Emojis in Donor Marketing? 🧐 Know the Pros 👍 and Cons 👎

👋!

Emojis — the tiny graphic icons that live in your text messages — sure have come a long way from the good old-fashioned emoticon. ;) Today, your online chatter can include everything from unicorns 🦄 to UFOs. 🛸 Most people agree that emojis are fun, relatable, and conversational. You’ll see them in emails, on social media, and in blogs. 😎

But do emojis have a place in fundraising?

Yes and no.

Here’s what we know:

👍 Because emojis are fun and catch the eye, they can help increase engagement. 👀
👍 They generally lighten the tone of your copy, which can serve you well in an affirmation message or friendly social media post. 🥳
👍 They can shorten copy. (“Happy 🌎 Day!”)
👍 And quickly express emotion. 😘
👍 They can make your email stand out in a crowded inbox. That’s crucial on days like GivingTuesday. ❤️

According to a report from Experian, using emojis in email subject lines increased email open rates by 56%. That’s great news! 🎉🎉🎉

But you should still test to see how your audience reacts. Here at TrueSense, we’ve tested campaigns with emojis in the subject lines against text-only versions and had the results land both ways.

In our own A/B test, “You Can Do It 💪💪💪” performed better as a subject line than “You Can Do It.” Throughout this particular series, emails that had emojis in the subject lines were opened more often than the same emails without.

But the cheery emoji-laden subject lines lost to those with no emojis in one of our client’s donor re-engagement series tests.

If you’re thinking of using emojis in your donor marketing, consider that …

👎 Emojis can render differently across browsers, email clients, and devices. Make sure your donor sees what you intended.

👎 Too many emojis can quickly cause emoji fatigue. 💩

👎 They can come off as flippant or insensitive when you’re asking for support for an important cause or to address an urgent crisis.

👎 They’re small, so don’t assume all your donors can see them. 🔎

Try using emojis when and where they make sense. A subject line with a timer emoji may serve you well in an email about a matching gift’s deadline. An animal lover is sure to notice a cute dog or cat face in their copy. Try mixing a classic emoji ⭐️ with something unexpected 🐼 to get attention.

Just keep testing, because emojis make up a universal language that’s here to stay.

One more thing. Need a quick break? See if you can translate these emojis into movie titles! Have fun!