Emojis have been a popular source of communication between people for a good while now it is not a new concept. But recently it has become important for marketers to understand just how widespread and popular emoji’s have become. It is our duty as marketers to understand and begin to benefit from this new way of communication
Every platform you look at Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are filled with emojis all communicating different messages whether it’s a crying laughing face for something funny, a thumbs up or a simple love heart there is meaning. According to a Business Insider Intelligence report characters now make up 40 percent on networks.
That 40 percent holds relevant information for marketers to understand. Emojis are a growing trend and are an important communication tool for the younger generation. So what does this have to do with marketing? Well brands are now beginning to take advantage of these icons and going as far as to build campaigns with emojis being the main creative element. For 4th of July last year, Bud light created a powerful visual using emojis to create an American flag. The post was retweeted more than 150,00 times.
Brands are beginning to engage with consumers on a whole new level by introducing branded emojis. This allows brands to engage with consumers on a whole new level. A powerful marketing strategy, one which excites us to watch develop. Brands that have already created their own emojis include Burger King and Disney. Burger King created their own chicken fries emoji keyboard as part of a wider promotion for this menu iteam. Disney teamed up with twitter to create Star Wars emojis to promote the film. It is all rumored that Dominos pizza will now be allowing US customers to order their pizza from Twitter using the pizza emoji.
Recently users celebrated world emoji day, which encouraged users to tweet their favorite 50 emoji’s supported by #worldemojiday along with other popular social media sites Instragram and Facebook. Emoji marketing is just beginning, especially with apple releasing a new emoji keyboard. We are looking forward to see what brands decided to do next.
