Should We Be Using Emojis In Our Marketing?

Now we’re sure you don’t need us to explain what an emoji is, as with over 6 billion of them being sent over mobile messaging apps everyday – it’s hard not to have seen them. But why are they so popular, and why is it that the small digital images we use to express our emotions are more likely to encourage engagement when it comes to our marketing efforts?

Do Emojis Encourage Engagement?

Some people argue emojis are something we should use on more of a social level, rather than for business, and so tend to leave it out of their marketing communications. But recent statistics suggest otherwise, with a 25.4% increase in engagement on Twitter, and 17% higher interaction rates on Instagram,when using emojis in the post compared to in those without. Showing clearly, emojis do make an impact when it comes to engagement on social media. Emojis offer a simple way to show a bit more creativity and personality for brands, it can also help to break up blocks of text, making it easier on the eye, and overall more engaging. With many of us now feeling our messages aren’t complete without one, it would seem silly not to incorporate them into our marketing, especially with those engagement stats!

More of us are now using mobiles than ever before, it’s not surprising that using emojis in push notifications encourages engagement – and can, in fact, lead to 85% higher push open rates compared to those sent without emojis. This shows that users really do engage more with visual and creative content. With the use of emojis, marketers can really better connect with their target market with that emotional aspect. Optimising solely our websites for mobile users is not enough, we need to think about catering our marketing more for the mobile age, and using emojis is a great way to that, and generates really great results.

Being More Personal In Your Marketing

Using emojis are also a great way for brands to be a bit more personal within their marketing, as it can inject a bit of their own personality, and also allow them to engage more with their target audience. Using an emoji can really change the tone of a message, this can help brands to better interact with their target market – especially when it comes to using their social media.

Essentially, it can help to create conversation and interaction that all brands are now looking to do when it comes to their social media and other marketing communications. It’s important to think about whether or not the use of emojis are adding to the message we are putting out however, otherwise they can become ineffective.

Don’t Go Overboard

Whilst using emojis are great and can bring numerous benefits, as seen from the great stats above – it is important not to go overboard, as this can certainly be viewed in a negative light. At one time or another, we’ve all seen way too many emojis in a message or post that it simply becomes annoying, and something we are not interested in looking at, at all. It is all about thinking about the best time or place to put in the emojis, because for some more serious topics or conversations, they are simply not going to be appropriate, and could actually have more of a negative than positive impact. Remember that sometimes, no emoji is better than using an emoji inappropriately or to excess.