Last week, Oxford Dictionaries named their annual “Word of the Year.” While this announcement tends to create some noise on social media every year, this year’s word is even more buzzworthy because it’s not actually a word—it’s a pictograph. That’s right, an emoji—specifically, the “face with tears of joy emoji”. The reveal resulted in many very real tears of joy, laughter, and eventually confusion after folks realized it wasn’t a joke.
What does this mean for businesses who are constantly trying to stay up-to-date with new ways to communicate with their target audience? Should they throw out the dictionary and try to get their message across in a stream of emojis? Not exactly, but they can revisit the ways they are currently communicating with customers, and reassess how their messages come across. Below are four messaging takeaways businesses can glean from the new “word” of the year.
● Be relatable
In today’s competitive business landscape, consumers looking for a particular product or service have multiple options and access to product reviews that might sway their purchase decision. With so many choices out there, brands need to stand out and make an impact, and what better way to achieve flair than by being a brand customers can relate to and support.
Relating to customers and building loyalty can be as simple as speaking their language. Because, let’s be honest—no one enjoys feeling sold to, and the language you use when speaking to a friend is often different than how you might speak to a customer. Changing up your messaging is a way to express how your brand values a customer’s relationship rather than their money. In some cases, that language can look like a GIF, meme, hashtag, or—you got it—even an emoji.
● Keep it simple
Research has shown us that the average number of brands or advertisements a person sees per day is over 5,000! That’s a lot—in fact, more than a lot. With so much brand clutter out there, businesses need to keep messaging simple, short, and to the point. This goes across the board of external messaging from marketing, sales and social, all the way to PR. The tears of joy emoji uses one image to display a whole range of emotions. It doesn’t get more straight the point than that. Businesses who use too many words to get their message across struggle to make an impression. It’s not easy to convey every message with an emoji, but if it can be done in one word or image, go for it.
● Have a little fun!
Life's too short for boring, "corporate" customer transactions and stale engagement. Throw out the stiff, cold e-newsletters and have a little fun with photos, videos, and fun phrases. If a business doesn’t have the resources to create authentic video or graphic content, the Internet is crawling with usable content. Which leads us to...
● Maintain professionalism
With the well-respected Oxford Dictionaries choosing an image for their “word” of the year, it can leave some businesses wondering how to walk the fine line between casual messaging and professionalism. Companies have been facing this issue for years as they assess how to position their social media pages. But while messaging may be getting less “sales-y” or “corporate” and more casual, it’s imperative for businesses to not lose sight of professionalism. They must ensure messaging is still on brand and in line with their product and service. Add a little flair, simplicity, and relatability into your message, but don't get too caught up in being trendy and lose sight of your brand.
Adjusting messaging to make a lasting impression may mean a shift in brand guidelines and focus—and maybe a few tears of joy. However, through messaging that is relatable, simple, fun and professional, businesses can continue to drive ahead towards growth, success, and exceptional customer experiences. ;-)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Fabiola Stein is Sage’s Global Head of Marketing for Sage One, a cloud accounting and invoicing app for small businesses. Based at Sage in England, she handles the global digital marketing requirements for Sage business units in 14 countries. As a key player in marketing the Sage One brand, her dynamic, creative, and innovative initiatives have resulted in sustainable, profitable growth for the business. Stein is a servant-minded leader who thrives on partnering with others to collaboratively achieve corporate goals. Dedicated to encouraging women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) fields, she has been a guest speaker and lecturer at the National University of Ireland, Dell Women’s Network and Galway Mayo Institute of Technology, among others. While Stein is a marketing strategist, innovator, and tactical leader from a global perspective, she has a strong passion for helping small businesses succeed.
As a computer science engineer and who oversees all online content, Stein has the unique, versatile ability to comprehend, extrapolate and process data and details from the back-end to effectively communicate and drive creative solutions and significant front-end results. Before joining Sage, her past notable professional achievements included rapid promotion at Dell in Europe and winning the prestigious Dell European Gold Performance Award.
Stein enjoys giving back and has participated in numerous charity runs and volunteered for Irish Therapy Dogs. An avid globetrotter, she is fluent in English, Spanish and will likely understand and respond to you if you speak to her in Italian or Portuguese. Refrain from getting between her and her favorite gelato. LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/fabiolastein. Twitter @fabiola_stein.
