Emojis, GIFs, and Memes, oh my! With a good strategy, give them a try! The difference between spam marketing and effective marketing is customer connection.
Sometimes words and pictures alone do not convey all the feels we have; with the strategic use of emojis, GIFs and memes, your brand can come to life and spark a personality that connects with your consumers in your digital marketing.
Before we dive in, here’s us throwing caution to the wind – do your research and be strategic. Using these fun additions to your written and digital content can easily tip the scale from effective to distractive.
With fair warning, let’s define what emojis, GIFs, and memes are (and how the heck to pronounce GIF đ) because they can add value to your content and digital marketing!
What is an emoji, and how do I use it effectively?
According to Urban Dictionary, the word emoji comes from two Japanese components meaning “picture” and “letter” respectively. Emojis are tiny pictures you can add to your texts, copy, and written content.
They communicate a range of emotions that are more effective than written words. 92% of online users use emojis to express their feelings and agree that they are more effective.
Emojis aren’t just for tween girls’ texts. Brands that use emojis the right way – they’re easy to decode, allow the consumer to continue to scroll and skim without having to stop and figure out what a line of icons means – can create quite the engagement with online followers by more than 25%.
Now, check this out! Using emojis in your email campaign subject lines can increase open rates by 1071% on Android and 662% on iOS devices! What are you waiting for?! đ, don’t đ, add an emoji to your email subject lines, to copy in your social post, and text campaigns to consumers. Want the proof in the pudding to make sure you’re using emojis effectively? We’re here to help you đand đ social content and measure your online analytics đ. We’ve got you!
What is a GIF, and how do I pronounce it anyway?
GIF is looping animation that is neither a video nor a photo; it stands for Graphics Interchange Format. How do you pronounce it so you sound like you know what you’re talking about – hard G or soft G? Both are right! When polling the interwebs, a majority preferred to say GIF, not JIF.
GIFs appeal to the feelings of consumers and can convey deeper emotions than words or emojis. Add GIFs to consumer email and text campaigns to lighten and liven up your content. GIFs are fun, lighthearted and weâve never met a GIF we didn’t like!
What is a meme, and the real question, should I use them?
Dictionary.com defines meme as a cultural item in the form of an image, video, phrase, etc., that is spread via the internet and often altered in a creative or humorous way. It sounds like gene and is pronounced “meem”.
Memes are popular and meant to be shared, copied, altered, and shared some more. They go above and beyond by showing a brand’s funny and quirky side, increasing the perception of a “real person” behind the brand online.
Memes can make or break the tension. A well-intended meme creates the feel of an “inside joke” to connect consumers to you, but a misplaced or irrelevant meme can be awkward. Before posting a meme, do your research to understand its meaning and where it comes from to ensure your target audience will “get it” and, more importantly, not be offended or create animosity.
Memes are meant to go viral and be shared, which is a great thing when they’re culturally appropriate and funny, but not so much when they’re offensive, and in some cases, they have caused PR nightmares for companies.
Creating original memes or spoofing popular, widely shared ones can be fun to add humor and some lighthearted fun to your digital content, breaking up the monotony of product posts and highlights.
Emojis, GIFs, and memes help brands appear more personable and help create a break between sales-driven content, which results in higher engagement. A potential consumer is 1.6 times more likely to purchase from a “human brand” and 1.8 times more likely to recommend the brand and products to a friend.
At Cight Solutions, we are your team of humans, not bots, who bring life to your content through engaging content, influencer marketing strategies, and intelligent analytics. Ready to spice up your content? We’re ready to connect with you today!