Including emoji in Tweets is shown to increase engagement by 25.4 percent over emoji-free messages, and using them in Facebook posts can increase your number of Likes by 57 percent, and comments and shares by 33 percent.

With those numbers, it’s no surprise that emoji regularly pop up in online marketing campaigns. But, as with any newer digital development, businesses need to know the proper way to incorporate emoji marketing into their social strategy.

Bonus: Download a free guide to discover which hashtags to use to boost traffic and target customers on social media. And then learn how you can use Hootsuite to measure results.

Emoji marketing tips for social media success

Know the meaning behind the emoji

One of the biggest blunders a brand can make on social media when using emoji is using them incorrectly. Don’t put that eggplant emoji in a company Tweet unless you know exactly what you are doing.

You want to position your brand as an authority and in-the-know. Don’t put your company’s reputation at risk by posting an emoji that doesn’t mean what you think it means. A big fear of many social media marketers is seeming out of touch, so make sure you keep up with the latest emoji developments and meanings.

A great resource is Emojipedia, which serves not only as an emoji dictionary, but also shares the latest developments and news in the emoji world. For example, when iOS 10 came out, Emojipedia published an article that showcased the new emoji and how they will look on other software platforms.

Use emoji for real-time engagement and reactive messaging

While long, pre-composed emoji messages can sometimes miss the mark, a well-timed post can benefit from an emoji… or 10.

Brands started using emoji to show their customers the human side of the business, so there’s no reason why you shouldn’t include emoji in a Tweet or Instagram post the same way you would in a text message (when appropriate). And if the occasion calls for it, you can get creative with emoji art, even if the current emoji keyboard doesn’t have a symbol that corresponds with your brand: