Around the industry, you will likely find differing opinions on the answer to this question: should emojis have a place in an SMS Marketing strategy? Some people see no problem with using emojis in their SMS marketing campaigns while others fear that it will make their business appear unprofessional.
One thing to remember about SMS marketing, however, is that it’s perfectly okay to be a little more conversational than you might be in, say, an email. Done right, emojis can actually be an asset to your overall SMS marketing campaign. In fact, one Intercom study found that “messages started by a business that contained an emoji were four times more likely to elicit a response from a consumer than those that didn’t.”
Using emojis is a great way to try and humanize your brand, and your customers may respond in kind. As much as we love SMS and talking about the ways businesses can benefit from its use, sometimes a little something can get lost in a text conversation.
Psychologist Albert Mehrabian is best known for his work on the topic of human interaction. He famously claimed that only 7% of human interaction relies on verbal communication, whereas 38% is tone of voice and body language is 55%. When communicating via text, you lose tone of voice and body language in understanding the other person’s meaning. Emojis can give your SMS marketing a more human touch and even help you to more effectively convey meaning.
Intercom also found that 51% of the top 20 emojis used fell under a facial category, such as smiley faces. In this case, using emojis to positively convey your meaning in a situation can be incredibly useful!
So now that you know some of the benefits of using emojis, here are some tips on how to use them the right way in your SMS marketing!
Should Emojis Have a Place in Your SMS Marketing Strategy?
- Don’t overdo it.
Just because you can use emojis, that doesn’t mean you should go crazy with them. In fact, you should use them rather sparingly for best results. The reasoning for this is that emoji overload may actually have the opposite effect of what you’re trying to achieve. It may obscure your message, as opposed to making it clearer.
Additionally, if you’re engaging in a two-way conversation with a customer via text and they don’t begin to mirror your emoji behavior, you may want to stop using them altogether for the duration of the conversation. In face-to-face interactions, mirroring is “the behavior in which one person unconsciously imitates the gesture, speech pattern, or attitude of another.” The exhibition of mirroring behavior is important in building rapport, so take this into consideration when using emojis in your text conversations, as well.
- Stick to the most common emojis.
When it comes to SMS marketing, it’s important that your message is crystal clear. This will be crucial in terms of achieving the goals you set at the start of your campaign. Because of this, try to stay away from some of the more obscure emojis.
According to Emojipedia, there are 3, 304 emojis in the Unicode Standard, including variations of gender, skin tone and flags. That is a lot of emojis from which to choose. Chances are that your customers do not use or even see the vast majority of emojis with enough regularity to derive any real meaning from them.
Additionally, some emojis have different meanings when used in certain contexts. In fact, some of them can have rather adult connotations. Consider performing a bit of research before implementing emojis into your SMS marketing campaigns to avoid sending inappropriate messages that may tarnish your business’ reputation.
Emojitracker.com is one awesome tool to get an idea of which emojis are most popular and, therefore, least likely to obscure the meaning of your messages. It tracks emoji usage on Twitter in real time, so it is always updated with the latest and greatest.
- Know your audience.
One of the main ways your business should inform the use of emojis in your SMS marketing is by having a comprehensive understanding of your audience. Chances are that you have already gathered this information through market research and past marketing campaigns. However, if you have yet to do so, get on it!
Knowing your audience is your best bet to predict which emojis to use and how often. For instance, emoji use is especially popular among people ages 25-29. If that falls in line with your target audience, then you are good to go!
However, emojis are rather popular across the board these days, so even if your business caters to an older demographic, you can still make good use of emojis. We just suggest taking tip number two into greater consideration in this case. Older cellphone users may not be as up-to-date on the meanings of more obscure emojis, so it is probably best to stick to the basics.
- Keep it positive!
Emojis may work well for your SMS marketing campaigns, however there is a time and place to put them to work. For instance, if a customer contacts your business with a complaint or service issue, including emojis in your response may have the opposite effect than what you intended. In these situations, it is best to stick to a more traditionally professional interaction so the customer knows that you are taking their concerns seriously and intend to assist them to the best of your ability.
In situations where emoji use is appropriate, keep it positive! While smiley faces can be useful in conveying a positive emotion, a frowning or sad emoji when used in more serious communications can be perceived as too apologetic or unprofessional.
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If you have been apprehensive about using emojis in your SMS marketing campaigns in the past, consider this your green light! Keep these tips in mind, however, to make sure that your emojis are working for you, not against you. Our blog is packed full of free tips like these that will help you get the most out of your SMS marketing, so the next time you have questions or are feeling stuck, come back and check it out! We update articles and add new ones all the time to keep you on the top of your SMS marketing game!
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