In the internet era, emojis have become a new communication system that helps interlocutors better express their feelings while chatting. You can convey happiness, anger, or sadness using just one icon. Moreover, people understand emojis regardless of their culture or language, which allows different nationalities to communicate freely.
Originally informal, emoticons are slowly seeping into marketing and business relations. For example, the University of Missouri found that emojis in professional correspondence increase the credibility of a communicative partner. Thus, emoticons play a crucial role in people’s personal and professional daily communications.
Keep reading this article to discover how emojis affect the efficiency of your marketing campaigns and how you can boost customer engagement using them.
6 main ways to use emojis in your marketing materials
Social media managers and marketers are increasingly using emojis as effective public relations tools. Emoticons help businesses engage audiences, inspire action, and highlight important message details.
#1 Social media publications
A brand’s communication strategy and tone of voice are essential to public interactions. Using emojis in social media publications can attract more customers and boost overall brand engagement rates. Due to its informality, people can also be more open to commenting and reposting your publications. You can use positive emojis as a social media status maker and present your brand in a good light. Moreover, depending on the choice of emoticons, customers can perceive your brand differently, e.g., semi-official, bold, or sophisticated.
#2 SEO meta tags
Meta titles and descriptions are used to help search engines index your web pages and allow potential visitors to select interesting information from different sites. Emojis can help your web pages stand out from the list of available sources. As most companies only use text in their tags, you just need to use the right emoticons in your SEO title and description to grab more attention and boost your SEO ranking.
#3 Merchandise
People enjoy cheerful emojis, so they often purchase different daily-use objects like notebooks, lamps, and dishware that look like emoticons. You can design branded emojis and make merchandise with them, e.g., hoodies, t-shirts, caps, bags, and other things. Your partners, colleagues, and devoted customers are likely to wear unusual clothing in their ordinary life and can appreciate your custom merch. Moreover, it may also serve as an efficient ad.
#4 Infographics
Infographics help people understand complex information. You can introduce massive statistical insights and facts using tables, charts, and icons. But how can readers understand the emotional connotation of your message, especially when they come from another culture? You can use emojis in your infographics to make them accurate and more understandable for different people. For example, show that a particular fact has a negative influence on the world’s economy.
#5 Email marketing
Most mobile devices can display only up to 40 characters in your email subject lines. At the same time, well-thought-out headings engage people to open your messages. Using emoticons in email campaigns can help you make your statements noticeable. The Experian marketing agency found that emojis in mail subject lines increase the open rate by 56%. Note that you should use only subject-related emojis.
#6 Overcoming bad customer experience
The Effects of Emoticons on the Acceptance of Negative Feedback in Computer-Mediated Communication research shows that people are more likely to feel good about messages with emojis. Thus, you can use emoticons in your communication with dissatisfied customers to mitigate the complaint.
People use emojis in personal chats daily, so these icons can equal a relaxed, friendly atmosphere on the internet. By integrating emojis into business-to-customer communications, your brand can convey cheerfulness and form a positive interactive experience.
Essential rules of using emojis in text
Although emojis can be helpful in personal and business communications, many users re-evaluate their meaning in correspondence. Here are some rules on how to use emojis correctly:
● Use an emoji as a distinct symbol. Some emojis are descriptive as they are, so people use them to replace text fully. However, textual information remains the main part of your message. Complement it using emoticons.
● Forget about duplicating and over-spamming with emojis. Internet users frequently try to reinforce their messages and use multiple emojis in each sentence. However, it may seem obtrusive and bothersome for a recipient. Using only a few relevant emojis will complement your message and make it look elegant.
● Add text information first. Make sure your interlocutors receive accurate and understandable messages. Sentences that start with emojis, without prior explained meaning, often make little sense. Moreover, mobile push notifications can display a limited number of message characters, worsening the customer experience.
● Avoid putting emojis in the middle of words. Make sure your message conveys ideas smoothly. When emojis interrupt text, readers can’t perceive information properly. Emoticons should always be used at the end of a sentence or message.
● Use accurate emojis. Some people might react poorly to unordinary symbols. Moreover, some emojis can have different meanings, depending on culture. For example, French people interpret the OK gesture as an uninteresting discussion topic.
Additional funny ways to use emojis
Emoticons are good solutions to add more interactivity and fun to your communications. For example, you can try playing a game where lyrics are presented by emojis. The participants need to guess what song it is. At first glance, the game may appear to be easy. However, it involves creative thinking.
Such games are enjoyed on social media. You can also adapt these practices to your business communication. For example, food companies can present their new dishes’ ingredients as emoji riddles. Followers need to guess the dish and a winner gets a free prize from the company. You can also investigate and discover more fun ways to use emojis. For example, come up with your secret language where each emoticon means a specific letter or word.
Where to download extraordinary emojis
You can find and download customized emojis on stock content marketplaces. Depositphotos is one the largest photo stocks featuring 230+ million photos, vectors, illustrations, infographics, clip art, icons, videos, sound effects, and music tracks. You can browse their extensive content library and download royalty-free friendly-looking emojis to use in your daily communications or promotional materials. There are over 4,000 thematic emoticons you can explore at https://depositphotos.com/. The platform offers an advanced search filtering system that helps users navigate the content variety easily. For example, you can sort suggested files by date, color, contributor, and other parameters.
Conclusion
Emojis are an excellent communication system that is clear and understandable to different cultures and nationalities. Using relevant emoticons, you can convey feelings like cheerfulness, anger, or amazement to your interlocutors through text. Emojis also serve as an efficient marketing tool in business promotions where brands can create a friendly atmosphere for their audience. Make sure to explore the tips on emoji usage presented above and boost your customer engagement rates.
