Does an Emoji in Your Subject Line Impact Email Open Rates?
We’ve shared some details on how some marketers incorporate emojis into their marketing communications. In celebration of World Emoji Day – yes… there’s such a thing – Mailjet performed some testing using emojis in email subject lines to see how different emojis might impact the email open rate. Guess what? It worked!
Methodology: Mailjet offers an experimentation feature known as a/x testing. A/X testing removes the guesswork of what works best by allowing you to test (up to 10) variations of the same email, compile the performance of each version, and then sends the winning version to the remainder of your list. This gives email senders the best chance to maximize their campaign performance.
The findings of Mailjet’s testing are published in this infographic, Emoji Subject Line Test. It provides evidence that emoticons in subject lines can impact open rates. Additionally, the infographic provides evidence that different cultures are more accepting of emojis! The United Kingdom, the United States, France, Spain, and Germany were tested.
How Do You Insert an Emoji into a Subject Line?
If you’re an emoji user (or abuser), you’re probably used to hitting the emoticon menu on your mobile keyboard. But that doesn’t exist on a desktop, so how do you do it? The easiest way I’ve found is to use Get Emoji, where you can simply copy and paste the emoji of your choice!
Are we Getting Over-Emoji’d?
One of the conclusions of the studies may be that while emoticons impact open rates, they may be overused, or subscribers may be used to them. Overall open rates with emojis has dropped year over year from 31.5% to 28.1%
It’s now commonplace to use emojis in email marketing and we’ll probably see more and more of them as Google announces an all new set of icons for its latest Android operating system. However, it’s a sign to marketers that perhaps their peak has come. There is still plenty we can learn from the emoji though and this research pinpoints the importance of knowing your audience to communicate most effectively with email.
Josie Scotchmer, UK Marketing Manager at Mailjet
Marketers need to take note of stark cultural differences when it comes to audience receptiveness, but also cross-platform compatibility. Brands will be looking for the next big thing in engagement and need to be aware of all the different platforms their email will be displayed on and test any tactic they plan to use against these.
By the way, the best performer was the simple red heart emoji.❤️ The emoji was one of few to generate a positive net result across all test regions with a 6% increase in open rate.
Emoji Subject Line Best Practices
When used strategically, email emojis can be a powerful tool for increasing open rates and engagement. Here are key best practices for emoji usage in subject lines:
- Keep it Relevant: Choose emojis that directly relate to your message content or reinforce your key point rather than adding them just for decoration.
- Know Your Audience: Consider whether emojis align with your brand voice and recipient expectations. They may be great for marketing emails but inappropriate for formal business communications.
- Limit Quantity: Use 1-2 emojis maximum per subject line to avoid looking unprofessional or spammy.
- Match Tone: Select emojis that match the emotional tone of your message – don’t use playful symbols for serious topics.
- Position Carefully: Emojis should be placed at the beginning or end of the subject line, not in the middle, where they can disrupt the reading flow.
- Stay Professional: Avoid potentially controversial or ambiguous emojis that could be misinterpreted or viewed as unprofessional.
- Test Rendering: Before sending an email, verify how emojis display across different email clients and devices to ensure they appear as intended.
Remember that while emojis can boost engagement, they should enhance rather than detract from your message – when in doubt, less is more.
