Yes, you can add emojis to the subject line of your campaigns and automation emails.
What is an emoji?
An emoji is a digital icon and is used to represent objects, actions, and emotions. For email marketers, adding emojis to the subject line of an email has many benefits: it draws attention to your message in a crowded inbox, it provides a new, playful way to engage with subscribers, and saves space in your subject line.
Tips for using emojis in a subject line
Before you begin adding emojis to your subject line, there are a few things to consider:
Know your audience
Make sure that the use of emojis is suitable for your business or brand. In addition, you'll want to make sure you understand the meaning of the emoji and that it's aligned with your audience before you start using it.
Make it relevant
Make sure the emoji complements your message and is related to your subject line. Treat it like a word in a subject line. If the emoji is unrelated, it will confuse your readers and lead to poor open rates.
Don't overdo it
While emojis are fun, you may not want to add them to every email you send, or add too many to a subject line. Too many emojis may also cause confusion with your subscribers, causing them to not open your email or to mark it as spam.
The bottom line is to use your best judgement when adding emojis to your subject line and only do it if it makes sense for your content and brand.
Note: Emojis will not render in all email readers.
In addition, they may not even look the same from email client to email client. That's because every email client and operating system is different. The best way to see how emojis will render for your contacts is to test your email.
How to add an emoji to your subject line or preheader text
There are two different methods you can use to insert an emoji to the subject line and/or preheader text of your campaign or automation email:
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Copy and paste the emoji into your subject line.
- For this method, we recommend using Emojipedia. They provide an exhaustive list of emojis to choose from and it's free.
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Use a keyboard shortcut to pull up an emoji picker
- For Macs, press Control + Command + Space Bar
- For Windows 10, press Win + period (.)
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Use the ActiveCampaign emoji library on the Campaign Summary page
- You can quickly find and use Emojis directly from the Campaign Summary page.
Note: Emojis are based on Unicode characters. If you are employing the copy and paste method to add an emoji to your subject line, make sure you're using a Unicode character and not an image.
How to add an emoji from the Campaign Summary page
- Open the direct campaign or automation email you want to edit.
- Go to the Campaign Settings page:
- For automation emails, click "Next" to get to the Campaign Settings page.
- Direct campaigns will automatically open to the Campaign Settings page.
- On the Campaign Settings page, place the cursor in the “Subject Line” or “Preheader” where you want the emoji to be.
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Click on the Emoji button next to the “Subject Line” or “Preheader” field.
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Click on the emoji you would to use, and it will appear in your “Subject Line” or “Preheader.” You can also use the Search bar to narrow down your emoji options.
How to add an emoji from the Campaign Designer
- From the email designer of either a campaign or automation email, click the gear icon.
- The Settings modal will open. Add the emoji to the subject line and/or preheader text field using copy and paste or keyboard shortcuts methods. The ActiveCampaign emoji library is not available here:
- Click "Close."
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Click "Next" at the top right of the designer. The Campaign Summary page will display the emoji in your subject line and preheader text:
Learn how to update the subject line of a direct campaign.
Learn how to update the subject line of an automation email.
Emoji display differences
As we stated earlier, emojis are based on Unicode characters. All devices/operating systems will interpret those characters in different ways. Meaning, the emoji you place in a subject line for an email will not look the same for each contact. And depending on what device your contact is using to view your emails, the emoji may not render at all.
This Litmus blog on emojis provides a great example of how the Face with Tears of Joy emoji will display on different operating systems:
If you're not sure how or if an emoji will display for your contact, we recommend testing your email on as many devices, operating systems, and email clients as possible before sending it out to your list.
We also recommend reading this help article on Emojis, Subject Lines, and Deliverability.