Emoji usage on social media platforms has increased in recent months. According to research carried out in Harvard, one in every four tweets includes an emoji. Last year alone, over 50% of social media users used emojis in communicating online. Aside from the trendy nature of emojis, they have been known to offer many benefits, which include better engagement and branding.
LinkedIn posts with emojis are known to get more than 55% likes and 40% more comments than those without emojis. Before you start getting excited when using emojis on LinkedIn and other social media platforms, you need to learn to use them appropriately. This post contains the right tips to help you properly use emojis on social media.
What are emojis?
An emoji is an avenue to communicate your emotions in the shortest way possible. Since the introduction of emails in the 1980s, people have been finding a way to pass out their messages concisely. You can now add an emoji to your linkedin profile and other social media channels easily.
Moreover, since 2011, emojis have become a trendy way to interact with people online. As of today, there are more than 3,753 emojis available on social media. There are daily additions of emojis depending on the social media platform you use.
The appropriate way to use an emoji
When adding emojis on social media, here are the correct ways to use these characters:
Use the right emojis that match your business
Your brand and business are likely the most important things to you. Try to identify an emoji that matches your brand and that your audience will love. If you like music or are into any artistic business, you will need emojis and emoticons that show a playful tune. There are several musical emojis that are ideal for your business.
Always put vital information before emojis
For professional reasons, ensure you put all vital information before inserting any emoji. By doing this, your audience will read you better and will be able to understand your message clearly.
Choose the right position for your emojis
This is similar to the above, you should only put emojis at the end or beginning of a sentence. The position of an emoji is important because it depicts the importance and the meaning of the message. While some social media experts suggest putting emojis at the beginning of a message, others suggest it be at the end of a word.
Display your brand personality
When using an emoji on LinkedIn, for example, ensure you always inject some sense of humor on all your social media channel. You can use them more in trends that are relevant to your business. This is an avenue to show the audience your humane side.
Use emojis to buttress your feelings
Sometimes, when discussing on social media, text messages aren’t enough to get your point across. Your message needs some spice to emphasize how you feel. Using LinkedIn emoji is an ideal way to pass your message. This is best, especially when trying to grow your social media account and build a huge brand.
Use them as a real-time engagement
Sometimes, words aren’t just enough to engage people in real-time. Also, people are tired of typing and need an alternative way to pass their message across. Emojis are a good way to do so without much effort online.
Appealing to your followers
Emojis can be used appropriately to capture your audience and increase your followers. There is a special appeal to using emojis on social platforms. You will use them to specify your thoughts and satisfactorily pass a message.
Represent the diversity among people
There are many skin tones present in LinkedIn emojis. Irrespective of your race and gender, there are always emojis to show where they are from. Even if it’s black, Asian, or Caucasian, you will find one to show where you’re from.
Ways not to use emojis on social media
Here are some don’t when using emojis online:
Avoid using multiple emojis in a sentence
The aim of communication is the ability to comprehend one another. However, when you use these emojis in a row, the meaning might be lost. You shouldn’t confuse your readers and make the message inaccessible.
Don’t use emojis when discussing serious topics
Everything has a right time and you should always pay attention to them. When discussing business or serious discourse, avoid using emojis. Although some use emojis with colleagues they are familiar with, it’s suggested to keep business discussions serious.
Don’t force using emojis
Not every discussion on social media needs an emoji. When adding emojis to LinkedIn conversations, ask yourself how they benefit the conversation. If you can’t come out with one, you are probably forcing it. Never force using emojis in all social media posts. They should be used when they have a specific meaning.
Don’t follow the crowd
Be careful about using emojis just because your friends are using them. Also, avoid using them because they are popular among the crowd. Use an emoji because you see the need to use it, and not because the crowd is doing so.
Don’t use emojis considered violent or crossing the line
Social media is a regulated platform that has set rules. Avoid using foul or violent emojis when on social media channels. This might cause you to be banned or removed from these platforms. Decorum is important when using emojis and you just need to ensure you don’t abuse their usage.
Emojis are a popular way of communication on social media and they come with several merits. You have to learn the right way to use these emojis to avoid passing the wrong message.