To 🐙 or not to🦄? Emojis in Email Marketing

We all have grown to ❤️ and use emojis in our everyday life. Which is why a lot of brands and marketers have begun to use them in email marketing. Just like in messaging formats, emojis are used to replace words and express emotions. They add a little humor and jazz to any conversation or text. Why type out all that text when you can use an emoji to sum it all up? And that’s all brands aim to do: capture attention with simple yet catchy content.

However, customers are bombarded with emails all day long. Everyone's inbox is crowded and there is an ongoing battle for attention. Using emojis can help your brand’s email stand out in the 🌊 of random text and promotional jargon. It may seem simple to just throw some random emojis in, but it’s a little more strategic than you think. 

Use emojis in your subject line to:

• Increase engagement with emotion: Using a 😭 or 😍 can tug on the heartstrings and prompt readers to feel some emotions and engage in your content more actively.

• Grab their attention: Stand out in the inbox 🙋.

• Increase open rate 🐙: Randomness catches the viewer’s eye and can inspire them to click. According to HubSpot's stats on emojis, the emojis that increased open rates the most were 🐙, 🐴, 👖, 🍒, and 🚂.

• Save space in the subject line: Writing subject lines is difficult (even when you're really good at it 💅) and keeping them within the character limit is even harder. You can say a lot with just an emoji, and it only takes one character 🤯.

 

Using 📧 with 🧠 examples:

              "Meeting request 👋”

              “Uh-oh, your subscription is expiring soon! ⏲️”

What to keep in mind when creating those subject lines:

Emoji Overload ⚠️

A little goes a long way. Don’t overdo the emojis; pick one and use it to emphasize an idea.

Know Your Persona

Emojis are not for every brand. Knowing your content and remembering your brand is important when determining if using emojis is appropriate. For some brands using emojis can show you're hip and on-trend, while for other brands professionalism is key and using emojis isn’t ideal. For instance, a financial advisor might want stop and think about how it will look to clients before they start throwing 💰 and 💸 in their newsletter. 

Keep it Relevant

Your content already has a topic so make sure the emojis you use complement it. Using irrelevant emojis can distract from the title, make you look spammy, or feel like click-bait. 

✋🛑 Before you hit send…

• Run tests on the subject line before you send it out to the masses so that you can see how your emojis will show up on different devices (and avoid the sad mystery of placeholder checkboxes). 
• Ask your team for feedback if you’re unsure of any jokes or implications (and avoid accidental 🍆slips).

Key Takeaway: Don’t worry, not having emojis in your subject line won’t hurt your brand. But it does give your subject a bit more charm. Just keep in mind emojis in email marketing should be used to complement and emphasize an idea: not the centerpiece of your message, but the delightful 🍒 on top!