A McDonald’s emoji-based billboard ad in Bristol, England, marred by vandalism. Photo via Twiter
Emoji have taken the marketing world by storm. Or to use another analogy, a tsunami of emoji has hit digital marketing.
Emoji offer several important marketing advantages. They can pass through ad-blocking software. Ad-adverse millennials love them. Because they are visual, they are perfect for visual-centric platforms like Snapchat and Instagram. They are ideal for international audiences. They are frequently shared, so spread brands’ messages well.
Everyone Loves Emoji
Emoji are the new language of social media. According to a study by Emogi, 92% of the online population now use emoji. Brands have followed the example of smartphone-loving millennials. Spotify created an emoji of the Beatles’ Abbey Road cover for people who used the hashtag #BeatlesSpotify on Twitter, notes The New York Times. Companies such as Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Anheuser-Busch InBev and Starbucks have paid Twitter over $1 million each for ads with emoji. Facebook recently joined the trend with its Facebook reactions that add six new emoji to its traditional like button.
Some brands have tripped over emoji. A Chevrolet news release written entirely with emoji perplexed many people. Twitter users criticized Goldman Sachs when it used emoji in a tweet on its report about millennials. While not prompted by a marketing error, a vandal added a vomiting emoji to a McDonald’s emoji-based billboard ad in Bristol, England.
Don’t Embrace Emoji without Data
Some observers caution brands against moving too quickly to ride the emoji tidal wave without careful research and planning. “Data needs to underpin everything brands are doing today,” Nelson Freitas, chief strategy officer at Wunderman, told Digiday. “You can’t focus on trends blindly, it’s important to understand your demographic and then target them through means specifically tailored to them — whether it is emoji or anything else.”
Gartner Research Director Jennifer Polk explained three ways emoji are changing social media marketing and how marketers can avoid pitfalls.
More robust social analytics. Emoji reveal more information about how audiences feel about content. Brands may eventually obtain richer data and insight from social listening, monitoring and analytics tools. By better analyzing data in their dashboards, brands might be able to better understand how consumer reactions correlate to campaign results.
More visual storytelling. Marketers can incorporate emoji into marketing to tell stories. Make sure they are relevant to your brand and audience, you understand what they mean and how they appear in different devices. Also, take care with potential cross-cultural complications.
Branding potential. A few major brands are creating their own branded emoji. However, creating a character won’t make it part of the emoji keyboard that’s on most smartphones. You will need your own app or a partnership with a social media-messaging app.
Don’t develop an emoji strategy, Polk adds. Observe how your customers use emoji and how other brands incorporate them in their marketing.
“If your customers are using emoji, don’t just jump on the bandwagon,” she advises. “Figure out how you can naturally and appropriately include emoji in content and conversation and gain insight from those interactions.”
Bottom Line: Riding the trend by incorporating emoji into marketing messages may seem an appealing and winning strategy, but it could also produce a deluge of annoyed or puzzled customers. Comparing emoji to the latest shiny object, experts caution against marketing with emoji without first analyzing data about your audience and pondering how the tactic will match your brand image and overall strategy.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
