SMS Basics: Do’s and Don’ts of Texting Emojis

Customers text your business because they want to reach an actual human being—and emojis are an essential part of texting that makes messages feel human.

Here’s how to apply emojis to your business texts in a professional way.

1. Emojis and Character Count

Texts that include emojis take more data to send.

That’s because emojis switch a text message from standard characters to Unicode, or symbols, which have a different character count. For that reason—and others we'll cover below—you’re best off using emojis sparingly.

Text Request has a built-in emoji keyboard. We also include a character counter to help you track the length of your text as you add emojis to it.

2. When Emojis Work

It really only takes one emoji to capture a customer’s eyes and pique their interest.

Emojis are a visual component that can help you convey your message in a clear and engaging way. That’s why we recommend throwing in an occasional emoji where it feels natural, like:

Announcing a personalized upsell opportunity 📣
Trying to re-engage an old lead 👋
Sharing a solution or tool for a customer’s needs 🔧
Reaching out to celebrate a customer or company milestone 🎉

Note that most of these examples are either one-on-one or small group interactions—which leads to our next point.

3. When Emojis Don’t Work

Emojis in large mass texts can trigger spam filters.

This is especially true if you are using more than one emoji. Carriers view this as suspicious behavior, because they assume you’re trying to capture a consumer’s attention for scam-related reasons. Dollar signs in particular have been found to trigger spam filters, so we recommend avoiding them altogether.

When in doubt, never use emojis in a way that would be annoying if you were the one on the receiving end. For example:

Bad: TIME IS ALMOST OUT! ⏰ Our special offer ends TODAY! 🚨 Don’t miss out on your chance to save 🤑💲💸

Good: Hey there! 👋 Friendly reminder that you’ll get 15% off, if you schedule your next service by the end of the week: acmeservices.com/schedule See you soon!

Customers and carriers respond best when emojis are used in a way that is professional and simple.