Adopt Emoji Marketing for More Engagement in 2020

The popularity of emojis and the engagement they garner has motivated brands to integrate them into their marketing message. But when and how can you use emoji marketing? Let’s find out with some inspiring emoji marketing campaigns. We’ll also look at some statistics to understand and break down the trend.

Emojis are a widely used part of human communication on digital mediums. They are effective in communicating the ‘right’ emotion to an otherwise bland and emotionless text. Emojis humanize and add color to digital interactions. No wonder brands have taken notice and have started to integrate emojis for marketing.

Before we move ahead let’s take a look at some stats.

Emoji Marketing Statistics

According to HubSpotOpens a new window :

• 25.4% of tweets with emojis get better engagement
• 57% of Facebook posts get more likes while 33% get shares and comments if they have emojis in them

According to EmojiPediaOpens a new window :

• There are a total of 3019 emojis in Unicode standard
• Nearly a billion emojis are sent every day on Facebook
• The top 10 most popular emojis are – 😂 Face With Tears of Joy, ❤️ Red Heart, 😍 Smiling Face With Heart-Eyes, 🤣Rolling on the Floor Laughing, 😊 Smiling Face With Smiling Eyes, 🙏Folded Hands, Two Hearts, 😭 Loudly Crying Face, 😘 Face Blowing a Kiss, 👍 Thumbs Up (in that order)
   

The EmojicsOpens a new window blog reports the following:

• 6 billion emoticons are sent every day
• 40% of millennials engage with pictures
• Emojis increase Instagram engagement rate by 48%
   

Now that we have the facts, let’s understand how emoji marketing has led to a rise in engagement.

Learn More: Brandwatch Releases New Emoji Analysis FeatureOpens a new window

Emoji Marketing Drives Better Engagement

Neil Patel shares in his blogOpens a new window , “emoticons have become a usual feature in our daily communications. In the limited word count territories, they’re a powerful tool to convey more information using lesser words. They’re visually engaging and cast a (human) friendly brand image throughout any media platform.“

A message with plain text and the one with an emoji has a different impact on the reader. Emojis can articulate the right intent and mood, which might not be evident in a text message.

Consider this conversation on a messaging app:

An emoji could convey the right mood and even changed the discourse of the conversation in the above example.

“When people look at an emoji, their brain behaves in the same way as when they look at a real human face. Emoticons are considered equivalent to the human face by your brain. This is why emoji user engagement is more than what you’ll see with text or any other content type,” Emojics BlogOpens a new window .

But Neil Patel warns in his blogOpens a new window , “You need to be careful to not cross the line. Don’t use them irrelevantly in your communications in an attempt to increase your user engagement or indicate that you’re on top of communication trends.”

So, here are some tips for you to excel at Emoji Marketing.

Learn More: Lexalytics® Introduces Support for Unicode Emoji 11.0Opens a new window

Tips From Emoji Marketing Campaigns

Using emojis for marketing requires the right balance of the marketing message, intent, and emotion (happy, surprise, pun, etc.). It’s best to use emojis that convey positive emotions to be memorable and drive engagement.

Here are our tips to get Emoji Marketing right.

1. Research Your Audience’s Emoji Usage
 

Understanding your audience – how they use emojis, and how they perceive certain emojis is a first step to get emoji marketing right. Here are your few steps to follow:

• Understand whether you should be using emojis for marketing.
• Use social intelligence tools to identify what emojis your target audience is using online.
• Decide on the emojis best fit your brand persona.
• Look for possible alternate meanings of an emoji and ensure there is no potential misinterpretation before integrating them into your message. For instance, the Information Desk Person emoji 💁 is also used to convey sass.
• Test your emoji marketing campaigns on a sample audience to ensure they know what the emojis mean.

Brands that have crafted a fun persona or use humor in their marketing campaigns can use emojis to add playful elements. While a B2B marketer may use emojis subtly to garner attention.

2. Context is everything
 

Context and relevance are crucial elements of emoji marketing. Here are some things to consider before including emojis in your message:

• Will my target audience understand the intended message?
• Does the emoji naturally fit the brand persona?
• Does it resonate with the audience?
• Is it the right channel? According to ZoomInfoOpens a new window , “One of the most popular uses of emojis is within email subject lines.”
• Lastly, emoji marketing is most effective when used on social media platforms. Use the right emoji that best fits a social media platform. For example, LinkedIn is a platform where people connect more formally and for professional reasons. So emoticons that applaud, generate curiosity or express interest are more popular.
   

If you want to interact with your audiences with a social media poll, you can use emojis to garner their attention and drive engagement. Here is an example of context and relevance while using emoji for marketing:

Say, you’ve introduced a new burger, conduct a poll as follows:

This post is a more creative way to understand the audience’s reaction to your new menu item. It will drive more engagement and awareness, as users are more likely to comment and share this post.

Pro Tip: Use emojis to convey the ‘right emotion’ and enhance the meaning of your marketing message.

3. Use emoji in moderation
 

Marketers must be careful not to get carried away and use too many emojis in their marketing message. Emojis are used to convey what words could not. But going overboard with emojis will make the message look forced or confusing.

Goldman Sachs rather ‘cryptic’ tweet on how millennials make their life choices did garner some attention but it was tough for the audience to decode this message. Thus the intended message was lost.

4. Humanize your brand
 

Emojis can simplify your marketing message and humanize your brand voice. So sending out ❤️ for your top fans on Instagram or 👏your B2B client’s success on LinkedIn is a great way to express and humanize online interactions.

Better still, if you have the right budget, you can create proprietary emojis to amplify your emoji marketing efforts. For example, Burger King recently partnered with the Emoji Company “to spread positivity and deliver an anti-bullying message…

The Burger King X Emoji partnership of Emoji-branded King Jr. kids’ meals will feature 30 different collectible Emoji-branded plush toys. The collection will include fan-favorite Emoji icons including the tears of joy, hearted eyes, happy devil, nerdy face, laughing out loud, star-struck and pouting face. Customized Burger King icons include The King, the Whopper sandwich and a No Bullying Emoji brand icon created for the campaign’s anti-bullying message,” according to an article on Emoji.comOpens a new window .

Example of Custom Emojis Created by Burger King and The Emoji Company  – Emoji.comOpens a new window

With this emoji marketing campaign, Burger King recognized and addressed a complex issue of bullying, which is best fixed with kindness.

Learn More: Keep Subscribers Smiling: Use Emojis to Speak Consumers’ LanguageOpens a new window

Key Takeaways for Your Emoji Marketing Campaigns

Emoji marketing is best used as a tool to amplify your marketing message. Balancing your text with the right message can make your audience react positively and hence drive more engagement.

Here is what you can do to get emoji marketing right:

1. Identify the emoji that best fits with your brand voice and brand image.
2. Research and understand the meaning of an emoji to avoid possible misinterpretations.
3. Identify the right emojis for the right social platforms.
4. Emojis work best in email subject lines to drive open rates.
5. Use emojis in moderation to not dilute the message.
    

By following these tips you can add a human (emotional) touch with your emoji marketing campaigns.

What’s your take on marketing with emojis? Tell us on Twitter,Opens a new window LinkedIn, andOpens a new window FacebookOpens a new window ; we’re always listening!