Who knew even using emojis would need a guide someday?! If a picture can speak a thousand words, it’s no wonder that emoji mishaps can be devastating in this emotionally fragile digital world. Like how sending a thumbs-up instead of a heart emoji during early dating days can crush a budding relationship. Or worse, how sending an emoji from an iPhone to someone using an android phone can turn the dancing girls emoji into women wearing playboy bunny ears (Google’s Woman with Bunny Ears). 

Let’s zoom into the digital marketing industry. Wrong emoji usage can hinder the quality of your content no matter how well you write it. Emojis represent human reactions, so using the correct emoji to complement what you say is critical. 

Cause I’m sure you would not like to be the Minister for Foreign Affairs who was given backlash for using the “pouting face” or “red angry face” emoji when describing the Russian President and had to give an official interview to clarify the tweet. [Awkward]

So, how does one really know when to use emojis, what emojis to not use, and when not to use emojis to avoid emoji mishaps?

Here’s a quick, not-so-kinky guide to use the digital world’s emoji-lingo correctly without getting egg(plant) all over your face.

Rule #1: Emojis are accepted professionally. Sometimes. 

According to one survey, 50% of young professionals see an ‘emoji-using’ coworker as more fun, approachable, and kinder than colleagues who use text only. But sometimes emojis can lead to assumptions. When you’re emailing, DMing, or texting a colleague, you are allowed to use emojis at the end of a written message / sentence to provide colour, humour, or emotion. But don’t try to soften a blow or snarky comment with a smiley face emoji, cause that will just be ‘not so nice’ of you! How can Smileys go wrong, you ask? Try reading this without taking offence: 

You need this guide if you ask that question 🙂

Steer clear of using emojis with your potential clients or customers, unless they use it first. Biggest tip of all: Never Use An Emoji If You Don’t Know What It Means!

Rule #2: Always use Emojipedia when in doubt 

Yes, there’s an emoji website that’s the closest thing to an emoji dictionary so you can never go wrong with emojis when you’re writing content or texting. This website is a really handy tool where you can look up emoji names, get a sneak peak at new emojis that may appear on your phone keypad in the future, and even see what your favourite / most used emojis look like on other devices. Just be careful of what they mean before you use it. Looking up the emoji ‘Person Bowing’ (🙇) will finally explain what that emoji actually means but that doesn’t mean the person you sent it to will understand it with the same meaning. Want a better example? Try finding the official ‘Face With Look Of Triumph’ emoji to have an idea what the steam flying out of that person’s nose really meant. After all, if you had to search for it, what’s the chance your pals will know what it means? 

Rule #3: Emojis also need to follow proper sentence structure 

Emojis can act like punctuations, providing cues to comprehend the words before them. I like to think of emojis as the next generation exclamation mark. That’s because they typically come at the end of a sentence or thought. But what if you want to use 2 or more emojis to tell an entire story? Then, emojis need to respect linear time and action as to which comes first. For instance, in sets of 2-3 emojis, the stance comes before actions or any other signals. 

Emojisaurus has a few examples of such emoji sets. (Yup, there’s a website that translates phrases into emojis)

Rule #4: Beware the Eggplant and the Peach

In the 21st century emoji-lingo, if an emoji looks like a particular part of the human body, that’s exactly what it is. Period. All around the globe, the eggplant emoji has nothing to do with hot vegan recipes and the peach emoji doesn’t even look like a fruit. Instead, these are arguably the most sexually suggestive of all the emojis. Just like Jimmy Kimmel said, “eggplant emojis are the modern equivalent of spelling BOOBS out upside down on your calculator.” In any sort of digital marketing content or professional setting chat box, it’s best to avoid the eggplant and peach all together (unless you are actually being sexually suggestive). This list includes all emojis that have a double entendre such as the taco, hotdog, joystick, cherries, and splashing sweat emojis, to name a few. (Unless you’re sexting, in that case emojis scream louder than words 😁)

“Emoji marketing” is rapidly evolving in the digital marketing world. New marketing strategies and recent statistics imply that Instagram content with emojis see an engagement increase of 48%. Also, comments and shares increase by about 33% when emojis are present. But before you begin using emojis in your digital marketing strategy, figure out if it complements the tone of your brand. It’s necessary to know your target audience, and predict how they’ll respond to emoji marketing. 

But always remember this last tip – never overuse emojis in your published content. Your audience knows when you’re trying too hard.