6 of the Most Effective Ways Digital Marketers Can Use Emojis

If you ask around, chances are most of the people you speak with will be familiar with emojis. An emoji is a popular icon that’s used across several media channels, from text messages to emails.

They serve as light-hearted additions to text that helps capture attention and add a playful tone to the content they accompany.

Emojis started out as a simple concept, but they’re becoming increasingly more complex as their prevalence increases.

For example, emojis are now relevant to lawyers, judges and lawmakers around the world as about three years ago, American courts started dealing with emojis. In many modern legal settings, emojis are viewed as a mainstay of communication, and they often help inform legal proceedings.

The relevance of emojis is booming—from law to advertising. More specifically, the use of emojis in marketing communications is experiencing a huge growth, challenging age-old conventions as its presence expands.

#1 Rewriting the Game

The top brands in the advertising space engage and interact with their audiences in ways that feel more human. Instead of dominating the narrative and broadcasting their message, they use emojis and copywriting that invites a back-and-forth conversation with their consumers.

Potentially, 80 percent of your posts could include emojis and language that’s designed to add value to your brand and increase its reach.

#2 Expanding Pay-Per-Click

In the world of digital marketing, pay-per-click1PPC—is one of the best available platforms for online advertising. There are several established methods that can help a business buy traffic, but it’s also important to test and incorporate new PPC strategies in digital marketing campaigns—like emoji bidding.

Overall, your number one job is to run clean campaigns that sit well with Google. Your second job is to test out new ideas while still trying to appease the current algorithm that’s in place.

To take advantage of emojis in PPC campaigns, start by adding a couple of emojis to your advertisements. Generally, you can do this by copying and pasting an emoji into your AdWords text. If Google rejects your advertisement because it has ‘excessive punctuation,’ take out a few emojis or test out different options until Google’s filter approves your message.

#3 Utilizing Unique Emojis

The use of emojis in conversations around the globe continues to increase, and top brands want to be included and involved. Big-name companies, like Coca-Cola and Ikea, have their own emojis that they hope make their companies part of everyday conversations.

5 billion emojis are sent each day on Facebook Messenger alone. Every brand that can create imagery that resonates with users and that expands their online communications will notice a huge bump in their bottom line. 

#4 Revamping Push Messages

Having an application that can send push messages and in-app messages to your customers is a wonderful marketing tool. Unfortunately, they’re decreasing in popularity as more and more consumers view them as distractions. To keep all of the good things push messages have going for them alive, marketers need to change up their strategies.

Since many buyers are influenced heavily by emotions and emojis are used to tell stories and evoke feelings, it’s time to use them in your push notifications. When you test this out, begin small and only include a few emojis that clearly represent your message.

#5 Avoid the One-Size-Fits-All Mentality

Two years ago, Chevrolet became one of the first companies to make a press release made almost entirely of emojis. Their design was positioned to appeal to younger buyers and was written in ‘the language of youth.’ Despite their best efforts, the release landed flat. It was hard to decode, and it came off as if the brand was trying too hard.

Before you add emojis to every marketing material you create, take a step back and ask yourself how much value they add. Even if you are targeting Millennials, not every conversation you have with them needs to include an emoji.

#6 Research Before You Rollout

One of the biggest mistakes a brand can make is using an emoji incorrectly. Even seemingly harmless emojis often don’t mean what you might think, so don’t put your company’s reputation at risk by using them before you do your research.

To avoid incorrect usage, search for the meaning of your emojis on Google or Emojipedia before you add them to your marketing materials.

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The use of emojis is growing faster than any other form of communication, and it’s about time marketers got on-board. Consumers are no longer a passive group that accepts broadcasted messages; they want to work with brands who engage with them, communicate with them and that really understand them.

With the six tips above, you can use emojis in your digital marketing strategy. Although you won’t become fluent in the language of emojis overnight, with time, you can become well-versed in this ever-growing form of communication to better connect with your audiences.