July 13th, 2021
With the advancement in technology and worldwide use of text messaging, social media, etc., the way that we communicate has drastically evolved. The creation and use of emojis has helped us to express ourselves when words fail us 😶, we need to send someone a quick message 📱, or when there’s not enough character space left (👀 looking at you, Twitter).
Did you know that the world’s first emoji set was released by SoftBank (formally known as J-Phone) on November 1, 1997 🤔? The first set of emojis included 90 distinct characters including the iconic 💩 that is still popular today.
So why do we celebrate 🎉 #WorldEmojiDay on July 17? It’s simple really, the date is based off of the mobile calendar date emoji which displays July 17 📅 🤯. This has also become the date in which emoji related product releases and announcements are made.
How do you celebrate 🎆 #WorldEmojiDay? Well, according to WorldEmojiDay.com, you can celebrate this day by holding an emoji party — dress up as your favorite emojis, tweeting with your favorite emoji (they recommend tweeting it about 50 times. Don’t forget to include the #WorldEmojiDay), sending text messages 📳 with emojis only, or you can sing the national emoji anthem (yes, there is an anthem, I’ll let you look it up on your own 😳).
The creation and use of emojis has helped us to express ourselves when words fail us 😶, we need to send someone a quick message 📱or when there’s not enough character space left
While those celebratory items are great for individuals (and a little quirky 🤪), MarkeTeam recommends that your organization celebrates #WorldEmojiDay with your donors by sending an email integrated with your social media platforms — using emojis to help wish them a #HappyWorldEmojiDay 🙂.
For one of our clients, we use #WorldEmojiDay as a fun and unique way to send fundraising communication via email 📨. We bit emoji the email signer’s picture and created a fun banner, while interspersing emojis throughout the copy to help express emotions/ideas.
This light-hearted 💖 email engages the audience and averages over 20% open rates. While it is not a typical fundraising 💰 initiative, it gets the recipients opening, reading, and engaging with the email 📄. It also helps to humanize the organization, by showing the recipient that the organization knows how to have fun ✨ (within reason and on brand 😊).
So, whether you personally celebrate by using various emojis throughout the day☀️, or if you would like to involve your organization’s donors, World Emoji Day offers something for everyone.
If you haven’t used emojis in your subject lines or previews, give it a try and your open rates might just improve!
Blog written by Bethany Goodrum | Senior Account Executive
