Emojis help Twitter target ads at users
Twitter is now targeting ads at users based on their emoji use. Emojis have been tweeted 110 billion times since 2014, according Twitter. Tweeting emojis of food is one prime example where brands advertising that foodstuff can advertise themselves to that user. Twitter states that the options for brands are very expansive, considering there are 1,851 emojis available on current mainstream platforms. Meanwhile, other social media sites have expanded the availability of emojis; Facebook introduced 1,500 in May whilst Google has introduced new emojis targeted at women.

All those winky face, pizza, dancers and eggplant emojis could soon be used to trigger ads across the Twitter network. Just in time for World Emoji Day on July 17-yes, that is a thing, the social media platform is giving advertisers emoji keyword targeting for Twitter Ads.

According to Twitter, over 110 billion emojis have been Tweeted since 2014. Advertisers will now be able to target users that have tweeted with a certain emoji or engaged with tweets with a certain emoji, with the help of select Twitter Official Partners: AdParlor, Amobee, HYFN, Perion,SocialCode, and 4C.

“Emojis have become a ubiquitous way for people, publishers, and brands to express their feelings,” Twitter Ads API Product Manager Neil Shah wrote in a blog post. “This new feature uses emoji activity as a signal of a person’s mood or mindset.”

Now, brands can:

Connect with people based on their expressed sentiment

Target people who Tweet food emojis

Reach people based on their passions

With emoji targeting, Domino’s and Pizza Hut could target people who use the pizza emoji. Brands could identify which sports team you support through the use of national flag emojis. According to the Unicode Standard, there are up to 1,851 emoji characters supported on current platforms, up to and including Unicode 9.0. The options for brands are pretty expansive.

The feature is rolling out to advertisers globally today.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, the 2015 word of the year was none other than:

All major technology platforms have increased their emoji ratio this year. Facebook Messenger launched 1,500 new emojis to give users the ability to customise the emojis characteristics including race, gender and sexuality. Google is pushing for 13 new female emojis to highlight diverse female careers and roles. The new emojis show woman in roles such as doctors, tech workers, mechanics, farmers, educators and rock stars.