28 Mar 4 Dos and Don’ts for Using Emojis in Email

While the rise of texting and social media may make it seem like email isn’t as relevant as it once was, this simply isn’t true. And while you should be focusing your email campaigns on engagement, friendliness and a customer-focused strategy, it’s important not to come across as too casual with your clients. One mistake many businesses make is misusing emojis in emails. While a well-placed heart or winking face can be fun, the wrong emojis — or just too many — can turn off clients and wreck your brand image. Here’s a basic overview of when you should and shouldn’t use emojis in email.

Do Attract Attention to Promotional Emails

Most email subject lines are straightforward, boring text, which means adding a colorful emoji to the beginning of yours can immediately catch the reader’s eye. In fact, subject lines with emojis had a 66 percent higher unique open rate, according to Mobile Marketer. You can take this one step further by capitalizing on season specific emojis, such as a shamrock or Christmas tree, to notify clients of seasonal promotions.

Don’t Use Emojis that Conflict with Your Brand

Emojis are a language all their own, and it can be difficult to know exactly what tone your emoji is going to come across to the reader. However, in general, you want to stick with what works with your overall branding message. If you are a serious, formal brand, you may want to skip emojis altogether or use the basic ones like a smiling face or star. If you have a more casual or younger-image brand, you can usually get away with more, but you’ll still want to make sure that you leave emojis out of any serious emails.

Do Keep Transaction Emails Professional

Transactional communication, such as when you’re sending a sales receipt or checking in with a client about their account, should always be a professional as possible. Hearts and cute faces don’t inspire confidence when it comes to money, so it’s best to leave the emojis out of this type of correspondence.

Don’t Overdo It

While emojis may be fun to use, they are also a category where it’s easy to go overboard quickly. Too many emojis, such as using five smiling faces in a row or using an emoji for every possible word, comes across as spammy and distracting and likely won’t leave a positive impression on the reader.