Love them or just them, emojis have become a central component in our online conversations. In fact, 95% of internet users have sent an emoji at some point and a whopping 10 billion emojis are sent each day!
Think about all the ways emojis add to your text conversations. Perhaps you use emojis to amplify your message, or clarify the tone of a risky text . If you’re at a loss for words, you can use an emoji to convey powerful sentiments without typing out lengthy sentences.
We may not be certified emoji scientists (yet… ) but thankfully, there are a lot of studies being performed to examine the impact of emojis on communication and connection. Experts seem to agree that emojis help communication immensely!
“Tone of voice, facial expressions, gestures — these are all vital elements of face-to-face communication, but they’re stripped away in writing. Emoji offers a way of compensating for this.”
Dr. Daria J. Kuss
There’s also some pretty cool research out there to support a correlation between using emojis for Instagram and higher follower counts. According to Quintly, only 24% of profiles with 1 to 1,000 followers used emojis, while 83% of profiles with over 1 million followers peppered their captions with emoji icons. If you also factor in a 15% higher interaction rate with posts including emojis, it’s clear that emojis help foster connection and relatability with your followers. Score!
The best part is, emojis (or emoticons) are universally understood. Even if we can’t read the language the caption is written in, we easily interpret emojis!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvuRhaRFZtz
For example, Christi Lukasiak uses emojis to illustrate key points of her caption.
Even if English isn’t your first language, you could probably guess the topic of the caption from the emojis used. (New York and wine ? Whatever it is, we’re in. ♀️ )
Cool, huh? Emojis can be pretty powerful.
Let’s talk about all the ways emojis amplify your message to your followers.
How to Use Emojis On Instagram
Now that you know how powerful emojis are for engaging with your audience and boosting interaction, let’s talk about some ways you can use them!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BxNZVqagJTa
Dominique Cosmetics uses emojis to catch the reader’s attention and convey their message visually.
You can spice up your captions this way, too. First, decide what your core message is. Are you launching a new product? Promoting a new service? Perhaps you just want to say hey to your followers, and spark a conversation in the comments.
Emojis can help you with all of this and more!
Once you’re clear on that core message, pick the emojis that will best support or relate to that message. Let’s use Dominique Cosmetics as an example. The cosmetics company used just three emojis to perfectly sum up their message: Alert: a new highlighter just dropped, get it before it’s gone!
The siren stops followers mid-scroll, the sparkles ✨ perfectly sum up the product, and the shopping bag tips off readers on their next step (go buy it now).
Finally, consider the placement of the emojis for the best visibility and comprehension. Dominique Cosmetics did this perfectly by including emojis at the beginning or end of each caption sentence.
Pick the Best Emojis For Your Instagram Caption With Emoji Picker
Picking the perfect emojis for your caption message has never been easier, now that we have Emoji Picker! This easy-to-use emoji keyboard allows you to search for icons and add them to your text with just a few clicks on your desktop.
Here’s how to use Emoji Picker in just a few quick steps:
- In Tailwind, visit “Publisher” and click the “Create New Post” button (or open an existing draft to edit)
- Put your cursor in the caption where you want to add your emoji
- Click on the smiley face in the bottom right-hand corner to pull up your emoji menu
- Search for your emoji by using the text search bar, clicking on the categories or just scrolling through the menu!
- Click your emoji and watch it appear in your caption. You can keep selecting emojis- there’s no limit!
The Emoji Picker will also note your frequently-used emojis and display them at the top of the menu for easy access. You can also choose your desired emoji skin tone at the bottom of the Emoji Picker dropdown to automatically change all the customizable emojis at once! ♀️ ♀️ ♀️ ♀️ ♀️
How to Use Emojis to Create Interest on Instagram
While emojis can really boost your story telling and sales copy, you can also use emojis to simply dress up a post or make your content more FUN!
Case in point, family blogger Mikaela Jeannette’s post about cruise prep.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bu7JeMkgQXm
We love the way Mikaela dressed up her post with cruise-themed emojis. In this case, Mikaela is asking for cruise packing tips and must haves. However, while using a pencil emoji ✏️ or a list emoji might be more literally representative of the post, it’s a lot less visually interesting (and fun!) than the cruise ship, anchor, and water droplets. ⚓️
So what does this mean for your caption? You don’t have to use your emojis in a literal interpretation of the text. Instead, choose colorful emojis that evoke positive mental connections while still relating to the overall theme or topic of your post. This strategy will help boost engagement in your likes and comments!
How to Use Emojis to Simplify Your Instagram Captions
You might find yourself in a hurry to plan your Instagram content without having a ton of time to pick a perfect series of emojis for your caption. That’s okay – even just one emoji can help boost interaction with your post.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bw1n5LZgn5D
Take More Adventures does a lot with a little in their caption. Just one puppy emoji (awww) perfectly accents the text, conveys the subject of the picture, and draws the eye right before the call to action.
That example of emoji usage is simple, but doggone effective!
Main Takeaways
Emojis are a key part of communicating with your audience over text, especially in your Instagram caption. Emojis boost relatability, connection and community with your readers- and they’re easier than ever to use with the Emoji Picker for Tailwind!
Looking for ways to include emojis in your Instagram caption? Here are some of our favorite ways to do it:
- Add an emoji at the beginning of your sentences – or at the end! To draw attention to points of text with important information.
- Emphasize your storytelling with emojis relating to the people ♂️, places and things you’re talking about in your caption.
- Create an easy-to-decode message in your sales caption to grab attention , convey a new product and direct customers to next steps.
- Have FUN with emojis! Pepper your captions with with playful emojis to dress up the text and engage readers.
- Include at least one emoji relating to your topic to clue in readers what your caption is about.
These are just some of the ways you can spice up your Instagram captions with emojis. Feel free to experiment: after all, the emojis you choose for your captions also give your readers an important glimpse of your brand personality. ♂️ Your captions will benefit the most from emojis that capture the essence of your business and welcome your followers into conversation and connection!
Pssst… Looking for other ways to express your brand personality on your Instagram profile? Check out our 8 Instagram Ideas for a Profile That Pops!
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