Emojis, netspeak, slangโฆ Character limitations on social platforms have spawned an entirely new language online. Sometimes we even hashtags things โIRLโ โ in real life. Itโs just how we talk now.
Decoding this new language and taking it into account is paramount to understanding consumer conversations on social media. This includes colloquialisms, misspellislngs, slang, sarcasm โ and yes, emojis.
Hereโs why what we like to call โslanguageโ shouldnโt be overlooked.
Half the conversation isnโt enough
Emojis donโt just add emphasis or explain the tone of comments โ they can (and do) replace real words. When sports fans add a blue heart to a tweet, for instance, we know theyโre talking about Duke ball (at least, if Duke is currently playing).
But it can be much more complicated than that. Letโs say, for example, someone tweets:
โTaco bell ๐ฅsauce ๐ฏ.โ
If youโre Taco Bell, and you donโt understand and account for emojis, you have no way of knowing whatโs being said about your sauce. (FYI, the tweeter above thinks Taco Bellโs fire sauce is totally delicious.)
Some people may think emojis are ruining language, but thatโs a conversation for another day. Whatโs great about emojis, from the brand/marketer perspective, is the way they clue you in to consumer emotions โ something we already know is a crucial part of the social equation.
Thatโs why we made sure our Slanguage Tracker understands this increasingly popular element of human language online. Because when you decode the slang and know what people are saying (really, really saying) you can put those insights to work in a number of ways. Like creating new audience segments based on common interests โ beyond the broad demographics of old.
You can find unlikely audiences youโd never have found otherwise.
Speaking of consumer emotionsโฆ
We let the word out about our slanguage decoder and itโs a hit! Someone even tweeted us a compliment โ how often does that happen?!
Itโs actually the kind of thing you could experience all the time when youโre able to zero in on the social conversation at a dimensional level.
Most importantly, you can use slanguage authentically, without sounding like the lame parent trying to โkick itโ with the young kids. Thatโs important, because you trying too hard can have the opposite effect.
The most effective brands are the ones that donโt use social to throw products at consumers, but instead get into the consumerโs world simply to know whatโs up. Thatโs how you really engage.
Itโs important to know what your audience is saying โ no matter how they are saying it. Our slanguage decoder works overtime to get to the heart of what your audience is thinking and feeling. So you can spend YOUR time connecting. When you can do that, youโll be #blessed.
Ready to crack the slanguage code? Reach out for more info about how you can gain a deeper understanding of consumers on social today!
Image from Jonathan Rolonde
