Use This Ridiculously Easy Tweak to Get More Attention and Clicks on Social Media Posts

Emojis have exploded in popularity as smartphones and other mobile devices have become cheap and ubiquitous.

Chances are, you've started seeing them in tweets, in Facebook posts, and even in Reddit comments.

For those of us over 25, this can seem like one of those things “kids these days” are doing. Younger people, especially teens and college-age young adults, tend to be the biggest emoji users.

But recently, rigorous psychological studies on the phenomenon of emojis have begun to uncover the underlying reasons why they're so powerful.

A study from the University of Missouri-St. Louis found that looking at an emoji was gratifying, in a way that reading a word in text was not.

This makes sense, considering how quickly humans process visual images as opposed to text.

They also found that emojis went a long way toward mitigating negative messages. People perceive them as positive by default.

With over 1600 emojis currently available, you can really get creative with emojis in your social media posts.

In a recent article, AdEspresso explains how emoji marketing works, and gives a couple of great examples where brands used emojis to make their messaging more impactful.

Why and how emoji marketing works

If you’re not using emojis yourself, it might seem like a distant world of millennials.

However, you’d be surprised to learn about all the psychological studies examining the effect emojis have on us.

A study by the University of Missouri-St. Louis explored the effects of using emojis in a socio-economic vs. task-oriented setting. They discovered that looking at an emoji is far more gratifying that reading a word from the Oxford Dictionary.

The Florida Institute of Technology also researched the use of emoticons in business-related emails.

Here are the two email variations they tested:

Image source

The study found that when paired with emojis negative messages have a less negative effect on readers.

People perceive emojis as a positive way to communicate.

Maybe that’s part of the reason why emojis have grown so wildly popular. Now, 1,620 emojis are supported in iOS 9.1.

Facebook marketing example #1: AdEspresso

Let’s have a look at AdEspresso’s usage of emojis in the main copy of their Facebook post:

[image source: AdEspresso]
That’s beneficial in a couple of ways:

Emojis help to bring life to the otherwise lengthy ad copy

Colorful icons help to catch people’s attention

The red question marks specifically arise curiosity

Emojis help brands to showcase more personality with little effort

Facebook marketing example #2: Buffer

Here’s another example by Buffer. This time also, the emojis have been placed in the main ad copy.

However, the emojis have been used as a replacement for bullet points, helping to better deliver the message and value.

[image source: AdEspresso]
Buffer is also using emojis when writing replies to their fans’ comments.

[image source: AdEspresso]
That’s an easy way to give the message more depth and personality (and build an even larger social media fan base!)

Facebook marketing example #3: Clanbeat

What do you think – would you rather click on Clanbeat’s post with the know-no-evil monkeys or a plain Facebook post with no emojis?

My vote definitely goes to the version with emojis – the post is a lot more fun and engaging than it would be without the emojis.

[image source: AdEspresso]
As you can see, a masterful use of emojis in your Facebook ads (and posts) can increase the engagement and eventually, lead to additional sales.

But how can you get started with using emojis in Facebook ads and what’s the best place for hunting down all the cool emojis?

We’ve got you covered!