Emojis have made an explosive impact on our society. They have gone beyond our phones – they’ve invaded our search engine results, billboard ads and even children’s toys! There’s no telling where they’ll go next.
What we have come to understand is why emojis have been so well-received. According to Psychology Today, there are four main reasons why people use emojis:
- Brighten a dark subject.
- Diminish negativity.
- Simplify speech.
- Articulate what words can’t
The latter has given us a new form of communication. We can text emojis and leave comments with emojis to effectively express ourselves without writing sentences. A single emoji can convey complex emotions better than words.
So how else can we utilize emojis and harness their power?
Email Subject Lines & Email Marketing
With countless emails pouring into prospects’ inboxes, as a digital marketer, you’ll want to stand out. Adding emojis to an email subject line can help attract recipients for a few reasons:
- Emojis add color to subject lines, making your email visually more noticeable.
- They add a light-hearted human element to an email that could otherwise be perceived as bland.
- Emojis can help enhance the context of your messaging.
- They can replace words to help reduce character usage.
For example: If you wanted to encourage your email recipients to “hurry” before an offer expires, you could use a running emoji. The running emoji expresses a sense of urgency while giving readers the idea that they should “run” and take advantage before it’s too late.
The fun doesn’t stop there. Once a recipient has opened your email, it’s easy for them to close it just as quickly if all they see is a large paragraph. However, adding a couple of emojis to the body of your email can help make the content easier to digest.
Correspondence
Today’s marketing agencies, advertising firms, technology companies and other organizations have made an effort to modernize their work environment. They’ve gone as far as to create vibrant common spaces to give employees the opportunity to change their surroundings and unleash creativity.
Just the same, forward-thinking companies are finding more efficient ways to communicate, such as group chats.
If your business or employer is open to this methodology, you can try to text emojis to your co-workers for organizational reasons.
For example: If you want to send a list of tasks you’ve accomplished, you can use a check mark emoji. Rather than explicitly say the words, “I have finished the following,” you can create a list of what you’ve done. Replace your bullet points with the check mark emoji to insinuate completion.
Branding
Emojis are being used by various companies to push their ad campaigns and promote their products. An emoji can be a representation of the way their product can affect customers. It can also convey an action they would like their customers to take or a feeling they are trying to portray.
Artists are also using emojis to market themselves and their work.
Take Ariana Grande, for example. In the past 12 months, she has released two record-breaking albums, each one consisting of chart-topping hit songs. As an active social media user, Grande built up anticipation for her singles and albums by posting teasers on Instagram and Twitter. Many of her captions for those posts were comprised of a single emoji. The trend caught on, leading to her followers and fans using them as well when discussing her songs and albums.
Social Media Strategy
Creating a massive following on social media has become an essential part of digital marketing efforts. Having a sufficient amount of followers makes a company or person appear more credible in the public’s eye.
One tactic being used my savvy social media users to gain Instagram followers is engaging with existing ones. By responding to comments, asking questions and creating content based on their fans’ demands, Instagram influencers have been able to interact with and retain followers. Why are these methods so effective? It establishes a human connection. Followers are people, therefore they crave communication with other people.
Just the same, the colorful and expressive nature of emojis helps complement the human factor that social media users seek. This could explain why companies and Instagram influencers choose to use emojis throughout their captions and engagement.
Whether you choose to exclusively text your emojis, or you’re open to using them in the workplace, it’s safe to say that including emojis can be beneficial. You can express yourself like never before while lightening the mood of any conversation.