Emojis.
We all know them.
We all love them. (Maybe.)
But are they actually useful? Are they helpful beyond being cute?
What is it that they actually do, and how do we use that to our advantage?
For the travel industry specifically, Emojis can help us tell stories, especially on social media: where using an emoji in a Tweet can increase engagement by 25% compared to messages without emoji, and using an emoji in your Facebook posts can increase shares by 33% and interactions with your post by 57%. (WordStream/ Sprout Social)
When you take a look at these emojis together, you instantly know as the audience what is in store for you, or what you can expect when heading on a vacation.
- 🎢🎠🎟️
- 🌲🍄⛺
- 🩳🏖️☀️
But how does this tie back into reaching your audience?
It’s all about branding!
Emojis give you the opportunity to strengthen your brand, and to paint a picture of who you are and the tone of your company.
They will add extra meaning to your copy and can bring out emotions in your followers.
The bottom line is that using emojis, in a way, makes you more relatable to your customer.
This is ALWAYS a good thing, especially in the travel industry where there is such a high level of competition. However, if you are in a professional setting, how do you know if they are appropriate to use?
On websites like LinkedIn, using emojis can actually help you stand out from the crowd and draw the attention of people who may have originally overlooked your post.
Now if you’re still not convinced, here are some stats courtesy of Contentworks:
- 10 billion emojis are sent every day and 95% of internet users have used emojis
- On Twitter, 18.69% of tweets contained at least an emoji at the beginning of 2020, but by June of 2020, this rose to above 20% for the remainder of the year.
Here are some important Do’s and Don’ts for beginner Emoji users and social media marketing:
DO: Pay attention to alternate meanings of emojis. The internet is a crazy place. Sometimes an emoji that looks harmless may not be so innocent on other parts of the internet. Use your discretion.
DON’T: Use emojis for key messages where the message may get confused.
DO: See what interacts well with your audience, and keep checking every few weeks.
DON’T: Let emojis replace an interesting caption. You still have to let your audience know what is going on, but use them to embellish your already great copy.
DO: Ask your audience to interact with your post using emojis! For example: Leave a ❤️ in the comments down below if you agree….
In conclusion, if used correctly, emojis can help unlock your true creative marketing potential! Don’t be afraid to try new things, and make sure you are always doing your research.
We’ll see you on the web! 😉💻
