Emojis: A Fun Way to Communicate with Your Customers
Written by:
Rut Martínez
We’ve all heard the phrase, "A picture is worth a thousand words”. Now, the phrase is being used to justify the use of emojis. Admittedly, they can save a lot of characters. Plus, text rarely conveys tone, moods, or attitudes. Emojis can do this and make a message more personal.
Emojis can add energy and nuance to our monochrome text-based conversations. They can also help you get to the heart of a conversation much faster by transcending words and infusing messages with personality and emotion.
Emojis are common in instant messaging, social media, and other types of chat. Although they were initially seen as inappropriate for professional communications, emojis are becoming increasingly valuable as digital communication evolves. They are now seen as a dynamic way of conveying a message.
Here’s some advice on how to use emojis effectively in your communications.
4 Tips for Using Emojis with Your Customers
1.Identify the Type of Customer and How They Use Emojis
Emojis are used as a form of expression, and expressions are presented differently depending on the culture. For example, companies in Indonesia use the “prayer hand” emoji more than any other emoji, while companies in the U.S. rarely use emojis. The U.S. also uses closed-mouth smiley faces, while Eastern countries use a face where the smile is visible.
The same can be said for different generations. Every generation uses emojis in some form, whether on WhatsApp or other social networks. Most people are familiar with the concept, but different generations and types of people use them differently.
Because of these differences, it’s important to pay attention to how emojis are used among your customers and always try to put this into practice.
2. Understand the Context
Once you have identified your target customer, you need to understand the context of the communication. For example, if you are communicating good news, an event, or a discount on social media, you should use fun, eye-catching emojis that convey good humor and attract attention. This doesn’t mean that you can only use emojis on social media. They can also be used in chat — just be sure to assess the subject, the reason, and the customer.
Conversely, if a customer is making a complaint or expressing a personal problem, you should avoid emojis. Not only could the emoji be misinterpreted, but the conversation doesn’t require it — it’s a serious conversation where traditional language is more appropriate.
3. Convey Tone without Words
According to Albert Mehrabian’s 55-38-7 rule, 55% of our communication is body language, 38% is tone of voice, and only 7% is the words used.
This is where emojis come in.
Emojis are great for conveying a tone that may be lacking in a digital conversation. Think about it: with text, we only have words. This means we lose other contexts we usually use to get information about someone’s intention. In the absence of this context, our brains fill in the blanks. Emojis are a fantastic way to add this context because they can set the tone using digital body language.
Imagine your contact center is having problems communicating via chat. Two messages, practically the same and with only a slight change, may appear on the customer’s screen:
- We’re sorry, but chat is currently unavailable ☹. We are working to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.
- We’re sorry, but chat is currently unavailable. We are working to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.
The second statement seems more harsh and distant. It’s not inherently negative; it’s just a factual statement. However, it doesn’t provide customers context or more information about the problem. Does your company care that the chat function isn’t working?
The first statement provides additional information. It suggests that the company knows this will make the customer unhappy, and that makes them unhappy. It recognizes this as an unpleasant situation and conveys that the company wants to resolve it. This information is missing from the second statement, which makes customers feel alone and frustrated.
4. Adapt to the Platform
As we mentioned earlier, you should be aware of the type of communication used on different platforms. We all know that communicating on Twitter is different from communicating via email. Right?
The more informal the platform, the more appropriate emojis are. Live chat and social media are very informal because they are quick ways for customers to contact the brand. This also comes from our messaging culture, which is dominant in the digital age. The tone of chat and social media is light and informal, which makes them perfect for emojis.
Emojis can also be highly effective in chatbots since they are perceived as an effective form of customer self-service. Using emojis only creates noise in a more direct and effective type of communication, which is not the case with chatbots.
Emojis are less effective in customer service emails. They are great for real-time communication but can fail over longer periods. Email is also considered more formal than other communication platforms, so using them may be less appropriate.
However, this only applies to customer service emails; emojis can be very effective in marketing emails. A study found that customers are 95% more likely to open an email with emojis in the subject line. This may be because marketing emails are less formal.
Conclusion
Throughout this article, we’ve highlighted when you should and should not use emojis.
In short, use them sparingly because too much can make them annoying and cause them to lose their original meaning. Be sure to adapt them to the customer and subject. Don’t use emojis to replace words. Instead, use them to support your arguments and content. Above all, have fun with them!
If you want to increase your communication channels to use emojis, you should consider a contact center platform. GoContact is an omnichannel platform that allows you to include all channels and social media in your communications. Book a demo today.
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