Dive Brief:
- Twitter is adding a new ad targeting option for marketers — users who tweet (or engage with tweets that contain) certain specific emojis, according to Adweek. The move essentially turns emojis into keywords.
- The addition of emojis as a targeting option comes in time for “World Emoji Day” on July 17.
- Twitter has previously tied emojis to marketing in interesting ways, such as Coke’s custom branded emoji campaign last September.
Dive Insight:
Emojis are everywhere: in texts, news stories, ads, on social media, and even on Oxford Dictionary's Word of the Year list. Now, brand marketers can target ads on Twitter based on emojis, another step away from text and toward rich media.
“Now, advertisers can target people who have recently Tweeted or engaged with Tweets featuring emojis with the help of select Twitter Official Partners: AdParlor, Amobee, HYFN, Perion, SocialCode, and 4C," Neil Shah, product manager of ads API at Twitter, wrote in a blog post. "This new feature uses emoji activity as a signal of a person’s mood or mindset — unlocking unique opportunities for marketers.”
One feature Shah touted in the post is that the new emoji targeting option allows marketers to reach Twitter users based on expressed sentiment, such as the use of sad emojis. One example of that feature in action is pizza companies targeting people tweeting pizza emojis.
Research from mobile marketing automation firm Appboy in March found that marketers’ use of emojis in mobile messaging increased 775% over the last year, and has continued to rise 20% month-over-month this year. The study found that retail and e-commerce marketers are most likely to include emojis in marketing messages.
