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Emojis in emails and subject lines

How to add emojis to your messages

Written by Zoltan Wagner

Using Emojis in Emails and Subject Lines

You can paste emojis anywhere into your emails ✉️, including the subject line, pre-header text, and the body of your message.

While emojis can be a great way to make your emails stand out in a crowded inbox, there are a few best practices and technical limitations to keep in mind before you hit send.

Do Emojis Actually Increase Open Rates?

The short answer: It depends on your audience. Historically, emojis have been shown to increase open rates because they act as visual "pattern interrupters" among text-only subject lines. However, as emojis have become more common, their impact varies heavily by industry.

  • B2C (Business-to-Consumer) and lifestyle audiences often respond well to the emotion and urgency of emojis.

  • B2B (Business-to-Business) audiences may perceive them as less professional, which can sometimes lower open rates.

Pro Tip: Because every audience is unique, we highly recommend using Envoke's A/B Testing feature. Send Version A with an emoji and Version B without one to see what your specific subscribers prefer!

Best Practices for Using Emojis

If you decide to use emojis, keep these golden rules in mind:

  1. Don't replace words with emojis: Accessibility is crucial. Screen readers will read the literal name of the emoji out loud.

    • ❌ Bad: "Get your 🚗 ready for winter!" (Reads as: "Get your automobile ready for winter!")

    • ✅ Good: "Get your car ready for winter! ❄️"

  2. Keep it relevant: Use emojis that directly complement your message rather than using them just to grab attention.

  3. Use them sparingly: Stick to 1 or 2 emojis at the end or beginning of the subject line. Overusing emojis (e.g., "🔥🚨 SALE 🚨🔥") can trigger spam filters and hurt your deliverability.

Will emojis display correctly in all email clients?

Emoji support is nearly universal on modern devices, but they still won't look identical on every screen.

The appearance of an emoji is dictated by the recipient's operating system (Apple, Windows, Android) and their email client (Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail).

  • Most mobile devices (which account for roughly half of all email opens) and modern webmail clients will display emojis beautifully.

  • If a contact views your email on a heavily outdated operating system or an older version of desktop Outlook, they may see a hollow rectangle (▯), a question mark (), or the word "emoji" instead.

If the possibility of a broken character ⍰ in your subject line is too risky for your brand, you may want to stick to plain text. But if you're communicating with a modern audience, the visual benefits usually outweigh the risks!

How to add emojis to Envoke messages

Step 1: Open your emoji picker or copy an emoji

The easiest way to insert an emoji is to use your computer's built-in keyboard shortcut:

  • Mac: Press Command ⌘ + Control + Spacebar

  • Windows: Press the Windows Key + . (period)

Alternatively, you can find and copy emojis from a free directory like Emojipedia.

Step 2: Paste it into your message

Simply click into your email body, subject line, or pre-header text field and insert the emoji.

Step 3: Always send a test!

Before launching your broadcast, always send a test message to yourself. Check it on both a desktop computer and a mobile device to ensure the emoji renders the way you want it to.

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