Data from the Emoji Consumer Science team (yes, they exist) recently revealed that 92% of the world’s population now use the visual icons at least several times a year.
While there are numerous online reports that give credence to the idea that emojis are a fantastic marketing tool, little has been known about the effectiveness of them in regards to push notifications. Thankfully, Leanplum and App Annie have released a Mobile Marketing Trend report this week that reveals some rather interesting information about our favorite little picture friends.
We’ve gone through the report, which analyzed over 2.6 billion push notification in 2016, with an emoji comb to bring you some of the key findings, below:
1. Emojis Increase Open Rates in Push Notifications by 85%
Push notifications that featured emojis saw an open rate of 4.51% – up on the 2.44% for those without.
Interestingly, the increase on Android devices (135%), as opposed to iOS devices (50%), suggests that the length of time a notification is viewable has a big effect on its chances of being opened.
Android’s operating system, for example, displays a small notification on the top of user’s screen even after their phone or device is unlocked, whereas iOS devices only display alerts on a user’s lock screen.
2. Emoji Usage in Push Notifications is on the Increase
There was a 163% percentage increase in the number of emojis used in push notifications in 2016 compared to the previous year, the report revealed.
Why such a sudden upsurge? It’s likely to do with the fact that the amount of emojis available for marketers to chooses between increased by roughly 10% in the last year, giving them a greater scope to find an icon that related to what they were trying to sell.
For the first time, users were also able to pick between a range of genders and ethnicities for the same emoji, making the medium more inclusive than ever before.
3. Millennials are Obsessed with Emojis
The fact that millennials tend to use emojis more than any other age group isn’t news to anyone, but what’s perhaps is interesting is the fact that they also seem to react to push notifications featuring emojis more than any other age group as well.
Data from the report showed that millennials spent on average 20% longer on an app that used emojis in push notifications than the 25-44-year-old age group. That figure jumped to 70% when compared with users over the age of 45.
The key takeaway? Around 98% of millennials now own a smartphone, according to Nielsen’s Mobile Insights, so if they’re your target market, emojis should be used in all elements of your communication.
4. Apps are Generating More Income Than Ever Before
Revenue from app stores increased by 80% from 2014 to 2016, the report revealed, with the iOS store leading the way.
What this suggests is that mobile marketers that can target their users with personalized notifications that make use of emojis could make 2017 their most profitable year yet.
SME Paid Under
Comments are closed.