Question of the Week: What Is Emoji-Based Targeting?

People love emojis. 😃

Okay. Not enough to warrant the making of The Emoji Movie - which eked out a dismal 10% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. A 😢state of affairs, to be sure.

Hollywood aside, one internet platform has a deep affinity for them though.

In 2016, Twitter Introduced Emoji-Based Targeting

According to Twitter, people have pasted more than 110 billion emojis into tweets since 2014.

So Twitter now lets brands target ads based on the emojis that people use in their tweets. The brands need only to buy their Twitter ads through AdParlor, Amobee, HYFN, Perion, SocialCode or 4C.

So how does it work?

Let’s say you tweet, retweet, like or reply to a tweet with a 🏀, for instance. You might soon start seeing ads for basketball shoes, sports equipment or tickets to the next game. A 🎸 would prompt ads for music stores or guitar lessons. And the frequent occurrence of 🍟is likely to spur ads for McDonald’s, Burger King, or possibly the nearest center for cardiology. 

It might seem weird at first. But think about it. 

Emojis Are Essentially Visual Keywords

Unless you are severely pathological and reading this from prison, you likely know what emotions are connected with😍😜😤😭,  as well as all of the other faces. Any one of them used with great frequency will be a neon arrow for brands looking to elicit or appease a specific emotion. 

It makes sense. 

Brands promoting wellness might target someone who continually uses 🤒 in order to promote their “get better” product in much the same way that a manufacturer of golf clubs would be drawn to someone who continually uses🏌. The first example is bit more abstract, but you get the point.

Here’s another important point:

Brands Can Only Target One Emoji At A Time

So if, for example, you are prone to using picturesque tweets like 👁😡 🍔 (I hate hamburgers) or 👁✡️🎳(I am a Jewish bowler), you will not start receiving ads for anger management groups, bowling alleys or, in both cases, opticians. The branding applies only to the single use of an emoji.

Yeah, it’s kind of a bummer. Especially if you’re looking for anti-hamburger establishments or Jewish bowling leagues. 

But it will probably prompt you to think twice about using 💩 by itself anymore on Twitter. And to ponder instead with what it will be well-paired.

If you come up with the perfect solution, let us know.