How to Use Emojis in Marketing to Drive Engagement

Do you use emojis in posts for your brand? Many people have different thoughts on using emojis in their company’s social media posts. However, emojis add a personal touch to our online interactions. They can enhance audience engagement for any company by humanizing even large brand names. While emojis might not appeal to everyone and might not be suitable for all brands, like law firms or funeral homes, they can add fun to your brand identity.

Emojis effectively convey emotion and tone in text-based communication. They can express sarcasm, excitement, and humor in ways that plain text can’t, helping readers grasp the intended message. Consider instances when you’ve misinterpreted an email’s tone, only to realize the sender meant something entirely different. This misunderstanding can happen in business communications too.

Here are a few tips that we have learned when using emojis in your content.

What are Emojis?

Although emojis became widely popular in the last decade, they were first created in the 1990s by a Japanese marketing agency. Initially, they were a variation of standard typographic emoticons that were popular on the internet at the time. These images added personality to emoticons and enhanced self-expression in online communications. In 2011, Apple integrated emojis into their iOS 5 keyboard, catapulting them into the mainstream.

Today, the iOS keyboard features 1,620 emojis, with new ones being added every year. Emojis add more depth and realism compared to the emoticons that preceded them. Popular emojis include a wide range of images, such as a kissy face, a slice of pizza, airplanes, and more. Emojis can also be customized to feature various skin tones, hair colors, and textures.

Why Use Emojis in Marketing?

If you follow many brands on social media, you’ve likely observed a growing trend of using emojis in their messaging and branding. According to a WordStream study, including emojis in tweets can boost engagement by 25% compared to tweets without emojis. Similarly, using emojis in Facebook posts can increase shares by 33% and interactions by 57%.

Beyond these metrics, emojis can make your brand more relatable, provide context to your messaging, and connect with your audience’s emotions on a deeper level.

Emojis Humanize Your Brand

Building trust with your audience increases the likelihood of recommendations and long-term support.

Integrating emojis into your messaging adds personality and relatability to your brand. By using emojis that resonate with your audience—from everyday text messages to personal social media posts—you can humanize your brand and connect more authentically. Especially with the younger consumer generations.

Take, for example, Goldman Sachs, typically perceived as serious in its industry. Despite this, they effectively showcased a different side of their personality and appealed to a younger audience with a tweet composed almost entirely of emojis, forming a narrative. When crafting such tweets, consider reading them aloud using emoji names to ensure clarity—while emojis can be interpreted by screen readers, excessive use or repetition might hinder comprehension in that format.

Emojis Enhance Audience Engagement

Why do people use emojis to communicate with friends and family? Because they’re fun and engaging! When used effectively, emojis can significantly increase engagement for your brand.

Emojis naturally attract attention—they stand out in text posts and create a friendly, casual vibe. Many social platforms now support emoji searches, making them more universal than images and videos. This feature allows users and marketers to join themed conversations, akin to hashtags. Adding emojis on social media can enhance your professional platforms like Linkedin, Facebook, and Instagram. 

Emojis Give Context to the Content 

Incorporating emojis into your marketing strategy can provide additional context to your messaging. Similar to how an exclamation point alters the tone of your message, emojis can convey emotions that text alone cannot. While emojis complement rather than replace good copy, they collaborate to enrich and deepen the meaning of your words.

Platforms like Twitter, with their limited character count, benefit from emojis as they add context and emotion when extra words aren’t feasible. When crafting tweets, it’s essential to consider accessibility for audiences using screen readers—testing your message with a screen reader or by reading emoji names aloud can help ensure clarity. If necessary, supplementing with additional text can provide clarity where emojis may not fully convey your intended message.

Tips for Using Emojis to Boost Engagement

1. Do Not Overuse Emojies

First, ensure your emoji usage is moderate and not overdone. Overusing them can make your content look unprofessional, so it’s crucial to be selective. Limit your use of emojis to one or two per social media post, and avoid using them in every single post. Apply them only where appropriate.

For example, if you’re promoting a new line of athletic shirts, a runner emoji could add a touch of fun and creativity to the post. Or if you have a taco truck, add a taco emoji to break up the text.

2. Determine Which Emojis Fit Your Brand

Your brand has a unique voice and tone, and the emojis you use should align with them. For instance, if your brand is known for being lighthearted and fun, emojis like the laughing face or heart eyes would be suitable. This kind of company could be anything from a preschool to a car wash. If your brand is more serious, you might opt for professional or neutral emojis, such as the thumbs-up or check mark. 

Consider what brand voice you desire to convey to your clients. What emojis might catch their eye? Before planning your social media content or monthly emails, review the available emojis and create a list of those that are suitable and those that are not. Share this list with your copywriters and creative team to ensure they understand which emojis are approved for use and which should be avoided.

3. Use Emojis to Highlight Key Points

Besides expressing emotions, emojis can be used to highlight important points in your posts. For example, when promoting a limited-time offer, you can use an alarm clock or siren emoji to emphasize urgency or draw attention to the offer’s expiration with a pointing finger emoji.

4. Use Emojis to Visually Represent Your Brand or Product

Certain brands and products are perfect for incorporating emojis. For instance, coffee shops can use the coffee cup emoji, bakeries the cake emoji, restaurants the burger emoji, event venues the party popper emoji, grocery stores the shopping cart emoji, fitness, and yoga studios the weightlifter and yoga pose emojis, and sports teams the basketball emoji. Enjoy using emojis and let your creativity shine.

5. Use Emojis to Break Up Text

Large blocks of text can be overwhelming, but using emojis to break them up adds visual interest and makes the content more accessible and appealing to a broader audience. By sprinkling relevant emojis throughout your newsletter, you can make it easier for readers to scan and digest the information. However, use them wisely and sparingly to emphasize points or convey emotions.

Do You Need Help With Your Emojis Marketing Strategies?

Whether you love or hate emojis, consider using them to enhance your content. People respond to these small graphics similarly to how they react to human faces, leading to more interaction with your content. Give them a try—you might be pleasantly surprised by the results.

Need help with your brand and marketing strategy? Reach out to ITVibes now to learn more about what we can do for you!