Do you notice that emojis are gaining in strength lately? Emails, websites, social media posts... You can see them almost everywhere! Is this the new trend? Do we have to use them too?

🌈Survey

Do you think it's a good idea to use emoji in your content (blog post, newsletter, press release, etc.)?

Yes, why not? That's the trend apparently! If a lot of people are doing it, it would probably mean that it is an effective strategy.

No, it gives an "unprofessional" effect since we often use these emojis in text messages and posts on social networks. Besides, in a professional environment, we don't necessarily need to show our "emotions".

No idea, I'm waiting for your answer.

When I did my research, I have to admit that I was a little confused. There are many different opinions.

Contents

1. Content with emojis.

2. Purpose of your content and emojis.

3. Beware of emojis!

4. How to use emojis the right way.

📝Emojis in content.

NNgroup did a study on this, and it's from that study that I'm going to answer you. However, it focused on email subject lines. That's okay, I think the results are valid for other types of content.

Therefore, according to NNgroupthe presence of emojis in the subject line of an email does not look good. According to a sample of respondents, emojis make an email look less professional. As some of us think, emojis are often associated with texting, social networking... (which is not wrong).

Also, these same people were asked to choose between 2 different emails:

• object with emojis
• object without emojis

Most people who have been there have not hesitated to opt for the type without emojis.

I want to make it clear that I'm talking aboutemail subject lines here, not the content of the email in question . In fact, there is nothing wrong with using emojis in emails. I myself include them in the newsletters I send to my subscribers. I've also started to insert some emojis in the content (articles and guides) on the blog (but I'll come back to that later).

So it's the emojis in the subject line that are the problem. If we thought that it could attract users and that the opening rate of emailing campaigns could increase, it is not necessarily the case.

Furthermore, we see later in the study that there is a contradiction. They provided these same people with a mixed and balanced mailbox of different emails (half were emails with emojis in the subject line while the other half were not). The majority of people were randomly asked to open an email with an emoji in the subject line.

In this case, adding emojis in the subject line of an email is a good idea. It will definitely increase the open rate of your campaign.

I am aware that you may be confused. I myself, when I read this study, didn't know what to think. In what context exactly are emojis in content a good idea, and in what context is it not?

To make it clearer, let's go to the second step: what is your goal?

🎯The purpose of your content (email / blog post...), emojis

This topic comes up a lot these days: the goal. No matter what you do, you need to have specific goals, and that goes for writing the subject line of an email as well as the subject line of a blog post (with or without emoji).

Your goal depends on your target. Who are you addressing? Who are they? What do they like? What do they do? And so on. The list is not exhaustive. It's up to you to find the right questions, always according to your target.

Why is knowing your target audience important in deciding whether or not to include emojis in your content? Simply because there are 3 types of people and you have to try to determine in which category your target is. You will then be able to better understand them, their behavior...

Here are the 3 types of Internet users:

• Those who favor visuals;
• Those who are more interested in the meaning ;
• And the others.

👀The visual

These people decide to open an email based on what they see (emojis in the subject line, color, capitalization, etc.). If they think an email is attractive enough, they click on it without any problem.

Similarly for a blog post or other type of content, once users land on a page, they have 5 seconds to decide whether or not to continue reading. This decision is based on several factors, but one of the most important: the visual.

📝The meaning

Here, the contents take precedence over the visual. No matter how the object is decorated or how the contents are structured, it is the texts in question that are of interest, i.e. the message to be transmitted.

🤷♂️Et other types of people...

There are those who give very little importance to all the mails or contents that do not come from their favorite brand, their acquaintance... And this, no matter how much care is given to the visual and the message.

To conclude, you must first identify who you are addressing. Let's say you are planning to create a new community of web designers. In this case, you are targeting webdesigners, that is to say people who are creative and who love visuals. A mail subject with emoji will certainly please them!

And to make it even clearer for you, let's go back to what was said in the first paragraph: when are emojis likely to increase the open rate of an emailing campaign? when are they not a good idea?

To answer: it depends on your target; if they love to dwell on visual details, it's in your best interest to put emojis in the subject line of your emails (otherwise, it's not worth it, because emojis are not necessarily perceived positively by others).

❗️ Beware of emojis.

So there is no rule that prohibits the use of emojis in content. You can use them, but not as many as you want. There's a balance to be respected. The fact that your target is focused on the visual aspect of things does not mean that he is crazy about emojis. On the contrary, they have a certain taste that you should also respect.

The reason we use emojis is for their bright colors. It already attracts attention. A single emoji is more than enough (especially for the subject of an email, it's a different matter for blog content, guides, etc.).

Apart from the issue of taste, abusing emojis in content is also seen as a kind of manipulation. Some users will know that you put an emoji in the object to get their attention. For 1 emoji, it's okay. For 2 emojis, it could also pass. But for several emojis (for a single line of object or for a small paragraph), it becomes heavy. And nobody likes to feel manipulated.

Putting several emojis in the subject line of an email will have the opposite effect of what was intended; the email will scare away subscribers!

Also, the more emojis you put in, the more blurred the meaning of the content itself becomes. That's not what you want, is it?

Now that you know what to avoid at all costs, what about good practices when using emojis.

☝How to insert emojis into content?

Some people don't like emojis, some people love them. Apparently, they are not "professional". So before you put them on your website or in your email, make sure the emojis are appropriate for your domain.

Are you targeting webdesigners? I think they will love emojis, just like you and me! Are you targeting lawyers? I don't think they will like emojis as much as we do.

Of course, if you put emojis, it's in order to attract attention, but it only works for a certain category of people.

In addition to their visual appeal, emojis should also add real value to your content (or better yet, emotional value). So, when using emojis, ask yourself if they are relevant, if they should really be placed there, and not elsewhere.

Now let's assume that you're going to put emojis in the subject line of your email. OK, it's allowed, but not every time you send an email anyway! At least, that's what I got from one of the studies conducted by NNgroup: people are more likely to open emails with emojis. What if everyone started putting emojis in the subject line of their email? It wouldn't do any good.

Imagine your mailbox full of emojis. You might have to open the emails without emojis. So how do you know when to send emojis and when not to? I don't know. Nobody knows. You have to rely on chance and alternate emails with and without emojis.

In the same way, for blog articles, you should not abuse emojis in the content, in each paragraph, in each line break... There is no ready-made rule about the frequency of insertion of emojis. As long as the whole is visually appealing, that's the main thing.

Conclusion

Is using emojis in content a good or bad idea? Well, it depends. If you use it wrongly (a lot of emojis, emojis placed anywhere, emojis inserted in the wrong place...), it's not worth it!

On the contrary, with a little strategy, I'm sure they will work. Also, don't forget that people are different. If some are attracted by contents with emojis, others find them "unprofessional". Hence the importance of analyzing several parameters (including your target and its expectations) before deciding to use emojis or not. The fact that other entrepreneurs use emojis in their business and are successful doesn't necessarily mean that you should too.

What do you think?

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