Emojis in cold emails: Data-Backed reasons to use or avoid them
Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2024 9:14 am
Unsure whether using emojis in cold emails will spark interest and get replies, or get your campaigns sent to the trash instead?
We analyzed millions of cold emails to find the answer for you.
In this article, you’ll get the data on emojis in cold emails, based on an in-depth analysis of millions of lemlist cold outreach campaigns.
Is it OK to use emojis in business emails?
It is fine to use emojis in business and cold emails, as long as they’re tailored to your subject and target audience.
When used right, emojis boost engagement with your message.
When used incorrectly, you come off as overly familiar or unprofessional.
It’s a slippery slope.
Let’s jump into whether using emojis is the right outreach technique for you.
Here’s what the data says:
Out of the millions of lemlist cold email campaigns we analyzed, emails with emojis get 13% fewer replies than emails without them.
But that doesn’t mean that you should give up on emojis altogether!
A bar graph showing the reply rates of emails with emojis, emails without emojis, and all emails. The graph shows that emails with emojis get 13% fewer replies than other emails.
The “with emoji” column in the data above includes emails sent with any number of emojis: from 1 to 30+.
You can imagine that an email with more than 10 emojis is going to have a different success rate than an email with only one or two.
If you take a closer look at the breakdown of booking rates per number of emojis, you’ll get a clearer idea of where the problem is:
A line graph showing booking rates versus the number of emojis algeria phone number list in an email. From 1-2 emoijis, the booking rate remains similar. With more emojis, the booking rate goes down.
Emails with 1 or 2 emojis have a small dip in booking rates compared to emails without them, but not a significant amount.
On average, booking rates with 1 or 2 emojis per email are comparable with emails that don’t have any.
Depending on the circumstances, you won’t necessarily ruin your chances of a reply with an emoji or two.
The rates really start to dip when you add more 3 or more emojis to the body of your emails.
This is where you increase the risk of prospects thinking it’s spammy or inappropriate.
As a rule of thumb: when adding emojis to cold emails, the fewer the better.
Should you use emojis in your cold email subject lines?
Similar to using emojis in the body of your emails, adding emojis to your cold email subject lines can go both ways.
Either they will draw prospects’ eyes, add personality, and drive clicks, or they will turn people away.
It’s all about how you use them.
Here’s what the data says about it:
Adding emojis to your subject line can result in 6% lower open rates:
A bar graph that shows open rates of email subject lines without emojis, email subject lines with emojis, and all emails. The email subject lines with emojis get a 6% lower open rate than other emails.
But once again, there’s more nuance to the data than a simple yes or no.
In our analysis, we gathered nearly 2 million emails with no emojis in the subject line and only about 20,000 with emojis.
With numbers like that, the overall average is always going to lean in the direction of emails with no emojis.
So what does that mean for you?
It means you’ll have to decide, based on your own target audience and goals, if emojis will boost your open and reply rates, or drive them down.
But you don’t have to figure that out on your own.
Here is everything you need to consider when deciding if you want to use emojis in your cold outreach:
How can you use emojis in cold emails?
Should you be using emojis to connect with prospects? Let’s find out.
When using an emoji you want it to represent exactly what you are conveying as to create anticipation and set the tone without even reading the message.
Creating urgency You can use emojis to signify the clock is ticking, or to be quick to catch the offer you have on the table, etc.
Some of the more appropriate choices include:
Showing excitement/happiness
Emojis can also be used to show that you are excited/happy to be in contact with that particular person, or that your offer may produce some smiles.
Some of the more appropriate choices include:
Celebration
You can “celebrate” one of your prospect’s most recent successes, or the possibility of closing a deal, etc.
Some of the more appropriate choices include:
Creating checklists
You may want to create a checklist, or use emojis to make your point stand out more.
Some of the more appropriate choices include:
For special occasions
Maybe you’re launching a special offer based on a special occasion, or maybe your emails just happen to come around the holidays.
Some of the more appropriate choices include:
Although using a couple of emojis may increase your chances of getting a reply, there are some options that should be off-limits as they’ll make you seem very unprofessional.
Of course, the appropriateness may vary depending on the context of your email!
For example:
Does the channel you’re using affect the use of emojis?
YES!
Let’s be honest here, each channel holds it’s own implications.
Reaching out via email can be a more formal approach (again, depending on your area and context), so in certain occasions using emojis could be wildly inappropriate.
However, if you reach out via LinkedIn you could have more freedom and flexibility with the use of emojis.
Lastly, if you reach out via Facebook, it’s understood that it’s a very casual channel as people tend to use Facebook to chat with friends or acquaintances, leaving behind a more formal attitude.
So, if you’re joining a Facebook group for example, emojis are certainly the way to go!
The risks of using emojis in cold emails
As seen in the data above, adding emojis to your cold emails can cause 13% lower reply rates if used in the body text and 6% lower open rates in the subject.
Plus, a study by the Nielsen-Norman Group showed that emojis in emails made people feel 26% less likely to trust or engage with the message. In the study’s terms, emojis “increased negative sentiment.”
Clearly, the risk of using emojis in your cold outreach is coming off as spammy or unprofessional, and getting fewer opens and replies.
However, the Nielsen-Norman study only took into account e-commerce marketing emails, which already come off as spammy to most prospects
A screenshot of an email inbox showing emails from big companies like Bed Bath & Beyond, Sears, Kohl
Source: Nielsen-Norman Group
And even this study mentioned that emojis could be worthwhile “where they truly add value.”
We analyzed millions of cold emails to find the answer for you.
In this article, you’ll get the data on emojis in cold emails, based on an in-depth analysis of millions of lemlist cold outreach campaigns.
Is it OK to use emojis in business emails?
It is fine to use emojis in business and cold emails, as long as they’re tailored to your subject and target audience.
When used right, emojis boost engagement with your message.
When used incorrectly, you come off as overly familiar or unprofessional.
It’s a slippery slope.
Let’s jump into whether using emojis is the right outreach technique for you.
Here’s what the data says:
Out of the millions of lemlist cold email campaigns we analyzed, emails with emojis get 13% fewer replies than emails without them.
But that doesn’t mean that you should give up on emojis altogether!
A bar graph showing the reply rates of emails with emojis, emails without emojis, and all emails. The graph shows that emails with emojis get 13% fewer replies than other emails.
The “with emoji” column in the data above includes emails sent with any number of emojis: from 1 to 30+.
You can imagine that an email with more than 10 emojis is going to have a different success rate than an email with only one or two.
If you take a closer look at the breakdown of booking rates per number of emojis, you’ll get a clearer idea of where the problem is:
A line graph showing booking rates versus the number of emojis algeria phone number list in an email. From 1-2 emoijis, the booking rate remains similar. With more emojis, the booking rate goes down.
Emails with 1 or 2 emojis have a small dip in booking rates compared to emails without them, but not a significant amount.
On average, booking rates with 1 or 2 emojis per email are comparable with emails that don’t have any.
Depending on the circumstances, you won’t necessarily ruin your chances of a reply with an emoji or two.
The rates really start to dip when you add more 3 or more emojis to the body of your emails.
This is where you increase the risk of prospects thinking it’s spammy or inappropriate.
As a rule of thumb: when adding emojis to cold emails, the fewer the better.
Should you use emojis in your cold email subject lines?
Similar to using emojis in the body of your emails, adding emojis to your cold email subject lines can go both ways.
Either they will draw prospects’ eyes, add personality, and drive clicks, or they will turn people away.
It’s all about how you use them.
Here’s what the data says about it:
Adding emojis to your subject line can result in 6% lower open rates:
A bar graph that shows open rates of email subject lines without emojis, email subject lines with emojis, and all emails. The email subject lines with emojis get a 6% lower open rate than other emails.
But once again, there’s more nuance to the data than a simple yes or no.
In our analysis, we gathered nearly 2 million emails with no emojis in the subject line and only about 20,000 with emojis.
With numbers like that, the overall average is always going to lean in the direction of emails with no emojis.
So what does that mean for you?
It means you’ll have to decide, based on your own target audience and goals, if emojis will boost your open and reply rates, or drive them down.
But you don’t have to figure that out on your own.
Here is everything you need to consider when deciding if you want to use emojis in your cold outreach:
How can you use emojis in cold emails?
Should you be using emojis to connect with prospects? Let’s find out.
When using an emoji you want it to represent exactly what you are conveying as to create anticipation and set the tone without even reading the message.
Creating urgency You can use emojis to signify the clock is ticking, or to be quick to catch the offer you have on the table, etc.
Some of the more appropriate choices include:
Showing excitement/happiness
Emojis can also be used to show that you are excited/happy to be in contact with that particular person, or that your offer may produce some smiles.
Some of the more appropriate choices include:
Celebration
You can “celebrate” one of your prospect’s most recent successes, or the possibility of closing a deal, etc.
Some of the more appropriate choices include:
Creating checklists
You may want to create a checklist, or use emojis to make your point stand out more.
Some of the more appropriate choices include:
For special occasions
Maybe you’re launching a special offer based on a special occasion, or maybe your emails just happen to come around the holidays.
Some of the more appropriate choices include:
Although using a couple of emojis may increase your chances of getting a reply, there are some options that should be off-limits as they’ll make you seem very unprofessional.
Of course, the appropriateness may vary depending on the context of your email!
For example:
Does the channel you’re using affect the use of emojis?
YES!
Let’s be honest here, each channel holds it’s own implications.
Reaching out via email can be a more formal approach (again, depending on your area and context), so in certain occasions using emojis could be wildly inappropriate.
However, if you reach out via LinkedIn you could have more freedom and flexibility with the use of emojis.
Lastly, if you reach out via Facebook, it’s understood that it’s a very casual channel as people tend to use Facebook to chat with friends or acquaintances, leaving behind a more formal attitude.
So, if you’re joining a Facebook group for example, emojis are certainly the way to go!
The risks of using emojis in cold emails
As seen in the data above, adding emojis to your cold emails can cause 13% lower reply rates if used in the body text and 6% lower open rates in the subject.
Plus, a study by the Nielsen-Norman Group showed that emojis in emails made people feel 26% less likely to trust or engage with the message. In the study’s terms, emojis “increased negative sentiment.”
Clearly, the risk of using emojis in your cold outreach is coming off as spammy or unprofessional, and getting fewer opens and replies.
However, the Nielsen-Norman study only took into account e-commerce marketing emails, which already come off as spammy to most prospects
A screenshot of an email inbox showing emails from big companies like Bed Bath & Beyond, Sears, Kohl
Source: Nielsen-Norman Group
And even this study mentioned that emojis could be worthwhile “where they truly add value.”