Emojis are a great way to add personality to your written content. If used in subject lines, they can help you communicate your message more effectively and stand out in a crowded inbox.
In this article, we’ll give you some tips on how to use emojis in your subject lines. We’ll also show you some examples of good and bad uses of emojis so you know what to avoid.
Before we do that, let’s first talk about the benefits of using them.
Benefits of using emojis in email subject lines
Emojis are a popular way to communicate online, and email subject lines are no exception. While some may see them as silly or unprofessional, there are actually some benefits to using emojis in email subject lines.
Here are some of the benefits:
- Emojis can grab attention and make email subject lines more clickable. They are known to increase the open rate by 29% and the click-through rate by 28%. This is especially helpful if you’re trying to promote a new product or sale.
- Convey the tone of your email. A smiley face emoji can show that your email is friendly and positive, while a winking emoji can add a touch of humor.
- Say more with fewer words. This is useful if you want to ensure that your subject line fits well on mobile devices.
- Indicate the type of email you’re sending. For example,a clock emoji for flash sales or a Christmas tree emoji for holiday emails.
- Connect with your audience and brand your newsletters. If you frequently use particular emojis in your emails, your readers will start to associate you with them.
Now that we know the various benefits, let’s look at how to use them in subject lines of our email campaigns.
How to use emojis in email subject lines?
It is very easy to add emojis regardless of the operating system you’re using. They’re so important in communication that every major operating system includes a method of adding them to text.
There are many email marketing tools available, but for this tutorial, we’ll show you how to add emojis to a subject line of a newsletter in Newsletter Glue.
If you still don’t know what Newsletter Glue is, it’s a WordPress newsletter plugin that connects with various ESPs and allows you to send newsletters directly from the WordPress editor.
After you’ve finished writing your email content in the WordPress editor, scroll down to the Newsletter Glue metabox and fill in the subject line field with your newsletter subject.
Then bring up the emoji picker:
Windows: Press Windows logo key + . (period) or Windows logo key + ; (semi-colon) on your keyboard to open the panel. Switch to the emoji tab and select an appropriate emoji from the list.
Mac: Press a combination of Ctrl + Cmd + space keys on your keyboard to open the emoji panel. Then, in the search box, describe the emoji or scroll through the available emojis and categories.
If you’re unable to use the above mentioned shortcuts, simply go to a website such as Emojipedia and copy and paste the emoji that you want.
How to choose the right emoji for your subject line
An emoji in the subject line can make or break your email marketing campaigns. A wrong emoji can come across as unprofessional, or even offensive. It is important to consider the context of your message and your audience before selecting an emoji.
Below are some of the tips to help you choose the right emoji.
- Make sure the emoji is relevant to the subject line or the email content. Don’t just use an emoji because it looks nice – make sure it adds meaning to the subject line.
- Use simple, common emojis that everyone will understand. Don’t use obscure or rare emojis that not everyone will be familiar with.
- Avoid using too many emojis in your subject line. A few well-placed emojis can add personality and flair to your email, but using too many can be overwhelming and make your email seem unprofessional. It’s best to use one or two at maximum.
- Make sure the emoji is visible on all devices. New emojis keep coming every year which some older devices or email clients may not be able to display, so test it using tools such as Litmus before sending it to your entire email list.
- Pay attention to the tone of the emoji. Some emojis can convey a different tone than you intended, so choose carefully.
Now that you know how to pick the right emoji for your email subject line, let’s look at what emojis are safe to use.
Which emojis are safe to use in email subject lines?
Different people use different devices to check their emails, which can cause emojis to appear differently on each platform. For example, the below image shows how a smiling emoji conveying the same emotion can look different on Apple, Google, and Windows devices. You can check the Unicode website to see how each emoji will look on different devices and which devices support them.
Another thing to consider is that some older versions of Windows and MacOS, don’t support most of the new emojis. However, you don’t have to worry about this if most of your subscribers use mobile devices to check emails, as Android and iOS have full support for emojis.
The newer emojis also come with various skin tones that most email clients don’t yet support. To avoid your emojis displaying wrongly, stick to the default yellow skin color.
With that said, let’s take a look at the most commonly used emojis in email newsletters.
Popular email subject line emojis
Although there are over 3,664 emojis available, not all of them are used in subject lines. Below are some of the popular emojis that are commonly used in newsletters across all industries.
⏰: the clock emoji
This is a great way to convey a sense of urgency, or to let recipients know that an email contains time-sensitive information.
🔥: the fire emoji
The fire emoji is often used to indicate hot or trending topics. It can also be used to show excitement, passion, or to convey a message of “this is lit!”
🎁: the gift emoji
It’s a popular choice for holiday emails or those that include bonuses, free perks, or gifts.
✅: the green tick emoji
This is a popular choice for email subject lines because it conveys a sense of positive progress, completion or verification. It’s often used in marketing emails to show something is done.
📢: the speaker emoji
The speaker emoji is used to emphasize that the email contains important information or an announcement that needs to be read attentively.
🚀: the rocket emoji
The rocket emoji is popularly used to celebrate the launch of a new product or to indicate that it has made significant growth recently. It also gives off the vibe of being ambitious and motivated.
These are some of the most popular emojis that email marketers use in their newsletters.
Example of good and bad uses of emojis in email subject line
Good use of emoji
Super has a lightning “S” in their logo that they use in the subject line to make people associate them with the lightning emoji. Over time, when people see the emoji repeatedly, they can recognize it in a crowded inbox.
Bad use of emoji
Although PingPong has used relevant emojis, using more than two emojis makes it seem as if they’re trying too hard to catch the attention. It’s important to find a balance as too many emojis may come across as unprofessional.
Wrapping up: Using emojis in subject line
Emojis are a great way to add personality to your email subject lines and stand out in a crowded inbox.
When used sparingly, they can be a helpful way to communicate tone or indicate that your email is time-sensitive. This article teaches you everything you need to know about using them correctly in subject lines.
