Want to provoke emotion in the inbox? Use Emoji’s

Receiving emoji’s in your subject lines – love it or hate it?

According to Litmus, the use of emoji’s have skyrocketed 777% year on year – increasing in popularity at such a rate, Oxford Dictionaries named an emoji ‘Word of the Year‘ in 2015.

Thanks to the emoji, subject lines are able to become a lot more expressive. The likes of 😍 and 👻 are creating a whole new language within the digital world…

Creativity is key

Inbox’s are crowded places where marketers need to keep ahead, and strive to catch the attention of a subscriber – meaning keeping on top of trends.

Using an emoji is a simple way to engage with your subscribers while keeping subject lines short and precise. A lot can be said with an emoji and at only 1 character, you’re not using up valuable space.

Here are my favourite February ‘Valentines’ 💝 inspired subject lines, brands who have used emoji’s well without relying on them instead of using words, no square symbols here!

1. Student Beans

2. ASDA

3. Cheerz

Along with the upsides of using these in email, there are of course negatives. For example, they are not suitable for every brand and their tone of voice; they can sometimes portray a look of being too playful. Emoji’s are fun, lighthearted, and cheerful… If this does not match with your brand then it is probably not the best route to go down.

Test test test.

Marketers must also be aware of the support for the use of an emoji within different email platforms, it is important to remember that if an emoji is not supported then the recipient will probably see a ☐ symbol… not a great start before the email has even been opened!
Words and phrases should never be totally replaced by an emoji but should instead be used to enhance the sentence, that way if they do not render the opening experience is not completely ruined.

Have fun with it.

Emoji’s have the potential to add significant value to your email content, make the most of this – they can create an opportunity for subscribers to relate to your brand. Choose wisely, check they make sense, and most of all be creative with them!