What emojis tell us about the future of messaging

Everyone has their favourite emoji – whether it’s the heart eyes, simple smiley face, cash with wings or thumbs up, emojis are playing a bigger and bigger role everyday in our communication across SMS and messaging platforms. They’ve become icons for a new generation – heck, there’s even a feature-length movie about emojis!

From their origins in simple emoticons, to the library of colorful and expressive emojis we have on our mobile keyboards today, these tools give us the ability to add emotion to our messages. That age old saying is true – a picture tells a thousand words, and the evolution of emojis is testament to that.

Our latest podcast episode

Our latest podcast episode is based on this theme. Joe spoke with Nadim Shartouny – Managing Partner at Minimoji. Minimoji is a computer vision company working to take emojis to the next level. The app allows users to create a 3D animated cartoon version of themselves, select from a library of different emotions, and then integrate their personalised ‘minimojis’ to their keyboard for use in chat or social media.

Recorded while we were at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona this February, Nadim gave us a great overview of all things emojis – where they’ve come from, where they are headed, and how brands can get value from them.

Listen to our podcast episode to discover:

• A brief history of emojis
• How brands can leverage emojis
• How emojis can enable brands to enter into the ’91inner sanctum’92 of private messaging between consumers.
• Why brands need to think visually about their activities on messaging apps. The likes of Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Line, WeChat and Kakao should be approached in a visual way, rather than as simple text platforms.
• How AR and VR are adding to the way consumers use messaging apps.

Messaging is a powerful trend that you, as an advertiser, can’t afford to ignore! Interested in learning more about how ads work in Facebook Messenger?  Book a demo and see an advanced social ad tech solution in action!