Emoji Cheat Sheet

Emojis look different across devices (think iPhone vs. Android) because each company illustrates its emojis differently to align with the company’s brand style.

For example:

New emojis are added based on the following timeline:

• September: The Unicode Consortium meets and finalizes its annual update, which includes a list of approved characters.
• October - January: Following that update, companies like Apple, Google, and Microsoft design their version of these new emojis.
• March-April: The new emojis are then released to the public in the spring.

When it comes to choosing new emojis, the Unicode Consortium considers several factors, including whether the suggested emoji:

• Works at a small size
• Expresses multiple meanings (like a 🐷 demonstrating pig, hunger, or the Zodiac sign) and a new idea
• Has a substantial audience (which can be determined using Google Trends and Google Search)

The text-to-emoji converter takes the work out of choosing the right emoji (or spending time looking for the emoji you want). Type what you’re planning to say (or looking to convey) and it’ll suggest relevant emojis.

Here are a few examples:

Screen readers process emojis by reading aloud the emoji’s Unicode description. All emojis have an assigned description, which you can view on this tool or on Unicode.org.

A few examples of how screen readers work with emojis include:

• I am so excited! 😂🎉
• Great job! 👍
• The potatoes are hot, hot, hot! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

Dark mode (also known as night mode) is a color scheme for operating systems and programs that can affect how emojis appear. Emojis do not adapt their appearance for dark mode, which means emojis with a dark background (like 🖤) will be invisible to users.

Other dark-colored emojis include:

• ▪
• ◾
• ◼
• ⬛
• ⚫
• 🏴

For the best results when using emojis, consider previewing the design and message in dark and light mode to understand how the emojis will translate to different user experiences.

Use emojis based on the context:

• Who is the emoji directed to?
• What is the message (or emoji) in response to?
• How is the emoji rendered on different devices?
• Does the emoji (think 🍑) have multiple meanings?

Based on your answers, you can gauge whether it’s appropriate to use an emoji. Some common scenarios for using emojis appropriately include the following:

• When communicating with a friend or long-term colleague
• When posting on social media as an individual or business
• When sending an individual or business email communication
• When writing a title tag or meta description for a relevant page

Skip using emojis (and this emoji cheat sheet) in the following scenarios:

• When delivering crisis-related communications
• When meeting accessibility standards (while screen readers will read an emoji’s Unicode description, like “red heart” for ♥, excessive usage can affect the user experience)
• When developing formal documents, like a legal agreement or privacy policy

If you’re second-guessing the use of an emoji, skip it.

Using emojis in email marketing, like in subject lines or body copy, can help email marketing performance by improving open rates. A few studies have found the following, for example:

• Emojis generate a 56% higher open rate
• Emojis generate a 96% higher click-through rate

There is evidence, though, that users have started to get emoji fatigue (similar to ad fatigue), which can reduce the effectiveness of using emojis in email marketing campaigns.

Emojis can indirectly help with search engine optimization when used in title tags and meta descriptions. The appearance of emojis in these locations (which appear in search results) can improve click-through rates.

As search evolves to AI-enabled experiences, like with Google’s AI Overviews or ChatGPT conversations, so does the role of emojis. Companies, for example, can start using emojis within content to break up sections, highlight certain takeaways, and more.

Using emojis can help with SMS marketing by improving engagement rates. Compared to email marketing (where there is some user fatigue in emoji usage), using emojis in text messages is familiar to users.

However, it’s important to know that emojis contribute to SMS limits.

Yes. Emojis will load on any device, whether it’s a smartphone, tablet, desktop, or laptop. Each operating system — Mac, Windows, etc. — will display the emoji slightly different to stick with respective styles, but the essence of the emoji will remain the same.

This consistency means that every user will get the same experience with your emoji use, and you don’t have to alter your text depending on the device!

Emojis work across any digital platform, including but not limited to:

• Your website and/or blog
• Emails
• Social media sites
• Advertisements

You can incorporate emojis for different purposes, such as illustrating a point or adding emphasis to a line. Want help finding specific ways to use emojis in your campaigns? Our blog covers how to use emojis for marketing purposes.

Make sure that you copied the correct code or emoji and pasted it into a platform that supports emojis.

Alternatively, your emoji might be too new. Each emoji has a Unicode beneath it, which is the standardized method for conveying emojis across operating systems. If you are using a new iOS emoji that just came out, other platforms might not have caught up, leading to a question mark display.

The best step to avoiding this is using standard emojis, like smiley faces, hearts, or universal symbols. The emojis on our cheat sheet are all timely without being too new, so you can use these selections easily!