Emoji Marketing has been popular since their rise in the 2000s, emojis have taken over the world and have changed the way people communicate. Emojis are used to convey emotions that are hard to say. A person who has any contact with your target audience needs to know what emojis are and how to use them. In this post, we’ll provide an all-encompassing rundown of emojis, including an explanation of why emojis are essential, 5 things to keep in mind before you start using them, and offer 3 examples of effective ways other brands have used emojis in the past.
What Is An Emoji (and Why Does it Matter)❓
The Oxford Lexico dictionary describes an emoji as “a small digital image or icon used to express an idea, emotion, etc.” The most popular emojis used today are “face with tears of joy” 😂, “loudly crying face” 😭, and red heart❤️.
Understanding what Emojis are and how to use them is essential. Especially, when you consider that over 700 million emojis are used every day on Facebook posts alone. According to Adweek, 92% of internet users use emojis. Additionally, according to a study by psychologist Jerome Bruner, people remember 10% of what they hear, 20% of what they read, and 80% of what they see. The more visual your message is, the more likely it will have a lasting impact that can benefit your brand.
5 Tips On How to Use An Emoji in Marketing
Before you start using emojis, keep these five tips in mind:
- Don’t crowd your message with too many emojis. 💬 When using emojis, you don’t want to overcrowd your message. Keep it simple, and only use them where they’ll add value to your point.
- Be selective with the platform you use them on.📱Before you start using emojis on every platform, make sure it is a relevant place to use them. On a platform like Twitter, emojis are expected. On LinkedIn, emojis would look out of place.
- Make sure the context is appropriate.🤦 Always know your context. Before posting, it is important to know the full context of what you’re responding to. If you are responding to a sad video, it would be insensitive to respond to the post with a laughing emoji. Always evaluate the context and respond accordingly.
- Make emojis interactive. 🖱️This tip is as simple as using the emojis to make your message a two-way conversation. This can be as simple as responding to a post about how great your company is with a smiley face.
- Know which emojis connect with your audience. 📊With over 3,100 emojis available, it is important to know which emojis your audience uses. By using the same emojis as them, you are connecting with them on a personal level.
3 Examples of Great Emoji Marketing
- Sports Center
Sports Center does an excellent job of making their posts interactive and relatable with their use of emojis. In this tweet, the emoji conveys the tone and emotion of the post. By just including the 🔥, they are showing that the video is impressive.
https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1251710339659583488?s=20
- McDonald’s
This Instagram photo was posted during the COVID-19 quarantine, and McDonald’s uses it as a way to capture their audience’s attention. The caption includes “🍟📏 📏 📏📏 📏 📏 🍟,” which captures your eye because you have to think about it for a second, but once you realize it’s fries six feet apart, it’s funny and relatable.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B-zxr43JLYO/
- The Bachelor
When you think of the 🌹, it’s hard not to think of The Bachelor. The show has essentially hijacked the 🌹by including it in their hashtags, their posts, and all of their marketing. By using this emoji, The Bachelor has connected with their audience and stands out as a brand
Emojis are simple and easy to use as long as you know your audience. Plus, doing market research on them is as simple as clicking on the social media profiles of your target audience and seeing their most popular emojis. Once you find the emojis your target audience uses, it’s as easy as finding the right context to post them.