Emojis could be the next frontier for successful social media marketing campaigns, as Twitter is now allowing advertises to target users based on the ideograms and smileys they use in posts on the platform. The new emoji keyword targeting for Twitter ads aims to “drive deep engagement,” according to the networking giant.
An excess of 110 billion emojis have been included in tweets since the beginning of 2014, so it is no surprise that Twitter is expanding its ads offerings to include them. Brands and publishers will be able to connect with people based on the sentiment they express using emojis, broaden their reach by interacting with people based on passions and target people using food emojis.
Emoji targeting
This is a sort of “immediate advertising” that enables enterprises to target users within seconds of them talking about a particular subject. It is easy to see why this could be useful for brands, as they could provide an ad based on the expressed interests, such as a sports brand targeting someone who posts or likes a tweet containing a bicyclist emoji.
Emoji targeting is pretty much the same as targeting keywords but with a social media twist. Twitter has said that its official partners, including SocialCode, 4C, Perion, Amobee, HYFN and AdParlor, will help brands to unlock the potential emoji keyword targeting ahead of the official World Emoji Day next month.
Twitter Ads API Product Manager, Neil Shah, spoke in an official blog post about how emojis have been growing in popularity, with the concept even being named as the 2015 Word of the Year according to Oxford Dictionary. He added that their usage has become almost ubiquitous across the Internet and that they would offer marketers another unique and lucrative opportunity to reach and engage with millions of followers on the Twitter platform.
Brand engagement
A number of leading brands are already successfully using emojis on social media networks and in email marketing campaigns to increase engagement, including Domino’s, Bud Light and Taco Bell. Emojis have become a staple of popular culture in recent years, and their popularity forced Facebook to roll out a new suite of reactions for users in place of the Like button at the end of last year.
