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Top 10 mobile messaging campaigns of Q2

Mobile messaging moved to the forefront of marketing in the second quarter of 2016 via tactics meant to connect with users in a more organic manner by being cognizant of how they are already behaving. 

Chatbots and artificial intelligence are quickly becoming disruptive and pervasive. Marketers are tapping third-party apps and live chats within their own platforms to engage with consumers at multiple touch points. 

Kik, Facebook Messenger and WeChat are becoming increasingly popular with brands, especially now that platforms such as Kik have a chatbot store for users to browse marketers they can connect with. Meanwhile, other marketers are creating content such as emojis for users to share with friends and family. 

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

American Express members are now managing credit accounts and customer service via a Facebook Messenger chatbot for a convenient experience in a conversational manner for those on the go.

Cardholders are now able to get real-time messages and answers to questions for everything related to their credit with American Express. Chatbots are so pervasive that they are now being adopted by financial brands.

The chatbot will notify users regarding purchases made on their Amex cards to Facebook Messenger users that opt in. 

Comedy Central?s Broad City took to mobile messaging by providing users with a keyboard to trade content in relation to the show such as GIFs, stickers, show clips and emojis of the cast and show themes.

The keyboard, developed by Snaps, is focusing more on GIFs after the developer entered into a partnership with Giphy. The Snaps platform solidifies long-lasting relationships with fans by adding GIFs into their keyboards, which is resonating highly with millennials.

Fans of Broad City are able to share up-to-date GIFs and emojis that stay current with new episodes of the show.

Staples, Fandango, 1800Flowers and CNN were some of the first brands to tap Facebook Messenger?s large audience as part of a chatbot push that came in April.   

Consumers are looking for a more intimate and convenient interaction with brands, which Facebook?s launch provides. Users are now able to complete a wide range of tasks such as purchasing flowers, finding films playing nearby and receiving customer service without having to leave the app. 

For instance, gift retailer 1800Flowers mixed its chatbot with live customer service support in a bid to answer customers? questions, make gifting suggestions, process orders, send shipping updates and provide gift reminders. 

Another huge push for chatbots this quarter was H&M, Sephora and Weather Channel?s quick adoption of Kik?s Bot Shop that created more visibility for users to find their messaging accounts. 

The brands were among a number of brands that appeared in the Bot Shop marketplace, which drives discovery and use as chatbots gain steam. Kik launched its Bot Shop in April, which takes the form of an app store for users to better find chatbot offerings from official marketers and was created in partnership with Imperson,

H&M, Sephora and Weather Channel were a few of the big-name marketers that have existing chatbots on Kik and chose to gain more followers through the Bot Shop, a smart move considering comedy brand Funny or Die saw 1.5 million Kik users interact with its chatbot within its first three months in 2014.

The Limited garnered 7,840 chats per month through its live chat feature on its mobile and desktop Web site, of which 19.2 percent came from mobile.

As customer service lines become outdated, The Limited is maintaining a positive relationship with customers by giving them a more modern and easier method of connecting. The experience is indicative of how users are already interacting and removes the need for consumers to interrupt their day to complete a customer service action.

The Limited?s chat saw positive results by creating an experience that does force consumers to change their behavior. Order values averaging at $133 from customers interacting via chat, compared to an average of $106 for those who did not.

Meredith?s user-generated food content platform Allrecipes sent messages to Marc?s grocery stores shoppers with a beacon campaign that shared recipe ideas when users were likely looking for dinner ideas. 

Allrecipes Dinner Spinner app users who were shopping at Marc?s received push notifications while in its bricks-and-mortar locations in Ohio. The campaign targeted consumers at a time when they were more likely to engage by sharing relevant recipes that were trending to help decide on grocery lists and purchases.   

The messages pinged users who entered beacon-equipped Marc?s stores and shared recipes and ingredients with users that were trending at that moment. 

Pepsi recently made a move to target modern consumers with a campaign centric to mobile messaging and valuing emojis that boast its iconic brand colors. 

The soda brand designed a series of emojis for users to share on social media and messaging apps but also modeled them on the soda?s packaging, Instagram photography and in a series of seven-second clips on social media that celebrated cultural events. The PepsiMoji content rollout is one level of its summer campaign, which it promoted through an installation at Milan Fashion Week that featured the emojis and an onsite photo booth for social sharing. 

Mobile messaging users and fans of Pepsi were able to share messages that featured the emoji keyboard. The new icons feature the iconic Pepsi colors, blue, red and white. 

Along with the Bot Shop, Sephora made a big push to drive users to the mobile messaging platform Kik with a contest that asked users three questions to garner shopper insights.

The retailer was able to grab a wide range of information from shoppers through the contest to help tailor future services. Sephora was able to promote the contest through its social media accounts to attract more users on its chatbot platform.

Participants were entered for a chance to win a $100 gift card by answering three questions in regards to their in-store shopping habits.

TD Bank also took to Facebook Messenger for customer service by allowing users to ask questions for any banking need.

During work hours on Facebook Messenger, customers can contact that bank for customer service instead of having to call a customer service line. The chat experience allows users to receive speedy responses and personalized experience. 

The program operates the same as a customer service phone line, but users do not have to stop what they are doing or be put on hold to ask a quick question. 

Disney created an interactive dialogue with fans of animated film Zootopia, also on Facebook Messenger, by having solve crimes in a short game while to promote the film's DVD release. 

The Zootopia fan page on Facebook chatted with users and brought them into the storyline of the film through a subplots in a game-like experience. The experience was geared towards children and boasts well with them, which is the main audience of the film. 

The Facebook Messenger chat had users talk with an automated version of Zootopia?s main character Judy Hopps, a police officer in the fictional town. The chatbot game made users a part of the story by having them solve small cases based on clues given by Judy.Â