The Newest Ad Placement: Custom Emojis

Twitter has stepped up its game in an effort to make the social media platform more visual and interactive for its users. First with the acquisition of the live broadcasting platform, Periscope. Now it’s capitalizing on the trend that has taken over its 140 character platform – emojis.

And select brands can join in on the fun too.  Here are some brands who have tested this new frontier.

Coca-colaWho better to launch with than this powerhouse and their “Share A Coke” campaign. If you type in #shareacoke, these clinking soda bottles will automatically appear in your tweet.

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They’re asking their fans to help with setting a world record of the largest cheers.

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Star WarsIn partnership with Disney and Lucasfilm, Twitter will be pushing out three custom emojis to promote the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens. These won’t just show up in your emoji selection, but users will need to actively use the hashtags #C3PO, #Stormtrooper and #BB8 within the Twitter app. And look out – apparently they’ll be rolling out many more characters as #TheForceAwakens.

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MTV – event-based tweets are Twitter’s bread and butter, so of course they rolled out custom emojis for an event like MTV’s Video Music Awards. And they’ve announced plans to create them for more.

Here’s a tiny moon man:

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But here’s what he looks like up-close:

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So what do you think about brands partnering to roll out emojis? A member from Twitter’s Media Strategy and Ops team offered his thoughts:

There’s a lot of room to expand this, obviously, but I personally think it could turn into a huge business for Twitter. Sure, they’re a cute way to lure partners in with extra native “advertising” at the moment, but this is pretty much a damn powerful “ad unit.”

For most brands out there who have not yet had an emoji created for them, it’s okay. Take a look at the emojis already available and if relevant, consider leveraging in your content — whether it’s on Twitter or on another platform like Instagram.

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Related Posts: What is an Emoji Strategy and How to Build One The Scope of Periscope and How Brands Can Benefit Live Video & Your Brand: A Simple How-To Guide Out with the Coke, in with the… alcoholic Coke? David v. Goliath: How Water Beat Big Soda The Golden Triangle – and Golden Rules – of Health Care Social Media