In last week’s post – Does Your Brand Speak Emoji? – we examined the power of emojis in marketing, and using them as a tool to engage your target audience. In summary, emojis kick ass.

So how can brands use emojis in marketing?

The sky is basically the limit when it comes to adding emojis to your content and messaging – but if you’re just starting out, there are two key areas where emojis work best:

Social Media

Facebook thinks you’re a real person if you use emojis and gives you greater reach, so consider adding a carefully chosen emoji or two to your posts. This can also help your content stand out in your fans’ newsfeeds, and increase engagement by highlighting your brand personality.

Instagram has added the ability for users to search for posts by emoji tags, so this can be invaluable if you’re promoting a product or service. Promoting your cosmetics line or makeup services? Tag your posts with the lipstick emoji. Launching a new brand of artisan pastries? Try adding the doughnut emoji to your posts.

Email

Research has shown that including emojis in email subject lines can help brands stand out in a flooded inbox and boost open rates. Email marketing platforms like MailChimp now offer easy emoji support, meaning you can insert emojis straight from your campaign dashboard.

Consider the content and tone of your email, and decide whether emojis are appropriate. They can be great to highlight a special offer or promotion, or to indicate excitement around some good news, but adding them to the subject line of an email about updated terms and conditions or something else requiring a strict tone of professionalism could send the wrong message.

To Emoji, or Not to Emoji?

Here are some things to consider before you go emoji-crazy and start peppering every message with beaming yellow faces, hearts and thumbs up.

  • Who is your target audience, and how do they interact online?

  • Could emojis enhance your brand’s messaging?

  • Which emojis are going to be most relevant to your brand?

Check Before you Emoji

Brands use emojis to seem hip, in the know and relevant – so the worst possible scenario when using emojis is to use them incorrectly, because this can have the opposite effect.

Be really sure you really understand the meaning of the emojis you plan on using. And not just their literal meanings – the meanings users have imbued them with. For example, a wholefoods farmer might want to think twice before tagging the eggplant emoji onto every one of their posts (because in popular emoji-slang, the eggplant means something a little bit rude… so rude that Instagram won’t let users search for photos tagged with the eggplant. You get the idea).

To double-check an emoji’s meaning, search it on Emojipedia.

Use Only Relevant and On-Message Emoji

People use emoji because they’re familiar and communicate thoughts and feelings, so be sure to keep your emoji use on-point, and on brand. Keep it simple! You want to add value – not noise.

Choose one or two key symbols to highlight the tone or theme of your message, and avoid emojis that don’t align well with your brand voice and personality.

Test Emoji Use for YOUR Audience

Who your audience is will have a big impact on how you use emoji in your messaging, so try some testing. Add emojis to your email subject line for one campaign, and compare your results against emails with no emojis. Similarly, try adding emojis to your Facebook posts for a week, and look for any changes in your engagement rates.

Looking for some inspiration? Here are some examples of leading brands that have their emoji game sorted.