Times have changed, and more and more people want to get a point across as quickly as possible. Enter the emoji. No longer just a silly little icon that kids use, the emoji has become a staple in everyday communication for all ages. Many people believe that using them is too unprofessional, but here are a few reasons why emojis may be just the thing to build your community.
- Popularity – In 2015 the Oxford dictionary chose an emoji for their word-of-the-year. They didn’t choose the word “emoji”, they chose an actual emoji icon. This shows just how mainstream emoji have become. It is time to stop thinking of the little characters as unprofessional, and start realizing that they are actually becoming a part of our language.
- Connection – Familiarity comes with an emoji. Using a smiley face in your communication makes the recipient feel like you are actually smiling. It may seem silly, but emotion, apology, sincerity, and other important sentiment can be portrayed to your community in ways that words simply can’t. Words can be interpreted, but a smiley face just means happy.
- Usability – everything from advertising to data gathering can involve emoji. Huge companies, such as Coca-Cola and Disney, have paid millions to have custom emoji created for their ads. Twitter has emoji-based targeting. So if someone tweets out an emoji of a hamburger, then fast food ads will pop up for them. You can use this an infinite number of ways to connect to your personal community. Anything from giveaways to simply creating a more humanistic experience.
So, don’t shy away from the happy face. Don’t worry about replacing the word pizza with a small picture of a slice. Emoji may be the single simplest way to connect with your network.
