Pandemic has increased the use of emails. Remote work has made email as the most suitable and favored platform for taking care of official matters. This is a golden opportunity for brands to use email marketing to increase their click through rates, traffic on your website and generate lead.
However, not all of us are savvy with e-mails. Many of us might still use it for sending short messages. Or think, that people hardly open emails from unidentified senders fearing spam, or virus. This is true to a certain extent. It is up to you to change people’s perception about your email, and lure them into opening your emails.
You can use attractive email subject lines to appeal to the receivers. You can also make use of a rather eccentric feature: emojis. Emojis are one of the most fun elements of emails, and other written communication channels. Thanks to technology, you have an emoji for almost everything now, such as happy, sad, disgust, hunger, fever, surprise, embarrassment, cookie, okra, salad bowl, and what not.
Here are a few things you can do to use emojis creatively to boost open rates, and CRM:
Checking Emojis across Various Devices
- Always Make Sure your Meaning is Clearly Delivered
- Your Tone Should be Positive, Always!
- Use Emojis to Create Brand Identity
- You have to think about Accessibility and Diversity
- You Cannot Replace Words with Emojis
- You Should Avoid Using them every where
- If you are not Sure, then Don’t Use Emojis
Checking Emojis Across Various Devices
Everyone uses different operating systems for accessing their emails. You need to keep in mind that emojis in every social media platform and device has a different set of emojis. Some identical, while others totally opposite which can play a central role in affecting the meaning of your email and the user experience.
Always check the emojis you are using on different devices. Sometimes, a system might not even have an emoji for the one you have chosen, and the receiver might be getting blank squares instead. It will only add discomfort and confusion to their experience.
Always Make Sure Your Meaning Is Clearly Delivered
After you have checked the emojis you need to make sure how it translates across various age groups, backgrounds and culture. A fist bump might be interpreted as a face punch by the mature generation. Similarly, millennials generation uses the crying laughter emoji to show laughter, while Generation Z uses the skull emoji.
The best way to understand the emoji and its meaning is do a bit of search on social media. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram can easily give you an insight on the preference of each group.
Your Tone Should Be Positive, Always!
No one likes a sad face. Apply it in your email emojis as well. Use upbeat and celebratory emojis, unless you run a funeral house. Make sure you articulate positive vibes through the emojis. Even if you do own a funeral house, you can use emojis such as simple smiley face, showcasing you understand their feelings.
Use Emojis To Create Brand Identity
Create a set of guidelines for emojis. You can select a few emojis that you want to associate with your brand. This way, every time people use that emoji, even in their private conversation, they will think of you, resulting in lead generation and referrals.
For instance, if you own a pizza joint, you can use the pizza emoji with a drink in your emails. Afterwards, the guideline will help keep everyone in the company on the same page. Your social media manager, and customer care service provider should know to use that emoji during their conversations and social media posts.
You Have To Think About Accessibility And Diversity
Your email should not be person, ethnicity etc. specific. Everyone should be able to enjoy your digital content. Place the emojis in the end of the text to avoid confusion.
For diversity purposes you can use neutral emojis. Instead of using a light skinned, blonde emoji to represent a male, you can use a blonde haired, brown individual. Trust me, a little effort can go a long way.
You Cannot Replace Words With Emojis
One of the practices I absolutely despise is people using emojis instead of words even in casual conversations. Don’t do that! You need to be professional. Use words to describe your brand in the email. And use emojis where necessary.
But at no cost should you replace words.
You Should Avoid Using Them Every Where
Sure you can use them in most cases, but you cannot use them in every email. Understand the tone you are trying to convey. If it is an obituary, or a charity related email, or even you sending people love during tough times (such as a calamity), using any kind of emoji in the email would come off as unprofessional and immature.
If You Are Not Sure, Then Don’t Use Emojis
Okay so you see your competitor is using emojis in their emails, and social media platforms, it you are still not sure if your brand is ready yet. Then the solution is simple. Do not use emojis if you are not sure. Don’t do it just because everyone is doing it. Like how our mum always used to say growing up, you wouldn’t jump into a well if everyone was doing it, right? Same logic applies here as well.
Conclusion
Delivering email newsletter on a regular basis to attract opens and clicks can be overwhelming. It is your key for building brand personality and developing relationships with your customers. You can use emojis to change how people perceive your brand without having to write verbose and unnecessarily detailed emails. You just need to know where, when and how to use them to ensure more opens, and click rates. Your message should be clear, and do not bombard the readers with emojis.
