Emoji in the Subject Line
Experiment No. 004
Emojis Rule
Emojis have become an extension of the way we communicate.
A single symbol can replace an entire phrase. They allow us to express ourselves better. Plus, it provides us with a little creativity and fun.
Last count, 3,633 emojis exist with 92% of the world population favoring them. The most used ones include: Tears of Joy 😂, Red Heart ❤️, and Rolling on the Floor Laughing 🤣. (Unicode)
Why Use Emojis in Subject Lines?
👋 Stand Out: We know the difficulties of getting people to open emails. The inbox is filled with brands demanding your attention.
One way to get your email seen is with an emoji in the subject lines. According to some studies, only 3% of subject lines use emojis. An emoji can make your subject line pop.
Don’t add them willy-nilly, though.
Use an emoji relevant to the subject line and make sure it matches the tone of the email.
You only need one. Adding too many makes the message look like spam. It may increase the complaint rate.
For clarity, place them after the keyword.
🤪 Emotional: Add them to convey a feeling.
👓 Branding: Some nonprofits use the same emoji on every one of their emails. This makes it easy to spot in the inbox.
🧳 Space saver: Use one character for an icon instead of spelling out a word.
📧 Improve Engagement: An emoji in the subject line may increase the open rate. Getting people to open an email is difficult in the crowded inbox. If done right, using an emoji is a quick and easy way to encourage supporters to open.
But, do emojis really increase the number of opens?
Emoji Conundrum
For every report touting emojis as a way to increase open rates you will find another report saying the change is minimal.
One brand found adding an emoji increased their open rate by 56%. However, a report across multiple brands saw only a 1% increase.
Some nonprofits have said they get great results. Other organizations have used them with no or negative impact.
The reports, studies and even brands cannot agree.
What to do. Should nonprofits use emojis in subject lines?
With no clear answer in sight, the best option is to test it first.
Let’s look at the results from one such test.
Research Question: Will using an emoji in the subject line increase the email engagement?
Hypothesis: The email with an emoji will have a higher open rate.
Test Element: Emoji in Subject Line
Control- No emoji
Test- Emoji ❤️
Key Metric: Open rate
Other Metrics: Click rate, number of gifts, and donation amount
Sample Size: Used a 50/50 split
Control- 316,649
Test- 316,714
Results: The subject line without an emoji had a higher
Open rate - 0.6%
Number of gifts - 32%
Donation amount - 47%
Application: An emoji did not impact the open rate enough to warrant using them. Not having an emoji also produced more gifts. Before using them in your subject lines, test it. Look at opens, clicks, conversion rate, and gifts, before applying it to all your emails.
Future Tests: A good test will often lead to more questions. This test raised a few. New test ideas include:
Did the tone of the email copy match the use of an emoji in the subject line?
Does an emoji in the subject line affect deliverability?
Why did not using an emoji affect giving?
Try it with a different or segmented audience
Use both the text and the emoji vs only emoji or only text.
Final Thoughts: Using an emoji may or may not impact email opens. It depends on the organization and the audience. Some organizations have success. We did not.
