Maren Hogan

Whether you love them, or you hate them, emojis have become a staple in the way we communicate. A simple "thumbs up" can communicate to someone the complex idea that you’ve heard, understand, and are in accordance with what they said. And a "laughing face emoji" can tell someone you’ve never heard a more hilarious story. A picture is worth a thousand words… right?

These tiny symbols have made their way from texting apps on your phone all the way to marketing emails at your business. But, is using something as colloquial as an emoji in your emails really a good idea?

Lucky for you, your friendly neighborhood growth team has dug into the research.

THE VALUE ADDS

TLDR — Pros of using emojis in your emails:

Increase open rates

Create a friendly connection with your audience

Save valuable space

Did you know that 56% of brands using emojis in their subject lines have higher unique open rates? It’s a pretty widely known fact in the email marketing world that emojis typically increase open rates. Pretty shocking to the outside world of normal people though, right?!

Looking to create a fun, favorable vibe with your customers, donors, or clients? Emails with emojis are proven to be more friendly. On its own, an email with “Let’s chat” from your boss could send your mind spiraling towards the worst. Add a happy emoji at the end, and “Let’s chat :)” becomes a conversation about your awesome use of an emoji in your latest email send.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, which is great considering your subject line cuts off around the 50 character mark. Using an emoji can save you valuable space! Share the countdown towards the release of your new product with a "timer", or celebrate your featured published piece with a "party hat emoji"! The urgency and excitement behind the messages are obvious.

WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO LOSE?

TLDR — Cons of using emojis in your emails:

Lack of professionalism

Rendering issues

Miscommunication

Most importantly, you could definitely lose your sense of professionalism. As you’d likely expect, emails without emojis are viewed as more professional by the receiver. When asked their opinion on two emails, 40% of the recipients surveyed said that the email that did use emojis was professional, but when asked about the email without emojis, that number jumped to 69%. You guys, that’s a big gap!

If you have evenly slightly dabbled in the world of email, you probably know (or have at least heard someone complain) that some email services are just the absolute worst. While most platforms are able to show recipients the exact styling the email marketer was intending for, there are still a select few that require special code, can’t play embedded videos, and don’t show emojis. Instead, those contacts will see a little square box or weird symbol instead.

Unlike hieroglyphics, emojis do not actually have an understood, universal meaning. They’re left up to context and interpretation. It’s assumed that most people are using the laughing face because they’re laughing so hard that they’re crying, or the angry face means they’re angry, but those characters could lead to miscommunications. Just take the peach, for instance. Who actually uses that emoji to symbolize the fruit?

SO, UH, WHAT’S MY ADVICE?
All emails are not created equal. Your brand, your industry, and your audience must all be taken into consideration when adding emojis to your emails. If you’re a playful B2C company, you’ll likely see major benefits. If you’re a formal B2B, it might turn out to be a total bust.

To understand the impact of emojis on your own audience, I suggest running a few A/B tests. The only difference between version A and version B? One, single emoji. Learn what your audience engages with as the results file in. Was it a raging success or did it let you down?

This article was originally published on the Red Branch Media blog by Anna Naumann.