technology’s power in enhancing and augmenting systems and human capabilities.

This is the opposite of AI-washing, so to speak, and represents a pragmatic and strategic approach to leveraging technology.

This means businesses will need to prioritise data privacy and ensure their use of AI aligns with regulations such as GDPR, POPIA  and (NPDA in Nigeria).

Ethical concerns around AI, including biases, transparency and accountability, need to become central to AI implementation.

AI-enhanced customer engagement and automation

Artificial intelligence (AI) is playing an increasingly important role in driving customer and staff engagement by automating routine tasks and enhancing personalisation. Tools such as virtual assistants and chat bots enable businesses to handle inquiries more efficiently.

They are being deployed not just for reactive customer service but also for proactive engagement, where anticipating customer needs improves service speed and accuracy, all the while appreciating the functionality of seamlessly switching to human engagement for complex issues.

In addition to this, natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning enable AI tools to better interpret and respond to customer conversational queries.

Generative AI enables businesses to produce content at scale, which drives efficiency not only in customer engagement, but also in marketing and product or services design. Deploying the technology smartly frees up employees to focus on strategic tasks and decision-making.

Rise of UCaaS and CCaaS

By now everyone appreciates that communication tools need to be integrated seamlessly. As such, 2025 – and beyond – will see a marked increase in demand for cloud unified communications as a service (UCaaS) and contact centre as a service (CCaaS).

By engaging in these services, and by working with partners who are able to seamlessly integrate with other critical applications, such as CRM, ERP and project management systems, businesses will see a marked improvement in efficient workflow, customer and employee satisfaction and improved productivity.

A shift to multimodal communication

The shift away from voice-based to a multimodal communication ecosystem has been happening for a number of years and is expected to accelerate.

Factors driving this include a distributed workforce and changing communication preferences of both employees and customers. Voice remains important, but 2025 will see more asynchronous and visual communication.

Email, instant messaging, project management platforms and video conferencing are already replacing traditional voice calls and offering more options, as well as flexibility, for remote and hybrid teams.

In addition to this, it gives businesses the flexibility to offer customers a choice of different means of communication depending on the complexity of their queries.

The rise of self-service and automation

Self-service and automation have been around for a while, but – driven by customer demand – in 2025 and beyond we will see a massive increase in areas such as proactive self-service, where businesses create comprehensive knowledge bases and resources that empower their customers to find the answers to their problems independently.

More companies will integrate self-service functionality directly into their product interfaces for instant access.

This will be supported by AI-powered tools that will speed up responses and minimise manual processing time.

Community support is a rapidly growing trend, where customers share experiences and ask and answer their own questions.

Finally, personalisation and collecting real-time feedback will enable businesses to make targeted interventions to ensure a good customer experience.

With the onset of the global pandemic, the workplace experienced seismic shifts, accelerating trends around remote working and urging businesses to rethink and recalibrate their communication strategies.

As we traverse further into this altered landscape, organisations are keenly exploring avenues to bridge the spatial gaps while keeping the spirit of collaboration and engagement alive.

In this context, let’s delve deeper into the nuances of contemporary business communications, the emerging patterns of hybrid work, and how innovative converged communications solutions such as those delivered by Microsoft can potentially redefine the spheres of corporate interaction and engagement.

The New Face of Business Communication

Effective communication is at the core of a thriving business, an element that has transcended traditional boundaries to become multifaceted and technologically advanced. In the current world of work, business communications are no longer confined to boardroom discussions and linear chains of emails.

Modern business communications encompass a realm that facilitates instantaneous interactions, real-time collaborations, and seamless integrations of various communication channels.

The need for adaptive, intuitive, and secure communication solutions grows as the lines between professional and personal spaces blur.

Enterprises are shifting their focus towards creating communications platforms that facilitate seamless communications and harbour innovation and productivity.

The landscape is ripe for solutions that integrate effortlessly with existing ecosystems, providing an environment that fosters creativity, collaboration, and growth.

Navigating the Hybrid Work Phenomenon

Undoubtedly, one of the defining elements of the current business environment is the emergence and steady rise of the hybrid work model.

The hybrid work paradigm, a fusion of remote and office-based work, has created unique challenges and opportunities.

The decentralised nature of hybrid work demands solutions that can streamline communication and enhance the collaborative efforts of geographically dispersed teams.

It’s a world where communication – the phone – needs to follow the employee so that the customer isn’t even aware they are not sitting in the office.

Organisations are steering towards creating inclusive work environments where technology acts as a unifier, bringing together individuals and teams, facilitating shared experiences, and fostering a culture of mutual growth and learning.

Within this, the hybrid work model is here to stay, as it encapsulates the essence of flexibility, diversity, and inclusiveness, elements that the modern workforce cherishes and the next-generation demand, which puts pressure on communications solutions to meet all these needs.

Moreover, hybrid work has amplified the importance of maintaining a balance between connectivity and autonomy, urging organisations to adopt solutions capable of nurturing connections yet not impinging on the individual spaces of employees.

This shift necessitates integrating robust, flexible solutions that can adapt to the dynamic nature of hybrid work environments.

A Forerunner in Business Communication Solutions

In this new era of business communications, solutions like Microsoft’s Converged Communications solutions they offer through partners like Ribbon Connect emerge as a tool that promises to bridge gaps and foster connections.

These tools must promote seamless integration capabilities and advanced voice services and push the changes needed in how enterprises communicate in the hybrid work era.

For example, virtual meetings have become a staple, and the importance of clear, reliable voice communication cannot be understated.

Communication solutions must deliver crystal-clear voice quality, simulate face-to-face interaction, and make virtual communications more personal and engaging.

This subtle enhancement can transform business communications and foster natural and productive conversations that pave the way for innovation and collaboration.

A business’s ability to facilitate global communications is imperative. An example is using a solution like Microsoft, when combined with Ribbon, to deliver seamless global connectivity without the limitations of poor call quality or excessive costs.

This feature is particularly beneficial in nurturing relationships with international clients and partners, facilitating smooth and hassle-free communications that can foster long-term partnerships and business growth.

Harnessing the Power of Analytics and Integration

In today’s data-driven world, the ability to harness insights from communication patterns can be a powerful tool in optimising business strategies.

Effective communications solutions deliver analytics capabilities that enable organisations to delve deeper into communication trends, usage patterns, and performance indicators.

These insights can be crucial in enhancing communication strategies and fostering a culture of continuous improvement and adaptation.

But all of this requires effective integration, and we know that communication platforms often come with challenges pertaining to deployment and integration.

Interoperable solutions with leaders in communications like Microsoft are worth their weight in gold as they strip away the need for complex and time-consuming setups.

As a distributor, we work with partners like Microsoft to define the best and most appropriate solutions for our clients.

In this instance, Microsoft’s Converged Communications offerings give our resellers a solution that embodies the essence of modern business communication solutions, providing a secure, reliable, and adaptable platform. Which is ultimately precisely what users are looking for.

It also understands the unique challenges posed by the hybrid work model. In the instance of Microsoft’s partnership with Ribbon, as an example, it offers features that can integrate seamlessly with platforms like Microsoft Teams, a symbiotic relationship that amplifies the capabilities of existing communication channels, making them more robust and versatile.

Wrapped Up in Microsoft with a Ribbon

As enterprises navigate the complex terrains of the hybrid work environment, adopting robust converged communications solutions act as a catalyst in fostering connectivity, collaboration, and innovation.

It heralds a future where distance is no longer a barrier, teams can collaborate effortlessly, transcending geographical boundaries, and communication becomes the cornerstone of business success.

[Featured Image Credit]