Emoji use is at an all-time high.

It’s now believed that the average person sends 34 emojis across social media, messages and emails every day.

More and more businesses are getting in on the emoji-sending act, too.

Companies across the world are now incorporating emojis into their marketing and communication efforts and their internal comms, too.

Today, in the month that saw World Emoji Day take place, we look into why this is and offer a few tips on best practices for using emojis in your own business.

5 ways emojis can benefit a business

1. They can improve email open rates

In a well-known research study, Experian found that adding an emoji to the subject line of an email could increase open rates by 56%.

2. They can increase engagement on social media

Various studies have demonstrated the merits of using emojis in social media marketing.

Online advertising company WordSteam found that adding an emoji to a tweet could increase engagement by 25%.

Digital content marketing agency Zazzle, meanwhile, found that adding an emoji to a Facebook post could increase shares by 33% and interactions by 57%.

Finally, Hootsuite discovered that adding a tweet to a paid Facebook advertisement increased the click-through rate by 241%.

Marketing experts Hubspot has drilled down into the issue a little bit further and it has come up with a list of emojis that are even more impactful than others when it comes to social media.

The brand found that the person gesturing OK, cherries, tropical fish, woman dancing and sun behind a cloud emojis were particularly good at boosting engagement, whilst the octopus, horse face, jeans, cherries and locomotive emojis were especially good at encouraging click-throughs.

3. They can improve team communications

It’s thought that 22.5% of workers now regularly add emojis to their communications with colleagues.

Investigations by customer feedback company Customer Thermometer suggest that people use emojis in this way to both speed up communication and help clarify the tone of their communications.

Harvard Business Review’s research also suggests that using emojis in team communications can help clarify the meaning behind digital communications.

4. They get your message across faster

It’s believed that human beings can process visual data 60,000 times faster than text.

So, adding an emoji to your social media or email communications could help you grab your audience’s attention as they scroll at a breakneck pace through their feeds and inboxes.

Some companies are now even experimenting with adding emojis to website metadata, to help them stand out on the SERPs, too.

5. They can help you reach a global audience

The beauty of emojis is that many of them can be understood by people who don’t speak your language.

Smiling faces, planes, pizza slices and footballs, for example, mean the same everywhere in the world, making it easier for you to communicate with people who don’t speak your language as their first language.

4 tips for using emojis in business comms

1. Consider the context

Emojis work best in light-hearted and playful communications with customers.

If you have a more serious or sombre message to send, such as an email informing customers that their order has been delayed or their bills are going up, you might want to think twice about including an emoji in your correspondence with them.

2. Question the meaning of an emoji before you use one

While some emojis have universal meanings, like the pizza slice, football and plane emojis mentioned above, others are more ambiguous and some even have double meanings.

The peach emoji, for example, is often used to represent a pair of buttocks.

Before you use an emoji for the first time, it’s worth checking an online emoji dictionary like Emojipedia to check you’re not using an emoji with a darker side.

3. Be inclusive

As with other forms of imagery in marketing, it’s possible to use emojis in a way that’s not inclusive.

Be sure to represent various ages, sexes and ethnicities in your emoji use.

4. Don’t overdo it

It’s possible to have too much of a good thing, and emojis are no exception.

The idea is to pepper your communications with emojis.

Use them cleverly, for example, try replacing a word in a sentence with a like-for-like emoji or try encouraging your audience on social media to respond to a post with an emoji rather than words.

If you want to really impress, you can try creating your own emojis, like the wildlife charity WWF and cookie brand Oreo did.

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Heart Internet’s emoji quiz…

Can you guess the web hosting options from these emoji clues? Scroll to the bottom of the blog for the answers…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Answers…

• See Pan L = cPanel Hosting
• Word Present-ent = WordPress Hosting
• Shopping cart = eCommerce Hosting
• Private detective Serve Er = Virtual Private Server
• Dead i Serve = Dedicated Server