Mobile messaging was an important focus for brands such as Uber, Sephora and Esurance during the first quarter of 2016, reflecting the growing urgency around the need to address the ad-blocking threat with more organic engagements. 

The messaging space is no longer limited to just SMS. Increasingly, marketers are reaching across an array of platforms, including beacons, applications and social media to initiate a conversation with mobile users, driving one-to-one, personalized engagements. 

A flurry of activity on messaging apps such as Kik, Facebook Messenger and Slack towards the end of the quarter points to how marketers are looking to take advantage of how much time consumers spend in these apps, with chatbots, in particular, promising to be an important trend in the months ahead. 

Here are the top 10 mobile messaging stories from the first quarter of 2016, in alphabetical order.

The Bank of Montreal deposited a new strategy into its mobile vault, enabling customers to communicate with bank representatives via social media. 

The financial institution teamed up with Conversocial to power a social media-based customer service solution giving on-the-go consumers immediate access to the bank?s representatives, resulting in an 83 percent drop in first response time for United States operations. 

The program includes a series of new solutions, such as Twitter and Facebook support, YouTube moderation and Instagram exploration. Each social channel is manned by a U.S. English, Canadian French and Canadian English team.

In a move to meet millennials on their own ground, Coca-Cola is offering a way to share an animated GIF that expresses a consumer?s feelings in that moment as part of the new Taste the Feeling campaign. 

The global multichannel effort brings all of the Coca-Cola brands under one creative push, including a microsite where users can pull a GIF scene, personalize it to reflect one of several feelings associated with drinking Coca-Cola and share it on social media. 

Coca-Cola is using digital and social to speak to the consumer behavior of sharing feelings and match this with shareable branded moments, with the content translated in 22 languages. The campaign is device agnostic and shareable across social and mobile platforms. Those without smartphones can download and text a GIF. 

Esurance is using transactional mobile messaging to provide a better customer experience as smartphone-savvy consumers increasingly expect service-based alerts. 

The online insurance company, working with Vibes, developed more than 20 unique transactional messages, including updates for when a vehicle is ready at a repair shop and an alert that additional information is needed to resolve a claim. 

Ecommerce retailer Made.com is one of the first merchants to partner with a new messaging application intended to change how consumers interact with businesses by making it easy to communicate and transact via text.

The Hero app has been in private beta in London since Christmas, with thousands of consumers using it to shop, book a table at a restaurant and make appointments with participating merchants. In early 2016, the app opened up its service to thousands of new users, with conversations handled by partner businesses or by Hero?s team of experts.

Fondue chain The Melting Pot educated social media users in etiquette through an interactive chat on Twitter with chef Jason Miller. 

The restaurant brand shared a Tweetvite on social media to celebrate National Cheese Fondue day via a Twitter party featuring chef Miller. Consumers could ask the chef questions on accepted behavior for eating fondue. 

The campaign was based on results from The Melting Pot?s Google Consumer Survey in which the brand discovered a wide range of methods diners use to eat fondue, spurring creative for the campaign paired with conversational tools to make a lasting impression. 

AccuWeather is focused on bridging the gap between the physical and digital worlds by leveraging hyper-local messaging that offers consumers real-time weather updates, an animated radar, videos related to mobile users? exact locations and other snackable content. 

To optimize its mobile experiences for its audience and advertising partners, AccuWeather relies on what it calls the five Cs of digital media strategy: content, context, consumable, community and connectivity. These tactics provide a firm foundation as messaging continues to evolve and new trends emerge, such as dispersing short-form videos and promoting two-way conversations. 

The largest locally owned and independent craft brewery in Missouri has embraced beacon marketing to engage with beer drinkers at a key moment ? when they are about to order a beer. Customers with the app will receive notifications about drink specials, tasting notes and new beer releases. 

Sephora?s debut on messaging application Kik is a reflection of the push towards conversational commerce through chatbots.

Users can purchase directly within the Kik app while conversing with a Sephora chatbot about anything regarding beauty, including reviews, product recommendations and tips. The experience takes on the form of a conversation with a friend or store associate, starting with a small quiz so that the program can serve appropriate content and products to the individual.

Target showed its appreciation for loyal followers this winter by getting ultra personal on Twitter with individual love notes.

Twitter users who posted about their love for Target during the week leading up to Valentine?s Day received digital valentines created especially for them by the retailer. The campaign added a personal touch through a unique strategy, surprising them in a positive manner and creating a lasting impression in their mind to seal a favorable bond. 

Uber is streamlining support for both drivers and customers via a new in-application solution that promises faster response times than email. 

The new in-app approach to customer support encourages riders and drivers to tap the Help button in the app instead of sending an email when they have a question or problem. According to Uber, the strategy has shortened response times and increased customer satisfaction.