The Art of Emoji-Marketing

An emoji is worth a thousand words

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and in the digital world, emojis express more feelings than words ever will. Those colourful little computer generated icons add so much character. Let’s face it, our everyday messages would be boring without them.

Everyone loves an emoji, but did you know when used correctly, the emoji can be a powerful tool to use in your digital marketing strategy? 

A brief history of the emoji

The electronic pictograph aka emoji originated in Japan in the late 90s. The word emoji is a combination of e  (“picture”) + moji (“character”). In 1999, Japanese artist Shigetaka Kurita designed the first set of emojis, 176 in total. Global mobile phone systems incorporated digital icons and by the 2010s, worldwide users had embraced the beloved emoji. In 2015, Oxford Dictionaries even named the Face with Tears of Joy emoji the Word of the Year.

Popular emojis and emoji trends

At the time of writing, it is noted that 3,304 emojis are used in today’s Unicode Standard, with new icons approved and rolled out with each emoji update. Social interests and current affairs may see users turn to specific icons to convey key messages. A recent example of this has been seen with the Raised Fist with Dark Skin Tone emoji used on social media as a gesture of support and solidarity for the Black Lives Matter movement.

As COVID-19 spread throughout the world, users adopted the facemask microbe and statistics emojis to convey the pandemic across social media platforms.

Despite the emergence of icon trends, the following emojis remain top of the digi charts year-on-year.

Using emojis in social media marketing

Have you noticed your favourite brands and businesses using emojis on socials? That’s because emojis have been known to increase shares and interactions. Depending on the platform, incorporating emojis into your social copy can generate up to 25% more engagement.

Using the right emojis for your brand however, is vital. How do you know which icons are right for your business? To keep your brand messaging consistent, you need to know your audience and who you are connecting with. A poo emoji for example is not going to work well for a dental clinic but a tooth emoji will.  A burger emoji would be great to use in your socials if you serve burgers at your restaurant, but a computer emoji may not connect with your audience.

Open rate + emojis in email marketing

Fifty-six percent of brands using emoji in their email subject lines had a higher unique open rate, according to a report by Experian.

Emojis in subject lines can lead to higher response rates than traditional email, meaning you could be missing an opportunity to engage your readers if you don’t use those precious digi icons.

Only 2% of company emails sent to private clients use emojis in their subject lines. This affords other businesses the chance to set themselves apart from the competition.

Bonus points: using emojis can help your subject lines fit on mobile devices.

“I recommend playing around with emojis in the subject lines and A/B Test. This way you’ll be able to see how best your audience and customers respond, then start either including them more or less into your marketing,” says Chrissy.

Just for fun we asked the Creative Little Soul team to show us their most used emojis:

Emoji your business

Are you emojing for your business? If you’re not, it’s time you did. Knowing who your clients and customers are will help you can tailor your content and connect with your target audience. Incorporating the right emojis into your copy will drive engagement and get more eyes on your socials and newsletters, which in turn generates more sales for your business.

Not quite sure how to incorporate emojis into your digital marketing strategy? Perhaps it’s time to get in touch with Creative Little Soul team and let us whip up your emoji-fuelled content.