There was a time when people would write thousands of words to explain their thoughts and reactions. However in today’s world, an emoji or an emoticon is enough to describe it. The phrase, “A picture is worth thousand words,” can perfectly be replaced by “An emoji is worth many characters.” Emojis are basically based on symbols from Japanese comics which express emotions through digital communication. With the vast use of emojis in our conversations today, it have become a way of life that was previously used for informal communication. But today a lot of businesses are bending towards the use of emojis in formal and employee communications to make the working environment comfortable.
So on this world Emoji Day, let’s talk about the usage of emojis in business communication and how professional will it sound if we use them properly.
It’s true that today brands are interacting with its customers in a conversational tone to understand them better and to give them a better online experience. It is interesting to note that, engaging with a business is becoming less formal and if one of the Brandwatch reports is to be believed, the volume of tweets containing a brand name and an emoji has risen by 49% since 2015. But that doesn’t mean you start using emojis in every formal conversation. So if you are starting to think about using emojis professionally, keep the following things in mind:
- Use Emoji to Convey Tone – Written conversation leave plenty of room for misinterpretations. Emojis are expertly used to convey the tone of the conversation and appear more friendly and component.
- Have a Minimalistic Approach – Emojis too leave plenty of room of misinterpretation because of the emoji font difference between various smartphone platforms. For example, in the image below, a grinning emoji looks quite different across various smartphone platforms and thus they might impact negatively on your message. Hence try avoiding emojis that would land you in some trouble.
Image Credit- grouplens.org
There are some handful of emojis that you can use in professional communication:
- Put a Cap on Your Emoji – Cramming your messages with emojis will obviously make you look unprofessional and a overly emotional teenager. Hence it is important that you put a cap on the usage of your emojis. If you are using them in an email, limit it to one emoji per 3 paragraphs. Use them with modesty and use them at points that could lead to misinterpretation. However if you’re using live chat and messaging over email then more emojis can be used because it is an informal way to chat.
- Know Who Are You Messaging – Before inserting emojis in the conversation make sure that you are aware of the person and his/her nature towards emojis. What if the recipient does not acknowledge such emojis and prefers written conversation? Or you are not familiar with the person talking with. So, to be on the safe side use social mimicry- using emoji in your communication only when your partner does.
While considering the use of emojis understand the tone of the conversation and whether emojis will be appropriate or look out of the place. If there’s some celebration or discount happening go on and use simple emojis but if you’re replying to a complaint or enquiry restrict yourself from using any emoji because it is a formal conversation with a serious tone.
Overall, emojis can help in clarifying the tone of the conversation and make it interesting but excessive and inappropriate use of it can bring a negative impact on the conversation.
