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  One of the underused models of the market is emoji marketing, which is within the social media spectrum. Emojis can be defined as pictorial images that express thoughts, personalities, and emotions without words. Emojis and GIFs are really fascinating ways to express thoughts and have become very popular since the advent of social media. 92% of the world’s online community uses 10 billion emojis daily. Emojis can reflect the side of purchasers and customers. This is why brands cannot neglect the use of emojis in the creation of content and other storytelling activities, including infographics.
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However, emojis must be used strategically and not haphazardly in a way that might be intrusive. Intrusive emoji marketing can be a major turnoff for some audiences. Nevertheless, emoji marketing is a trend brands cannot neglect as Africa is believed to be the highest user of emojis in the world. Therefore, in this article, brand marketers, salesmen and content creators will learn how to unlock the secrets of emoji marketing.

  • Read the Seasons Before Applying Emoji Marketing

One of the biggest lessons brands must learn about employing emoji marketing is the fickleness of human emotions. Because human emotions are not fixated, brands must know when their customers are either happy or sad. For instance, studies have shown that happy emojis are frequently used on Fridays due to the expectations of work breaks, parties and the whole happy hour. Hence, brand managers must understand the mood of every season before applying emoji marketing. They can get this mood through thorough research. Also, studies have shown that the sad emoji is usually used on Sunday evenings. Therefore, sending the right emoji to an audience who is in the right frame of mind will create a higher possibility of purchase.
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  • Employ Emotional Intelligence In Emoji Marketing

This advice is particularly for salespeople and marketers. In order to achieve your desired result, you must employ the use of empathy and emotional intelligence to identify the emotional patterns of prospective clients, especially in business-to-business settings. Hence, salespeople and marketers can use the instrument of storytelling in identifying and triggering the emotions of prospective buyers. For instance, with storytelling, you can shape the emotions of your audience. Have you ever wondered how Bitcoin grew in a massive proportion? It was the use of GIFs, emojis, NFTs, avatars, and so on, that excited people to invest in Bitcoin trading. Therefore, since the use emojis and GIFs are commonly used among Millennials and Gen Zs to express their emotional state, brands can benefit a lot when they employ the emoji marketing model to reach out to this demography. However, the most important thing to learn in this is to segment your customers based on the level of emotional connection to brands. Profiling will help to understand purchase triggers and emotional states.

  • Use Emoji Marketing In Physical Outlets

Emoji marketing can be used in brick-and-mortar retail stores. Studies have shown that impulse buying takes place in brick-and-mortar stores. However, retailers must be careful not to create unpleasant experiences for customers such as overcrowding their outlets. To placate a situation where overcrowding may occur, retailers must provide pleasant touchpoints such as providing pleasant scents and good music in order to keep customers comfortable.
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Therefore blending entertainment with instant purchasing by using live commerce platforms can create an experience that can make customers buy. For instance, having a cloud TV where emoji marketing is aired can attract shoppers and change their emotions in the instant, leading to purchases.

Closing Remarks

In an age where text messaging is becoming a huge task for a generation of buyers who prefer to communicate or chat through emojis and GIFs, brands must learn to incorporate emojis and GIFs in their marketing strategies. For instance, some GIFs, which are culled from Nollywood movies, have continued to remain exciting for many social media users, especially on Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp. Famous celebrities’ images have been employed by individuals and brands in communicating emotions. The trend of emoji marketing can no longer be overlooked by brands but must be employed by a generation of people who wants to be entertained while shopping. Featured Image Source: Cresthub
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This article was first published on 3rd December 2022

nnaemeka-emmanuel

Nnaemeka is an academic scholar with a degree in History and International Studies from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is also a creative writer, content creator, storyteller, and social analyst.

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