Emojis drive consumer engagement and even boost revenue from marketing messages

Mobile engagement specialist Leanplum has analysed emoji usage in push notifications and e-mails and found that including them can drive open rates and even revenue up radically. In a follow-up to a study released last year, it looked at as many as 300m e-mails and push notifications worldwide in the 12 months to June 1. And it found some companies were seeing a massive impact.

The report also found that emoji usage continues to rise. The average number used per message and the percentage of messages including at least one emoji have both doubled in the past year. The report said e-mails with emojis are opened 66% more than e-mails without them. And push notifications with emojis are opened 254% more than those without. That's as much as three times higher than in last year's report, which could mean that consumers are becoming more emoji-aware but also that businesses are learning how to use them much more effectively. Joyce Solano, SVP of Global Marketing at Leanplum, said this is happening because "emojis convey emotion and personality from brands, which help marketers deliver in-the-moment engagement and build long-lasting user retention."