How Tiny Symbols Impact Your Brand’s Big Story

Writer: ADEOLA ADEJOKUN

Emojis are more than just digital doodles; they’re a powerful tool for connecting with our audience emotionally. They can evoke laughter, joy, sadness, and everything in between.

And when used correctly, emojis can help build stronger relationships with our customers and prospects.

Marketers are taking notice of emojis as a universal language in digital communication, making them an ideal tool for reaching a global audience and connecting with customers on a deeper level to boost ROI. But how do we use emojis effectively in our marketing? And what are some of the potential pitfalls to avoid?

Using Emojis For Marketing

When using emojis in our marketing, it’s essential to do so authentically and appropriately for our brands. We will do well to choose emojis relevant to our brand and audience, not just because they’re famous. It is crucial to ensure that our choice of emojis fits our brand voice and that our audience will understand them.

Emojis can be used to convey complex ideas in a concise and visually appealing way and to break up text, making it more readable, especially on mobile devices.

This is especially important in today’s fast-paced world, where people have shorter attention spans. So, it is essential to be concise. Overusing emojis can make our content look unprofessional and cluttered. One or two per post is enough.

Emojis can trigger emotional responses in your audience, making your content more relatable and engaging. For example, a happy face emoji can make your brand appear more approachable and friendly.

Some emojis may have negative or offensive connotations, while others have different meanings in different cultures. For example, the peach emoji can be used to represent a fruit, but it can also be used to represent a buttock.

Therefore, it is crucial to be mindful of the context in which we use emojis, especially in a marketing setting.

Finally, emojis should be used to supplement our text, not replace it. Our messages must be clear and concise, even without the emojis.

Case Studies

Here are a few examples of how brands have used emojis effectively in their marketing:

Domino’s Pizza: Domino’s Pizza lets customers order pizzas via emoji tweets. This makes the ordering process quick and easy and a fun and engaging way for customers to interact with the brand.

Dove: Dove used the #LoveYourCurls emoji campaign to connect with women and promote body positivity. The campaign was a huge success, generating over 100 million impressions and leading to an uptick in brand equity and customer engagement.

World Wildlife Fund: The World Wildlife Fund’s #EndangeredEmoji campaign used emojis representing endangered animals to engage audiences in a manner that was both fast to grasp and shareable. The campaign was a viral success, reaching over 1 billion people and raising awareness of endangered species.

Chevrolet’s all-emoji press release: Ahead of the new 2016 Chevrolet Cruze reveal, General Motors released a press release composed entirely of emojis to appeal to a younger generation of buyers. This left many scratching their heads, ultimately requiring a decoder. Emojis are like hot sauce in digital communication; use them sparingly to avoid issues.

Emojis in Email

This is the unopened frontier for many brands. Subject lines with emojis saw an increased open rate compared to those without in a study conducted by Experian. Picture this – your audience sifting through a dull sea of emails.

Then, bam! Your emoji-laden subject line shows up. It’s like putting a lighthouse on a dark coast; you’re bound to get noticed. However, using emojis sparingly in email subject lines is essential, as too many emojis can make your emails look spammy.

The Emoji Advantage

So, are emojis the Shakespearean sonnets of the digital age? Maybe not. I would say that emojis are more like the punctuation of the digital age. They add emphasis, tone, excitement and context to our brand stories. So, they’re like the cherry on top of a marketing sundae, taking our strategy from words to expressive and impactful actions.

So, are you brave enough to use the emoji advantage to stand out in a crowded marketing world where every interaction counts? Despite their tiny size, their impact is enormous!