Language never stops evolving, but the old adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” remains as relevant as ever. Whether you’re texting with friends, posting on social media, or even communicating with colleagues, the following is true: a single image often conveys a complex thought better than a series of winding, hard-to-follow sentences. Hence, the rise of emojis.
Emojis have become something of a common language in the 21st century, particularly as younger generations enter the workforce and as social media becomes an increasingly essential business tool. No matter where you’re from or what language you speak, emojis are universal.
Though emojis have been around since the late ‘90s, they didn’t really gain a foothold in the internet’s consciousness until 2012 with the release of Apple’s iOS 6 and the emoji keyboard. From there, the images have jumped from “casual texting accessory” to a ubiquitous part of human communication. With over 3,000 emojis (and counting) and the ability to convey a near-infinite number of ideas at your fingertips, it’s not hard to see why they’ve become more than just a novelty texting feature.
If you’re not convinced, here are a few helpful facts about the emoji’s impact and why you should think about using them in your branding materials and internal communications alike.
Emojis: An Overview
No matter which corner of the internet you’re looking at, emojis are used far and wide—and they’ll only become more prevalent as more are introduced into the internet’s lexicon.
- As of March 2019, there were 3,019 emojis in the Unicode Standard. That includes 1,606 emojis of people and around 150 varieties of the smiley face (source).
- 92% of the online population uses emojis daily (source).
- Over 10 billion emojis are sent each day (source).
- Emojis are processed by the brain as non-verbal information, which means we interpret them as emotional communications. This gives the emoji the power to enhance the message of whatever we’re trying to convey (source).
- MIT Scientists discovered that people can process images in as little as 13 milliseconds, making emojis a useful tool for communicating emotional information at just a glance (source).
- 70% of people believe the images express their feelings better than words (source).
- A study found that using an emoji in casual conversation introduces feelings of enjoyment, happiness, and solidifies an overall positive impression of the interaction (source).
- Another study analyzed 31 million tweets and half a million Facebook posts to find that emojis were a common factor in predicting social status and influence (source).
- The most popular emojis in 2019 were 😂 and ❤️ (source).
- Over 900 million emojis are sent every day through Facebook Messenger alone (source).
Emojis In a Business Setting
There’s no argument that emojis play a major role in our day-to-day conversations. But do they have a place in business communication? Here’s where opinions are more split.
More traditional, or rather more “old-school” professionals may be more hesitant to embrace emojis in a business setting. For the younger generation, it only seems natural to reap the benefits of emojis in a business setting the same as they do in casual conversations. If you belong to the former rather than the latter, maybe these statistics will sway your mind.
- 78% of people say that using emojis makes you more likeable (source).
- 63% think positive emoji usage increases your credibility (source).
- Almost half—46%—of young adults aged 18-29 believe it’s acceptable to use emojis in emails and other communications (source).
- A survey of 1,000 American workers revealed that 76% of survey participants use emojis in their professional communications (source).
- 72% of that demographic reported some initial hesitation around using them (source).
- That may have something to do with the fact that 39% of senior managers believe it’s unprofessional (source).
- On the other hand, 15% of older professionals think emojis improve workplace communications (source).
- 50% of young professionals see an emoji-using coworker as more fun, approachable, and kinder than colleagues who use text only (source).
- Negative feedback coupled with a positive emoji can lessen the blow of the bad news (source).
Emoji Statistics for Branding Purposes
We’ve seen countless brands, particularly in the B2C space, make emojis a major part of their branding strategies. As with your internal communications, smartly deploying an emoji or two in customer-facing materials can do wonders for your brand’s image and relatability. Just make sure you don’t go overboard!
- Tweets featuring emojis increase engagement by 25.4% (source).
- Facebook posts experience an impressive 57% lift (source).
- Instagram content with emojis see an engagement increase of 48% (source).
- Comments and shares increase by about 33% when emojis are present (source).
- An emoji in the subject line of an email increases the open rate by 29% and the click through rate by 28% (source).
- 64% say they open an email because of its subject line; more than half of emoji users say they’re more likely to look at an email from a brand that uses emojis in the headline (source). (Use their favorite emoji and that number jumps up to 64%!)
- Push notifications with emojis are opened 85% more than those without (source).
- Be careful with your emoji usage—59% of consumers aged 18-34 believe companies are overdoing it (source).
- 64% of emoji users are willing to purchase things like food, movie tickets, and clothing using emojis (source).
- In a survey, 51% of respondents said they’re likely to engage with a brand’s posts if it includes emojis (source).
Final Thoughts on Emoji Statistics for Businesses
With the right approach, emojis are a wildly successful addition to our everyday, casual methods of online interaction. Emojis are here to stay, and businesses will continue to adopt these handy pictograms as time goes on.
In terms of branding, they’re an easy way to give your brand its own character and voice. Remember: your customers are not all old-school traditionalists with no appetite for modern branding tactics. By now, the generation that grew up with emojis has already entered the workforce and likely make up a wide percentage of your audience. So, start
The world’s most popular and profitable brands have already proven the success of using emojis in their branding efforts. Isn’t that reason enough to hop on the bandwagon? 😜
For more information about making the most of your B2B marketing efforts, contact ZoomInfo today. We are the leading contact database solution and we have the tools you need to reach your target audience faster!