Like some sort of return to ancient writing practices, emojis add to or replace text and are able to convey their own meaning outside of the written word. It’s fine to use them in your personal messages, but what about in the workplace?
Is there a right time to use them or, more importantly, a wrong time?
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Using emojis with colleagues
It’s generally fine to use emojis when writing to your colleagues, provided it’s a relatively informal message. If you’re firing off a quick email to a work friend or responding to the team chat, feel free to throw in an emoji.
Bear in mind:
• Avoid emojis in formal communications, first-time messages, or emails to higher-ups (your direct manager is probably fine).
• Think about who will read the message that contains the emoji. Keep it PG and on topic – emojis in the workplace should align with standard rules about communication.
• If in doubt, just don’t use one. While they’re great for conveying information or a reaction, think about how they might be misinterpreted.
Using emojis with customers
Perhaps the more important question when it comes to emojis and communication is how to use them with customers. Again, it’s generally acceptable to use them in certain contexts, provided you follow some best-practice rules. These are:
Know your audience
Unsurprisingly, you should only use emojis if it feels appropriate based on your audience. Younger people use them a lot and won’t find emojis out of place in social media posts or emails from a social media marketing company.
Older people, on the other hand, might find them too informal. How you make this distinction and how it applies to your audience will depend on your demographic research.
Know what kind of writing to use them with
Assuming you’re happy to use them, decide when it’s best to do so. There’s such a thing as emoji marketing, which looks at which options to use to represent your brand and when they work best.
Of course, there’s no need to dive into emoji marketing as long as you have a good understanding of emojis and your brand identity. For example, you might love the rocket emoji, but you should avoid forcing it into a message for the sake of it.
Know your brand voice
This builds on the point above: know your brand voice and how emojis might work with it. If you’re fairly informal and consider your brand style to be on-trend and disruptive, use those emojis.
However, if you work for, say, a law firm, it’s probably best to not add a smiley face to the end of your customer email. Look at the ways you communicate with customers (social media, email, blogs, etc.) and your tone of voice. From there, decide if emojis would help or hinder your message.
Dos and don’ts of emojis in the workplace
Knowing when to use emojis at work shouldn’t be hard. Make sure you think about the following:
1. Context. Emojis can add value to an informal email but would look incredibly out of place in a formal press release. As such, context is key.
2. Frequency of use. Don’t overdo it. While there’s no magic number, one or two in a short piece of writing should be enough. Anything more and you risk detracting from your written message.
3. Be appropriate. We all know that some emojis have less-than-savoury meanings (looking at you, peach emoji). Don’t use ones that you know have hidden meanings because this could lead to some issues.
4. Stay up to date. On that note, stay aware of trends in emoji use and meaning. This might sound odd, but just like language, emojis go through phases of meaning different things. Make sure you do some research to be aware of trends before communicating with customers.
The bottom line is that it’s often fine to use emojis in the workplace. Adding a smiley to your email doesn’t require a lot of thought, but if you plan to use them in customer communications, it’s essential for you to consider their impact.
