10 Yetis Insight Blog - Why emojis need to be part of your social media strategy

It wasn’t a surprise to hear that the UK’s fastest growing language is *drumroll please* ‘emoji’. Yes, that’s right, those lovely little faces, gestures and objects are officially classed as a language! Back in May, the BBC reported that it’s even evolving faster than ancient forms of communication, like hieroglyphics, based on its adoption rate. In fact, the word was added to the Oxford English Dictionary back in 2013, so perhaps they knew before we did that it was going to take on the world.

via GIPHY

But where do they come from? Derivative from the Japanese words ‘e’ (picture) and ‘moji’ (character), the colourful cartoons have been a major part of Japan’s smartphone culture since the late 90s. Starting as a cute software feature on local phones, emoji libraries are now pre-installed on multiple handsets worldwide. Just a note, this is the diluted description of emoji. It’s actually quite technical and involves an understanding of Unicode, which I’m not going into as it’s quite boring, but if you’re looking for a deeper understanding, click here.

Now I have to admit, I do love an emoji. Not just because, to refer to the old book of clichés, a picture paints a thousand words. And also not just because it helps you get round Twitter’s limited character count, which means us social media marketers can cram a lot more in, but because it’s actually becoming a pretty important life skill and cultural necessity.

TalkTalk Mobile found that a whopping 72% of 18-25 year olds said they found it easier to put their feelings across in emojis than in text. Expressing individuality has become an integral part of social media use. It’s important, not just for brands, to stand out amongst all the social noise; by using emojis individuals can express emotion and individuality all at once.

Another reason why the use of emoji may have become more prominent, particularly when you consider brands, is because it’s a universally understood language. So no matter what platform you use, or who you are talking to, you know that your content is going to resonate with a larger demographic as it surmounts language barriers.

In terms of what this means for brands, taking into account the universality of the pictorial language, the use of emoji can help to amplify a message. If you are sharing content that can impact a wider audience, you are onto a winner - especially if you are targeting ‘Generation Y’. Instagram recently reported that 48% of the text-based content used on social media channels is emojis, so it’s safe to say that their use is only going to continue and those who are not including emojis in their communications are going to fall behind.

However, as an avid user of emojis, the main gripe I have is that you can never find the emoji you want. Despite having a growing bank of them, I always find myself facing a real emoji struggle. So even though this language can be deemed as universal, it still can sometimes be off the mark when it comes to individual experiences.

As technology evolves, we’re constantly being given more opportunities to get visual with our communications. A few things stand out here for me, and its not just because I often reply to people with gifs or memes rather than writing out a boring email or tweet.

Firstly, the use of emojis in URLs. Yes, it was a good day when I discovered Linkmoji. It basically does what it says on the tin. Like any link shortener site, you paste in the URL you want to convert and boom an emoji-packed URL is served up! Great for a bit of fun and just another way of sharing your otherwise boring links.

Brands are even including emojis in their traditional marketing efforts. McDonald’s has stepped up its game and has included emojis in its new TV advert to be aired in France, featuring a city full of people with animated 3D emoji heads. Now the use of emojis isn’t new to the fast food chain, having previously used them in its billboard campaigns. But it’s a great example of how brands and marketers are recognising them as a key form of communication today.

However, brands aren’t the only ones tapping into the power of emojis. Hillary Clinton recently asked millennials to share three emojis to express their feelings on student loan debt, which had a mixed reception, but still bagged 2,828 Retweets and 2,198 Favourites.

Others are using the popularity of our little friends to get themselves noticed and grow their own businesses. Image-maker/art director/graphic designer Lisa Helen Nelson, has created probably my favorite website of all time. She has reinvented emojis as ‘real-life’ versions as a means to showcase her creativity. Even the curser itself turns into a different emoji as you navigate through the site. This one is my fave!

In true Blue Peter style, we even jumped on the 'emoji' bandwagon - here's some we made earlier!

However, there are some purists out there that would argue that emojis are in fact ruining our language and ability to communicate. In a conversation with The New York Times, British journo Maria McErlane said, “If anybody on Facebook sends me a message with a little smiley-frowny face…I will de-friend them…I find it lazy. Are your words not enough?”

So, why are we really that obsessed with these little emojis? To put it simply, they’re fun! You can use them to talk about anything; you can even ditch text completely and form sentences using them. But most of all, they’re seriously charming and make you feel like you’re part of a global community. So, who’s up for a conversation full of hearts, poop and high fives? Find me on Twitter if you fancy it!