Since gaining universal popularity in 2010, the emoji has come a long way.
First developed by digital designer Shigetaka Kurita in 1999, the emoji was originally used to improve the communications on an early incarnation of Japanese telecom giant NTT DoCoMo’s mobile network.
Did you know? Emojis are not the same as emoticons. Emoticons are text-based icons used to suggest emotions. They include and :-(, for example. Emojis, on the other hand, are small image icons or animated icons used to punctuate a piece of messaging or add a little sparkle to conversations.
From email headlines and landing page copy to SMS marketing, and beyond, the emoji has become a potent force across marketing mediums—perhaps none more so than social media.
Using the right emoji at the right time can have a powerful communications across platforms—elevating your content from average to visually engaging in an animated heartbeat.
But, just how effective are emojis when it comes to social media communication? And how do you strike the right balance in tone?
Find out right here in this guide.
- Striking the balance: How to use emojis in your social media content
- Top tips on using emojis for social media effectively
- Social media emojis and accessibility
- What are the best emojis for social media?
Striking the balance: How to use emojis in your social media content ⚖
Did you know? According to 51% of consumers are more likely to engage with a brand’s social media post if it contains emojis.
This is an impressive number, sure. But when using emojis for social media, you must always be tasteful and appropriate. Think about the overall tone of the message and how phone number list the user or recipient ais likely to perceive your emojis. For example, if you include a laughing emoji at the end of a post, you might think you’re adding a dash of humor to wrap up the piece. However, do you run the risk of people not taking your message seriously?
The benefits of using emojis for social media
Using emojis within your social media content tastefully—and with accessibility in mind—comes with its fair share of brand-boosting benefits.
In addition to (as mentioned) sparking more engagement, well-placed emojis can elevate your content by:
- Giving your brand extra personality
- Conveying what words sometimes can’t
- Making your content more personable, approachable, and conversational
These elements combined will help your social media content cut through the noise and, ultimately, encourage the right people to interact with or share your content at the right time. In turn, this will expand your social media reach and lead to greater brand awareness.
Reasons to be careful when using emojis for social media
While emojis can help you drive better results from your social media content, you should use them sparingly and with a certain level of caution.
The reason for this is that by overcrowding your content with emojis, you can actually dilute your messaging and cause confusion. Remember, you should only use emojis that are relevant to what you’re trying to communicate—and you don’t have to use them on every piece of content you publish.
A note on Gen Zers…
As digital natives, Gen Zers use emojis incredibly intuitively. And your average member of the Gen Z cohort will perceive emojis in a slightly different way to Millennials.
For instance, a Millennial will use a heart or thumbs up emoji to express approval or appreciation. A Gen Zer, on the other hand, may use a fire emoji (sentiment: ‘that’s hot’ or ‘you’re on fire’).
That said, you should tap into the mindset of your target america email list consumers when using emojis for your social media content. In other words, consider your audience’s generation or culture.
Which platforms work best for emojis?
Some marketing platforms lend themselves to the use of emojis. As a platform commonly used by the Gen Z cohort, emojis can be particularly effective when used (sparingly) in descriptions and even video captions in TikTok videos.
Using emojis within your Facebook, Instagram, and X copy will also serve to elevate your messaging. Thoughtfully placed emojis in email subject lines and copy can also help to earn more engagement.
Pro tip: When using emojis foravoid doing so with your initial customer communications (a welcome email, for example). This can appear random or jarring—but once a customer is more familiar with your brand—the tasteful use of emojis can improve your email communications.
Top tips on using emojis for social media effectively
Here’s some advice to help you with your emoji efforts:
- Don’t use emojis to replace your copy: Lead with a message that’s clear, engaging, and easy to understand, using emojis to complement your content rather than being the main focal point.
- Choose emojis that are directly related to the messaging in your social media copy: Make sure they represent what you’re trying to say literally. Doing so will avoid confusion or misinterpretation.
- Use color-specific emojis only where absolutely necessary: This is because screen readers have to verbalize the colors as well as the emoji. Also, this may cause confusion for colorblind readers. Instead, try to choose emojis with a default tone or that don’t rely on their color to complement your messaging.
- Try to place emojis at the end of sentences: If you put them at the beginning, readers may find this jarring because they haven’t had the chance to engage with your copy.
- Use emojis that are popular: Stick with emojis how brands can take on social issues on social media that are widely recognized, and that translate well across devices.
- Don’t stuff your social media content with emojis: It will look messy, spammy, and dilute the power of your content.
- Try not to use emojis as bullet points in lists: This can become confusing for screen reader users because the software will read out a description for each emoji.
What’s the best ‘emoji:copy’ ratio? ⏱
There’s no set ‘emoji:copy’ ratio for social media success. However, as a general rule of thumb, you should try not to use more than four in any block of social media copy across platforms.
Here’s a practical example for your consideration:
Bad Example
Good Example
Can you see why the bad example doesn’t work, whereas the good example does?
- Bad: The first piece of social media sales copy leads with emoji, making the content jarring from the offset. It’s also unnecessarily stuffed with emojis, diluting the core messaging, disrupting the flow, and causing potential confusion.
- Good: The second piece of social media sales copy uses three emojis sparingly at points in the copy that punctuate or complement the main message without upsetting the flow or burying the call-to-action (CTA). The emojis in this example are also directly relevant to the text or copy that precedes them.
