How Emojis are Shaping Conversations
On World Emoji Day, it only makes sense to reflect on the impact of the icons that have come to dominate our lexicon. Today we look at new studies that delve into the cultural clout of the emoji - specifically how they are shaping the way we express ourselves, as well as the impact they can have on consumer marketing.
In their inaugural Emoji Trend Report, Adobe surveyed 1,000 American consumers to uncover the most used emojis and primary motivations behind their usage. The Top 3 favourite emojis were found to be 😂 (#1), ❤️ (#2), 😘 (#3), a finding that aligned with the majority of respondents wishes to lighten the mood of conversations (93%) and to show support to people (91%).
Communicating across language barriers (94%) and the ability to instantly convey thoughts and ideas (90%) were also cited as the major benefits of using emojis. Using emojis ✍also has seems to have a bit of a positive halo effect 😇 - sending an emoji makes a person seem friendlier and more approachable, according to the majority of survey respondents (81%).
For more evidence that emojis have become a critical way of communicating, 65% of emoji users said they were “more comfortable” using emojis to express their emotions as opposed to talking to someone on the phone ☎ — this percentage increased to a staggering 83% among Gen Z respondents 👀.
When discussing the marketing potential of emojis, it’s worth noting that over half (58%) of emoji users are more likely to open an email 📨 from a brand that used an emoji in the subject line.
Surprisingly, a majority (64%) of surveyed emoji users are willing to make a purchase by sending an emoji – these users are most likely to purchase meals 🌮 (19%), movie tickets 🎟 (15%) and clothing 👗👔👟 (13%).
A report by Socialbakers also looked at 300 popular brand pages on Instagram to determine which emojis were being used most. Overall, 😍 was the top emoji used more than 2,000 times by international brands, followed by ❤️, 📸 and ✨. Emoji usage varied across industries - 😍 was heavily spread across retail, telecom and FMCG; 📸 in travel, industrial and sporting goods; while 😉 proved to be popular among finance, healthcare and conglomerates.
With an ever-expanding array of emoticons on the way (Apple just announced 230 new ones) and an outspoken desire for more inclusive emojis (78% of Adobe survey respondents) and customisable emojis (73%), it looks like there will be plenty of discussion around emojis for many World Emoji Days to come 🙌.
Credit: Adobe, Marketing Interactive, Adweek, Socialbakers, TIME