As the Internet has evolved and with it, online marketing, I have often changed my tune as to what I think works and what I think doesn’t. Forever, including today, I cringe at an email, Facebook post, Tweet, or text message loaded with emojis. You know what I mean right?
Last week I was having dinner with another local business owner who owns a marketing and PR firm and we got to talking about emojis as a marketing tool (yes, neither of us have a life if you were wondering) and he turned me around. I think!
They say an image is worth a thousand words, right. Well, well-placed emojis can serve many purposes; but most importantly, today they are nearly universally understood,
90% of marketers have used emojis in at least one of their email campaigns. I count myself among them. A 2016 analysis even reported a 775% annual increase in marketing messages containing emojis. And of course, there are pros and cons.
Pros
- Email open rates with emojis in the subject line are 56% higher than those without.
- Click-through rates for emails with emojis in the subject line are 28% higher than those without.
- 44% of users were more likely to purchase products advertised with emojis in the subject line.
- They save space in the valuable real-estate of subject lines.
Cons
- Emoji use is not just spewing forth random emojis. Current trends need to be considered.
- Decreased Visibility. This is a Catch-22. If 90% of marketers are using emojis, is your message getting lost? Does it make sense to use a straightforward text subject?
- SPAM Threat. Too many emojis are an easy way to be flagged as SPAM.
- Know your emojis. A misplaced eggplant or peach could get you in trouble.
So, do the pros outweigh the cons? It’s hard to say, but here are some thoughts to consider from my friend.
- Emojis are a good idea if your audience is using mobile. Subject lines are limited to 50 characters.
- Know your audience. Maybe poll them. Emojis are embraced by millennials and the Gen Z crowd. Boomers (like me) may not be all about it.
- Test them out on a holiday. The emojis are innocuous. Hold off on the Christmas/Hanukah/Kwanzaa/Festivus holidays as a Christmas tree may put off a non-Christian or a
- Star of David might put off a Christian. Look to Valentine’s Day, Fourth of July, St. Patrick’s Day for a test run.
- Look at the results after using them. Did they work for you? If your software allows, run A/B tests!
And lest you feel I am pulling my figures out of my 
…. The stats came from the Adobe 2021 Global Emoji Trend Report.
