Can You Increase Social Media User Engagement by Using Emojis?

Emoji are everywhere today - from the basic emoticons used by nerds in pre-Internet text applications, they have managed to spread into every aspect of our modern lives. Over 6 billion emoji are used every day. Millennials are increasingly comfortable using them in more formal settings as well. We can already see ads that use emoji to boost sales, and defying all logic and rationality, there are even movies made entirely about emoji.

This widespread presence and influence of emoji require a solid understanding by digital professionals. As search engine marketing specialists, it is our duty to explore ways to increase user engagement on the social media profiles we manage and attempt to boost conversion rates. In this article, we will take a look at the effectiveness of emoji, how to use them in social media campaigns, as well as the potential pitfalls you should avoid in your SEM efforts.

Emoji can increase engagement and conversion rates

The data is undeniable - the proper use of emoji increases engagement, click-through rates, and conversion rates. This has been proven in numerous studies and applies to all major social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

This is because emoji, when not overused, make posts more accessible, do not make the company come across as pretentious, and help break up monotonous blocks of text that strain the eyes.

However, it is worth remembering that although there are 2,666 emoji on the official Unicode list, not all of them are created equal. Some are completely off the table due to contextual reasons and double meanings. Some perform significantly better in certain areas than others. The only advice we can give you is to act based on hands-on online experience - make sure you collect data and measure engagement to see which solutions deliver good results.

Emoji are not a substitute for other types of content

Emoji can be used, but they can also be overused. One thing must be made clear: emoji will not replace variety - even with increased engagement, they are less captivating than memes, infographics, or videos.

So, while we believe that using a moderate amount of emoji in text posts is a good idea, you cannot forget that you need a diverse mix of content types on your timeline to reach different segments of your audience.

The effectiveness of emoji depends on the platform, audience demographics, and industry

To make things easier in SEM activities, all social media platforms are sometimes bundled together into a single strategy, but such an approach never works - and the same goes for using emoji.

The effectiveness of emoji varies depending on the chosen platform: their use is associated with a 48% increase in engagement. They boost likes on Facebook by about 57%, and in the case of Tweets, there is a 25% increase just when emoji are used.

Demographics and the industry you work with also affect how emoji should be used. Millennials are known for their love of emoji, but among Boomers, this practice is not as widespread. It is worth being aware of these differences.