In today’s day and age emojis have become commonplace for most people when interacting with others in our personal lives. Whether it be through a text message, email, or social media post, emojis have become prevalent across multiple communication channels. While this fun, light-hearted form of communication seems harmless to utilize in your personal life, an important question to ask is: Are emojis a smart tool to use in my business?

The answer is… it depends! Emojis tend to make more of an impact with younger, more tech savvy audiences. While older generations may not relate as much to the implementation of emojis in an effort to create meaningful contact with a consumer. If your business is geared to a younger audience, using emojis throughout social media posts for example is a great way to engage consumers to grow interaction with your page and lead to sale conversions. On the flip side, if your target audience does not regularly interact with emojis, or lacks an understanding for the meaning behind them; your carefully curated email may experience lower open or click through rates because of emoji presence.

It is also incredibly important to consider your business type when choosing to interact with potential consumers through the use of emojis. Medical, legal, and other fields with more serious undertones should avoid the use of emojis when communicating with consumers. Professionalism has a higher potential to be lost in translation when there are emojis scattered across communication efforts. However, industries selling a product such as clothing or food tend to experience more promising consumer interaction when emojis are implemented across marketing efforts. The light-hearted effect emojis seem to imply creates a more casual and fun feel which makes the product and communication more appealing.

While emojis always add a bit of fun to a message it is important to consider your brand and the tone you wish to convey in your business’ messaging. While a contest announcement may be a great opportunity to include an emoji, a more formal informational communication may not. Follow this best practice when it comes to emoji use; when in doubt, leave it out!

If you’re interested in more communication tips or other marketing services, contact Addison Clark today!