Published: Nov 22, 2018
Last update: Sep 29, 2022
Ecommerce Marketing Retail SMS Marketing

Do you want to improve your marketing? Send emoticons via SMS with LabsMobile

Emoticons SMS
Do you want to improve your marketing? Send emoticons via SMS with LabsMobile
5 (100%) 12 votes

Would you like to be able to send SMS with emojis to your business contacts? Traditionally, these types of messages allowed nothing more than the use of alphanumeric and punctuation characters … It was not possible in any case to include icons in the body of the text. However, thanks to the use of Unicode code, we can say all that has changed.

Can they include SMS emojis? Unicode messages

Unicode is a standard for character encoding. In other words, a large table that translates sets of bits into symbols; with over fifty thousand entries, it brings together the signs of all European alphabets, many of the Oriental alphabets and many more.

Why are we interested in all this? Very simple: initially, mobile phones used GSM encoding, which allowed more characters per message; however, their variety was limited to only 138 symbols, not even including all the Western alphabets. With Unicode this limitation disappears: not only does it includes signs with which to communicate with everyone, but also emojis. In fact, the reason WhatsApp emoticons are always so recognizable in any context is because they have been in the contents of the Unicode standard since the beginning, and ended up prevailing all over the planet.

That is why texts in Unicode format, although limited to 70 characters compared to the 138 offered by GSM, allow us to send SMS with emoticons.

Send emoticons via SMS in the world of marketing

Marketing via messages seeks to establish direct contact with the client, a sense of personal treatment… And sending SMS with emoticons helps give our text a relaxed and affable tone.

Many types of emojis can be used, from business-related images to simple colors and striking forms, but the most used are:

  • The star, often used to value a service or product.
  • The bell, in relation to an alert.
  • The hand making a stop sign, to indicate a wake-up call in the reading.
  • The pointing hand, to indicate a line of text in particular.

Why would you want to send SMS with emoticons?

As you can see in the above list, the most used icons are mostly elements that sort the message so that a simple glance lets the client know what are the important points and where he or she must look; this way the context of the text and its points of interest are captured as quickly as possible.

But, additionally, the use of SMS emojis will give your texts a much closer nuance; it puts us at the client’s level, creating a one-on-one relationship which, when used well, can translate into an increase in conversion to sales.