Think about it in simple terms: everyone wants a good relationship with their clients and colleagues, so as more and more companies are taking to social to build businesses and sell products – how will you handle yours?
Is it a good idea to use emoji’s in business?
Yes 🙂 and no 😦
What’s your brand’s conversational tone?
Are you uber professional or pretty cool and casual?
When not to use emoji’s
When you need to put your serious face or business hat on … so stay away from the emoji in an email – it could risk you looking unprofessional.
Business communication is progressing across social
If we’re talking about how we communicate with customers or potential customers across social media, then depending on who your business is, and the vibe or tone in which you communicate can be the deciding factor. Do you take a relaxed, cool attitude?
I really think it depends on the formality of the relationship with your clients, suppliers and so forth. Seeing as so many more businesses are realising the importance of a online presence, I think it’s vital to show the personality behind the keyboard running the social show.
Casual tones with customers
Emoji’s, GIFS, meme’s whatever… you want to be posting these, sharing, retweeting, liking and so on. If you’re a fun, keep it casual type of brand then your following will warm to this, and posting fun relevant blogs, memes and just general fun stuff in keeping with relevent events could bring in a new following = new customers. #bonus!
If this isn’t you, your brand or your following then it’s simple: stay away from the emoji’s and stick to simple content and do it well. To ‘do it well’ I always think it’s best to create the content from the home of the company. Why bother outsourcing a company who is simply going to rely on your information or just google it? They will always know less about your company than you do. You know your product or service best, so you have all the materials and knowledge and support you need at your fingertips to create great stuff.
What is appropriate when and where?
Would you really sent a text to your boss with a 🙂 or a x ? I wouldn’t, but that’s because we don’t know eachother well. I might stretch to a smiley sometimes, but definitely NOT a x or xo. It might sound silly, but i’ts important to think about whether this is appropriate or not! An email to a prospective client filled with reems of smileys and monkey faces or 😛 isn’t a great idea.
The final decision
Basically – it’s up to you. You should be able to judge when an emoji or GIF or a certain kind of imagery is appropriate to use on your social media channels. The reality is that emoji’s are here to stay (for now) so get involved and spread a smile people!
Have a great day,
Amy
A blog by Amy 