Creative Ways to Use Emojis in Social Media Marketing
Published on 23.07.2025 by Chizoba T
In the past, communication was primarily text-based. Today, it has evolved to include various elements, such as memes, GIFs, and emojis. These elements can be essential tools for adding context and enabling brands to convey humor and emotions. They are an indispensable element to add to your WhatsApp marketing strategy.
When used in your social media campaigns, they can help create a less official tone and make your brand less sales-oriented. If you're wondering how to utilize emojis in your marketing, this guide is for you.
What is an Emoji?
An emoji is a small image that is inserted into text messages to convey a particular emotion or symbol of an object. Initially, emojis consisted of smiley faces that showed different emotions. Today, there are hundreds of emojis representing different items and objects, including food, animals, technology, and flags.
Many social media users use emojis as a way of brightening up their messages. However, these convey different emotions, implications, and reactions. While some emojis are obvious, such as the thumbs up and the smiley face, others convey more complex and nuanced messages.
Why Use Emojis?
In 2025, emojis have become so big that it is hard to ignore them. They now appear in various forms of digital marketing, including WhatsApp, Instagram, and email marketing. Studies indicate that 92% of all internet users use emojis. You can, therefore, leverage the popularity of emojis on social media to create a unique message, make your brand stand out, and appear more relatable and human.
Studies show that over 900 million emojis are sent every day on Facebook Messenger. These can be a great way to humanize your brand, drive significant engagement for social media marketers, and future-proof your brand.
According to one study, Facebook posts that use emojis tend to receive 57% more likes. They also get 33% more shares and comments than those without. Similarly, when tweets have emojis, their engagement increases by 25%.
With these kinds of results, it's hard to ignore adding emojis to your marketing campaigns. However, to achieve the desired results, there are a few key rules to keep in mind.
How to Use Emojis for Social Media Marketing
Here are three steps you need to follow when using emojis for your social media marketing.
Consider if Emojis are Right for Your Brand
There are specific industries where emojis are more effective than others. For instance, if you are in entertainment, fashion, music, or sports, emojis will likely work for your brand. If you are offering a serious service, such as funeral services, emojis may not work. Someone searching for a funeral service will find it inappropriate when they are met with the crying emojis.
Similarly, an investment bank may not be the best place to use emojis. Before you start using emojis, take a moment to consider whether they will work well for your brand.
Avoid Overusing Emojis
If you've found that emojis are suitable for your brand marketing, you'll need to avoid overusing them. According to one study, 59% of young adults aged 18 to 34 say they find brands to be overwhelming them with emojis.
If your social media marketing campaign includes too many emojis, it may come across as irritating, forced, or confusing. At times, busy consumers may not be in a position to appreciate some subtle satire and may be shocked by how cluttered and unclear your message is.
Understand the Emoji's Meaning
Unless you understand the meaning of an emoji, there is no point in using it. Remember that emojis are a form of visual slang. When you use them without understanding their meaning and social context, you may appear out of touch, and the whole process may also seem inappropriate. A good rule of thumb is to start by looking up the meaning of an emoji on Google before using it if you are unsure of its meaning.
Let Emojis Complement Your Message, Not Confuse It
There is no doubt that emojis can add a fun and playful element to your message. You should remember that these aren't meant to be a replacement for the message. Therefore, avoid using keywords with emojis as this may end up obscuring the whole message.
Consider emojis a decorative element that can emphasize an idea, rather than a means of communication. They should help draw attention to the post by highlighting important ideas or images instead of replacing it.
Select the Right Emojis for Your Brand
Choose between one and five emojis that are related to your brand, and ensure you consistently use them in your posts. Doing so will provide you with a consistent brand voice without using obscure emojis. This will also enable consumers to associate your brand with the emojis each time they encounter them.
When you associate your current emojis with your brand, you will remain in the minds of your customers even when you're not actively marketing to them. An example of a brand that does this well is McDonald's. The fast food restaurant ran an ad to help them determine the emojis people associate with them.
They packaged their products in an emoji-like look and took images of them. This created the impression that their fries, burgers, and sodas had an iconic look, to the point that they influenced emojis. This is true because they have influenced fast food emojis and their audience understood the message.
Dominos also took the concept to the next level by allowing customers to use the pizza emoji to order pizza. This simplified the whole idea of ordering a pizza. On the other hand, instead of using the existing emojis, Taco Bell made its own emoji. Theft even created a petition to have it added to the official emoji list.
In Conclusion
Emojis marketing can add an element of playfulness to your social media campaign, helping take your brand to the next level. If you plan to use this marketing method, start by finding a few emojis that you think are relevant to your brand, and then create a distinct brand voice that incorporates emojis and text messages.
By using emojis to distinguish your brand, more customers will be able to remember it. Also, by following the tips above, you can capitalize on the branding opportunities and the high engagement brought by emojis. Therefore, consider if these elements are suitable for your brand and then start using them.