How to use emoji to post or chat with clients

Can I use emojis and emoticons in posts and business correspondence? How to use emoji for marketers? In what cases are they appropriate in correspondence with clients and in posts?

When communicating face to face, part of the emotional information is transmitted using intonation, gestures and facial expressions. In text format, such non-verbal signals cannot be used, but you can add emotional undertones to phrases and sentences in a message using emoji.

Emoji and emoticons in posts and business correspondence

Writers and philosophers have been thinking about how to make textual information friendly and emotional long before the invention of the Internet.

Back in 1969, the author of Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov, spoke about the need to use symbols in the text to depict a smile. Even then, he offered a side bracket for a text smile.

This idea was implemented in 1982 by American Carnegie Mellon University professor Scott Fahlman, who was the first to use the graphic smile symbol “:-)” in the text in order to distinguish joking messages from serious ones. He came up with this symbol in 10 minutes, and did not suspect then that it would become the main “business” of his life, and not serious scientific research.

But the breakthrough in embedding emotional symbols in texts came in the late 1990s, when Japanese designer Shigetaka Kurita created a digital language of pictures and symbols for email and websites called emoji (sometimes the word emoji is also used). Despite the phonetic similarity to the word “emotion”, emoji have nothing to do with them in terms of the meaning of the term. From the language of the Land of the Rising Sun, emoji can be translated as “a symbol in a picture.”

Initially, emoji were variations of an emoticon invented in 1963 by American artist Harvey Ball (yellow smiling, sunny face), and only then did thousands of other variations appear to express all sorts of feelings and emotional states. At first, emoji were used only in Japan, but after becoming part of Unicode, which includes characters from all written languages ​​of the world, they became available in other countries.

Already in 2006, Google Corporation introduced them into the search algorithm. But the global popularity of emoji was brought by Apple, which used them as an additional option in the iPhone in 2011.

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Now this set of symbols and pictures is available in all smartphones, mail services, social networks, instant messengers and chat programs. They have become such a part of communication that they have their own holiday – World Emoji Day, which is celebrated on July 17th.

There are even applications that allow you to insert these characters instead of missing words in the masterpieces of world poetry, and create your own emoji based on user photos. In addition, emoji images have begun to be used to decorate urban space (for example, they are used as an ornament on buildings in the Netherlands).

How to use emoji

There are thousands of positions in the emoji assortment that can express any human emotion. To some extent, these symbols and pictures have become a new international language, understood in almost all countries of the world.

The advantage of using emoji is the ability to make textual information informal, friendly and smiling, and to soften the tone where written phrases and sentences cannot be done.

According to psychologists, on a subconscious level, we perceive emoticons and their various emoji variations in the text as smiles, which causes us a response, a mirror reaction. Therefore, it is believed that smiling texts with emoji collect much more likes, reposts and comments on social networks than without them.

In addition, emojis allow you to use fewer words and save time, which is of no small importance when communicating in instant messengers.

Although, the most popular character in correspondence and in social networks is still not emoji, but a graphic smile symbol “:-)”, or “)”, or several brackets “)))”. Unlike emoji, this character is reflected in email services in the same way.

Emoji in correspondence with clients

It is clear that in personal correspondence with friends, acquaintances and relatives, as well as in personal social networks, the use of emoji is justified. But how relevant are these symbols and pictures in business correspondence with clients and in posts on social networks devoted to various aspects of the business?

Can emojis help with one of the main goals of branding – building trust with consumers?

There are serious types of business (financial sector, legal, medical, funeral services, etc.) in which the use of additional emotional symbols in correspondence with clients is unlikely to be appropriate.

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Although, some banks with a progressive reputation, such as Tinkoff, actively use emoji in surveys and promotions. But in general, representatives of serious businesses and state corporations do without such symbols, or allow themselves to use the graphic symbol of a smile “:)” in joyful cases.

Those who target an adult audience over 40-50 years old should also avoid such characters in correspondence with clients (you may not be understood). In letters with commercial offers, as well as in official text messages of company executives, it is also better to do without additional multi-colored faces.

Emojis will look much more appropriate in the context of the marketing activities of “cool”, informal youth brands, representatives of the event industry, entertainment and tourism. In these types of businesses, emojis are appropriate, although not at the first contact with clients and partners (it will look too familiar), and not in the case when you refuse them something.

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In many respects, in the issue of the relevance of using emoji in correspondence in “light” types of business, one should be guided by the client’s writing style. If the user sent a response letter with a smiling emoji, it means that he is set up for informal communication, and you can answer him with a text with a smiling bracket or some sunny face from among the most popular emoji (if you want to tell him something joyful and positive).

If the client, on the other hand, prefers a serious, business-like style of writing, then replies with emoji will only annoy him (he may think that you do not take him seriously).

Emoji for posts or correspondence with clients

Of course, in correspondence with clients, you should use only proven positive emojis (smiling faces, thumbs up, etc.), which do not have additional interpretations and inappropriate alternative associations, the meaning of which is clear even to those who are not familiar with the emoji language . It is better not to use emoji than to put pictures with an ambiguous meaning.

An overabundance of such characters in correspondence is not needed, 2-3 emoji in a letter will be enough. Emoji depicting romantic feelings and negative emotions are, of course, not appropriate in correspondence with clients.

It is unlikely that “business” emoji should replace words. It is better to put them at the end of sentences to emphasize emotional shades and a smiling mood. If you put them in the headline or in the middle of a phrase, the recipient may not understand the meaning of the message.

Emoji in correspondence as a language of written communication

When corresponding with foreign partners and clients, the use of emoji is also relevant, since it is an international language that is understandable without unnecessary words. Correctly placed understandable emoji in this case will allow not only to create an informal atmosphere, but also to use fewer foreign words.

In written communication with remote employees, the use of smiling, sunny faces and other emoji symbols is also appropriate. This will help bosses soften critical remarks, commanding tone, and make instructions less strict and formal. Surely, remote employees will perceive such messages much better than dry indications of shortcomings and errors.

Emoji for social media posts: emotional seasoning, not main content

If the target audience actively uses smiley faces and other emoji symbols, then you can adapt to them and also include something similar in posts on the company’s official social networks.

This is appropriate when announcing contests, communicating pleasant and joyful news. In particular, you can include some emoji (for example, a thumbs up and the opposite symbol) in voting in social networks for certain company proposals.

If your target audience is emoji-savvy, and you’re from the entertainment industry, you could also run a contest by asking your followers to describe certain events in their lives using only these symbols and pictures. Or make ordering available with just emoji, like Domino’s Pizza did on Twitter.

But if we are talking about long posts, then, as in correspondence with clients, emoji should not replace, but supplement textual information. Moreover, in some social networks, for example, VKontakte, it is not allowed to post posts if they use too many emojis.

Some companies are too fond of emoji, forgetting that not everyone likes it and not everyone understands it. The Russian language has enough words to express thoughts and emotions. For example, Yota, which actively uses emojis in advertising campaigns, one of them was held under the slogan “When emojis overflow”, once sent a press release consisting of emojis to the media.

It is unlikely that people have a lot of free time to decipher such opuses. It’s better to use emoji for marketing purposes as an emotional condiment rather than main content.

How to use emoji in correspondence and social networks

Of the thousands of emojis in customer communications, only frequently used characters are appropriate, otherwise you may not be understood or misunderstood.

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The most popular emojis include smiley faces, finger gestures, hearts, and fire. They should be used by marketers in written communication with customers (however, hearts will be inappropriate in this context). The remaining thousands of emoji are best left for correspondence with friends, acquaintances and relatives.

If you decide to use an unpopular emoji in correspondence and social networks, first check its meaning in the English-language encyclopedia of these characters Emojipedia . There you can also explore the hit parade of hundreds of the most popular emoji.

Emoji for marketing purposes

There are other ways to use emoji for marketing purposes. For example, you can create your own branded emoji (the use of emoji by commercial organizations in social networks, emails and instant messengers is legal, but for advertising purposes it is better to create your own), and even include them in the brand name. When used successfully, it will add personality and creativity to the brand.

Their own emojis are used by such famous brands as IKEA, Pepsi, Dove, Always, Burger King, Mentos, Durex and others. Mexican food company Taco Bell has even registered its own branded taco emoji on Emojipedia. You can also create an original domain using emoji, as Coca-Cola did for a promotion in Puerto Rico.

Of course, such examples of emoji marketing are relevant only in the “easy”, entertainment business areas. Serious brands with a reputation are still better off interacting with customers without yellow smiley faces, raised fingers and hearts.

Source: Exiterra.com Digital Agency