Emojis are everywhere these days. They’re so widely used that it makes sense for brands to get involved, too.
An eye-watering 92% of the world’s online population uses emojis in everyday communication. This has led to the rise of emoji marketing – strategically using smileys, icons, and symbols in brand messaging to show a bit of personality.
In many cases, successful emoji marketing campaigns feel a little more human and relatable. Emojis are basically just another form of language, and when someone is speaking the same language as you, you're more likely to understand their message.
In this blog, we’ll explore emoji marketing strategies and show you some real-world examples of emojis in action. We’ll also highlight the pitfalls to avoid as you learn the art of emoji marketing.
By the end, you’ll know how to integrate emojis into social media posts, email marketing, and even B2B content in a natural and on-brand way.
In this blog:
Why emojis matter in marketing
Throwing in the occasional emoji comes with all sorts of benefits. Perhaps the biggest is that it makes your brand come across as more human and relatable because normal people use them in text speech.
Using emojis on social media can also lead to significantly higher engagement. Research has shown that posts with emojis see significantly more interaction: in one study, Instagram posts using emojis saw 48% more engagement than those without.
And while you can use emojis in social media posts, you can also use them to great effect in email marketing messages and other forms of digital marketing. An email marketing study found that adding an emoji to subject lines can raise open rates by up to 29% and click-through rates by 28%.
Emojis are often helpful for conveying tone or sentiment that might be otherwise hard to communicate. They're great for transcending language barriers, too. It can be a clever way to get your message across with fewer words, which is especially useful on platforms with character limits.
Best practices for emoji marketing
Like any marketing tactic, you should use emojis with thought and care. While peppering your posts with every cute symbol available is tempting, effective emoji marketing is all about planning.
Keep it relevant and on-brand
Use emojis that reinforce your message or brand identity, not random symbols.
The emojis you choose should have a clear connection to your content. You should develop a shortlist of “approved” emojis that match your tone and share it with your team to ensure consistency.
Sports teams often do this. Social media managers are asked to use specific emoji colors that reflect the team’s colors in their messaging. A little planning prevents off-brand or confusing emoji use.
Less is more: Don’t overdo it
One of the cardinal rules of emoji marketing is to use them sparingly and purposefully.
Overloading a message with a long string of emoji icons can look messy and unprofessional. It might even annoy or confuse your audience. A good guideline is to limit yourself to between one and three emojis per message (depending on length) and not in every single post or sentence.
Think of emojis as seasoning – a little can enhance the flavor, but too much ruins the dish.
Understand emoji meanings (and avoid misinterpretations)
Emojis, like words, can have multiple interpretations. Misinterpreting emoji meanings can be an embarrassing misstep.
Before you make a post or create a push notification, double-check that you understand the meaning behind each emoji and that it conveys your intended meaning, and nothing unintended. This is especially important across different cultures and age groups.
For example, the 🙏 emoji is often used to mean “thank you” or “please” in North America, but some might interpret it as “praying” or other meanings. A 👍 might be a positive sign to most, but younger Gen Z audiences sometimes view it as passive-aggressive or condescending in tone.
And, of course, certain innocent-looking food or object emojis (like 🍆 or 🍑) have very well-known double meanings – they’re generally best avoided in branded content unless you’re using them intentionally.
Resources like Emojipedia can get you up to speed if you’re unsure.
Mind the platform and context
You'll probably need to adjust your emoji use depending on where you're posting. What flies in your Facebook posts might need adjustment on other platforms, especially for B2B companies on LinkedIn. Similarly, you might only use one emoji in an email subject line to draw attention, whereas an Instagram Story could feature stickers or multiple emojis.
Always consider the context: a serious announcement (eg, a press release or crisis communication) probably warrants zero emojis, while a lighthearted social post can handle a few.
Ensure the emoji doesn’t undermine your message. As a rule, match the tone of your content and the expectations of the channel.
Test across devices (emojis may look different)
Here’s something that people often forget: emojis have different appearances across different devices and operating systems.
The emoji you choose might suggest a different tone depending on the brand of cell phone you are using. The core emoji will be the same, but each platform has its own artwork, and in some cases, that can change the impression.
Here’s a classic example: the grinning 😀 emoji looked more like a grimace on some Android versions, which actually reversed the intended emotion.
When in doubt, do a quick cross-device check or ask teammates on different phones to screenshot how the post appears. This extra step helps avoid any unintended miscommunication caused by an emoji showing up oddly on another platform.
Combine text and emojis for clarity
Emojis work best alongside clear text, not in place of it.
Don’t make your audience decode a string of symbols to understand what you’re saying. A good rule is to lead with text, then follow or accent with an emoji. For example, a LinkedIn post might say, “Great results in Q3 for our team,” followed by a 🎉 at the end.
Remember that screen readers (for visually impaired users) will read out emoji descriptions, so a message that is just "🎉🚀👏" could be an accessibility nightmare (it might read as “party popper, rocket, clapping hands” with no context).
Be consistent and authentic
Finally, ensure your emoji use feels authentic to your brand.
If your brand typically has a serious, formal tone, suddenly throwing a barrage of goofy emojis at your audience will feel off. Instead, find an emoji style that matches your established voice. Maybe it’s using the occasional 👍 and ✔️ to highlight points if you’re a B2B company or using emojis only on X if you’re usually formal elsewhere.
Consistency matters – if one person on your social team loves emojis and another never uses them, your brand voice can become erratic.
Emoji marketing in action: Real-world examples
One of the best ways to understand emoji marketing is through the campaigns that have done it right.
Here is one successful emoji marketing example from Taco Bell.
Taco Bell’s 🌮 emoji engine and petition
Taco Bell famously campaigned for the creation of the taco emoji — and later made the most of it in their marketing.
Back in the mid-2010s, no taco emoji was available, which Taco Bell saw as a missed opportunity. The fast-food chain petitioned Unicode for a taco emoji and rallied fans behind the cause.
When the long-awaited emoji finally arrived, Taco Bell launched an interactive on X (formerly Twitter) campaign called the “Taco Emoji Engine.” They invited fans to engage with @TacoBell with the 🌮 emoji plus any other emoji. In return, Taco Bell’s account automatically replied with a custom image or GIF mashup of the taco plus the other object or expression. The brand created 600+ unique pieces of content for these emoji combinations – an enormous but highly personalized content blitz.
The result was an outpouring of social media engagement, as users tried different emoji combos to see the funny responses. Taco Bell successfully celebrated the new emoji they helped bring into existence, boosting their social reach and highlighting their fun brand personality.
Actionable tips for mastering emoji usage
Knowing which emojis to use is one thing, but there’s also the practical side of actually using them effectively in your marketing process. Here are some hands-on tips to become an emoji master.
Conquering the emoji keyboard
If you create content on desktop, memorizing how to quickly pull up the emoji keyboard will help a lot. On Windows, press “Win” + “.” (period) to open the emoji picker menu. On Mac, press “Control” + “Command” + “Spacebar” to bring up the emoji panel.
This way, you can insert emojis on any platform without having to copy-paste from a website. Tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and others have built-in emoji menus triggered by shortcuts (often “:” then typing the name).
Get familiar with the emoji picker in your social media management software. For example, Brandwatch Social Media Management includes an emoji library in its post composer, so you can easily search and add the perfect icon while scheduling content.
Tailor the emoji use to your campaigns
Not every campaign needs emojis, and that’s okay.
Identify where emojis can add value in marketing. Fun social campaigns, audience engagement posts, and celebratory announcements are ripe for emoji use. More serious campaigns (like thought leadership content or detailed product specs) might use little to no emojis.
Match marketing emojis to campaign goals. For example, if you’re running a youth-oriented campaign on Instagram, you might develop a consistent emoji theme (say, always using 🔥 and 🤘 to build a vibe). But for a professional webinar series, you might only use 🎓 once in a while to denote “learning.”
Create an emoji strategy as part of your content plan: decide in advance which campaigns or content pillars get the emoji treatment and which remain emoji-free or minimal.
Be cautious with branded or custom emojis
X and other platforms sometimes allow custom-branded emojis, like when a hashtag triggers a special icon. For example, Coca-Cola’s #ShareACoke had a custom Coke bottle emoji.
These are usually part of paid campaigns and can be powerful for brand recognition. If you have the budget and opportunity to create one, make sure it’s clear and resonates.
For most marketers, custom emojis aren’t an option, but it’s worth noting that using standard emojis to represent your brand can also work. Some brands effectively “claim” an emoji by using it consistently in their messaging (for example, a sports team might use its mascot animal emoji in every post). Just be sure that the emoji isn’t also associated with something else that could confuse your message.
Monitor audience reactions
Pay attention to how your audience responds to emojis.
Do posts with emojis consistently outperform those without in terms of likes, comments, or shares? If not, your audience might find the emojis cringe rather than cute.
A/B testing is useful here. You can try posting similar content with and without emojis (or with different emojis) and see which performs better.
Over time, this data will help refine your emoji strategy. You might find, for example, that your email subscribers respond great to emojis in subject lines, but LinkedIn followers prefer a more minimal approach or vice versa. Let the metrics guide you.
Make the most of analytics tools
Brandwatch is a great place to analyze social conversations and trends, and you can even use it to see which emojis are commonly used in mentions of your brand or industry.
On the posting side, diving into the analytics on Brandwatch Social Media Management can show if posts with certain emojis get more clicks or engagement.
Stay updated (but be selective)
Emoji culture evolves. New emojis get introduced, and the popularity of others can rise or fall over time.
As a marketer, it's important to be aware of emoji trends, especially those relevant to your audience demographics. However, don’t feel pressured to use an emoji just because it’s new or trending.
If a new emoji comes out that perfectly fits your brand (say a specific animal, food, or object that’s in your logo or campaigns), by all means, experiment with it – just make sure most users’ devices support it, or wait until it’s more universally available.
On the flip side, if a formerly popular emoji takes on a new meaning, for example, the skull 💀 emoji becoming slang for “I’m dead (from laughing),” be cautious using it if you’re not intending that meaning. Adapt, but do so thoughtfully.
Common emoji marketing pitfalls to avoid
We’ve covered best practices, but knowing what not to do is equally important.
Many brands have misused emojis in ways that backfired, serving as lessons in what not to do. If you want to make sure your emoji marketing doesn’t backfire, try to avoid these common pitfalls.
Using irrelevant emojis or taking them out of context
Randomly inserting a trending emoji with nothing to do with your message is a recipe for confusion.
Every emoji should have a purpose; if it doesn’t fit the context, leave it out.
Over-emojifying (emoji overload)
As discussed, too many emojis can overwhelm or irritate your audience. It might even make your content look like spam.
Overdoing it also risks diluting your actual message. If you ever find yourself adding emoji after emoji, pause and reconsider – you might be trying too hard.
Remember this statistic: 59% of 18–34-year-olds feel companies are “trying too hard” when they overuse emojis in ads. Don’t be that company.
It's also worth noting that emoji overload is now a common giveaway that someone has been using AI. Tools like ChatGPT often produce copy with lots of emojis as a way to make their content feel more human, but too many can have the opposite effect, and start to feel robotic.
Audiences soon spot if you’ve used AI to write your content, while Google takes a dim view of these types of pieces, too.
Using emojis to cover for poor copy
Emojis enhance good content; they can’t rescue bad content.
Don’t rely on a smiley to make a dull or unclear message suddenly engaging. Your text, offer, or story should be compelling on its own. Emojis are the icing, not the cake.
Not updating emoji usage over time
Language evolves, and that includes the language of emojis.
If you set an emoji policy and never revisit it, you might end up using symbols that have fallen out of favor or missing out on new ones that are more relevant.
For example, a few years ago, the 😂 (tears of joy) was the go-to laughter emoji, but Gen Z on TikTok started using 💀 (skull) to signify “dying of laughter.” If your brand targets Gen Z, you might adopt the 💀 in a lighthearted way.
Time to include emojis in your marketing strategy
Once you understand the power of emojis, it's clear why they have earned their place in the modern marketer’s toolkit. These small symbols can make your brand communications more engaging and relatable when used thoughtfully.
The key is to start small and avoid overdoing it. Try integrating a few well-chosen emojis in your next campaign, monitor the results, and keep going if it works well.
Remember, great marketing is about speaking the same language as your audience. Today, emojis are very much a part of that language. Mastering their use can help your brand speak in a more conversational, human way that cuts through the noise.
