The Performance Of Emojis In Email Subject Lines

Back in 2015, on a rainy day in the Mailjet London office, we decided to practice what we preach (or since we’re French… drink our own Champagne) and start experimenting with our A/X testing strategy. We’ve tested NSFW (Not Safe For Work) phrases, swear words (albeit British slang – we’re not that rude), Schadenfreude (be honest, you’re guilty of it too), curiosity and, of course, emojis.

As World Emoji Day was fast approaching, we thought we’d retest emojis in our weekly newsletters subject lines.

Before we begin, what's A/X Testing?
For those who have been living under a rock, and not keeping up-to-date with email marketing advances, A/X testing allows you, the email marketer, to send your emails confidently. It removes the guesswork of what works best by allowing you to test (up to 10) variations of the same email, and then sends the winning version to the remainder of your list, giving you the best possible chance to smash (I may have been indulging in Wimbledon a bit too much) your email campaign’s performance.

Our Approach
In 2016, we tested four different emojis, across four geographies. Globally, the best performing emoji, was the ‘joy’ emoji. This year, we decided to step it up: we used the four emojis we tested in 2016, versus four other emojis, across five geographies.

Our original plan was to test four brand spanking new emojis, but we quickly realised device compatibility was an issue. Attention email marketers: before you experiment with creative engagement tactics, like the use of emojis, test how these will be displayed across screens and devices.

So, all that is left to be said… Celebrate World Emoji Day with us, and check out the results of our subject line test.

This post was originally published on the Mailjet blog - https://www.mailjet.com/blog/news/infographic-world-emoji-day.