The Emoji Zeitgeist: Do emojis have a place in professional communication? 🤷🏽♀️
Emojis: What do they say about you and your company?
Based on symbols in Japanese comics, emojis have become effective ways of expressing emotion through digital communication. Considering all that human beings have already invented – the walking sleeping bag, the shoe umbrella, and, of course, the motorised ice-cream cone – it’s slightly disappointing that we haven’t been able to come up with some incomprehensible algorithm that transmits body language through the ether… But until then , there’s always ☹ and ☺.
You’d be hard pushed to find a person who has never used an emoji. Since their incorporation into Unicode in 2010, there are now almost 3,000 of them in circulation. From fifteen variations of love hearts (whole, beating, broken - to name a few), twenty four clock faces depicting an arbitrary array of times, five suspiciously similar post boxes, to every possible murder weapon Miss Scarlett could have used to slay Colonel Mustard, there is, without doubt, an emoji for everyone.
It’s one thing texting your friend to let them know that you can’t go for that 🍺 tonight because your 🐕 has just been 🤮, but what happens when emojis pop up in professional communications?
Are emojis appropriate, and more importantly, does using them affect people’s perception of you and your company?
Nowadays, most work forces are dominated by Millennials and the older half of Generation Z. The average age of Facebook employees is 28, while a start-up CEO is unlikely to be any older than 40. In short, the professional arena is becoming younger, more tech savvy and less restricted by traditional social norms and expectations. It’s hardly surprising then that emojis have been found creeping around in marketing collateral, social media campaigns and work-related e-mails.
For some, emojis are simply an extension of language – a linguistic add-on, much like the keyboard on your phone. They’re not just symbols, but the symbol of our time. In fact, one British University regarded “Emoji as the world’s fastest growing language”, and a recent study conducted by a global social media agency revealed that brands which included them in subject lines saw a 50% increase in email opens.
Emojis are in many ways a progressive tool, transcending not only language, but cultural barriers. Using emojis in your marketing and communications could go a long way in giving your brand the character and personality required to achieve international recognition. In other words, emojis have the power to humanise your brand. It would therefore be foolish to disregard them entirely from professional communication. But that isn’t to say there aren’t limitations on when and how they should be used.
The emoji-using rulebook is without doubt one of the trickiest to navigate. Opinions on the subject differ greatly. So, to make things a little easier, we’ve devised a ‘one-stop tip list’ to help you decide if your emoji trigger finger is a little too itchy, or just right.
THE ONLY EMOJI GUIDE YOU’LL EVER NEED:
✋🏼Don't overdo it. Using emojis too often could annoy others and muddle your message.
🤓Familiarise yourself with emojis. If you’re going to use one, make sure you know what it means!
👨🏻⚖️Judge the situation. Remember: Emojis and serious issues don’t mix.
👀Know your audience. Consider your company's corporate culture and your relationship with those you’re emoji-communicating with.
📝When in doubt, use words. If you aren't 100% sure about using an emoji, don’t. Focus on words instead.
