Have you checked out the other posts in our emoji series? If so, you’ll recall that emojis can invoke emotion, make a message seem more positive, and make you more likable for using ‘em.
In the customer service context — such as responding to customer email queries or even interacting with customers via a website chatbot — the question of whether to use emojis will naturally come up occasionally.
When added sparingly, customer service emojis can convey your emotions more visually and improve the customer’s perception of you.
In this blog post, we’ll look at the top 10 customer service emojis that work best for customer service interactions.
| Emoji symbol | Emoji name | Where can you use it? | Example emoji usage |
| 😀 | Smiley | To express gladness or happiness. | “Hi, Stephanie 😄, I’m here to assist you. Let’s get this sorted out.” |
| 👍 | Thumbs up | To say ‘yes’ or ‘OK’. | “You’re welcome! 👍 I’m glad to hear that the issue has been resolved.” |
| 💁🏼♀️ | Information desk | You can use this emoji while introducing yourself as a customer support agent. | “Hello! I’m Diane 💁🏼♀️, here to assist you with any questions you have about our product pricing.” |
| ✅ | Checkmark | To convey actions and activities or add them as bullets. | “Thank you for letting us know! Your billing information has been updated successfully ✅” |
| 📥 | Email inbox | To remind customers to check their inboxes. | “I’ve received your email, and I’ll review it right away 📥 We’ll get back to you with a response as soon as possible.” |
| 🖥️ | Desktop computer | Use this while discussing hardware/software-related issues. | “I’m sorry to hear that you’re facing issues with our software on your 🖥️. Let’s work together to resolve this.” |
| 📞 | Telephone | The classic customer support emoji. Use it while adding customer care numbers. | “I’m here to help! If you’d like, I can give you a call to discuss the issue in more detail and guide you through the steps to resolve it 📞” |
| ⭐ | Star emoji | To highlight exceptional customer feedback. | “Thank you so much for your kind words! ⭐ We truly appreciate your feedback and are delighted that you had a great experience with our service.” |
| ❤️ | Heart emoji | To convey genuine appreciation and gratitude for your customers. | “❤️ We’re thrilled to hear you’re satisfied with our service!” |
| 😞 | Sad/dissatisfied emoji | To empathize with customer concerns, especially dissatisfaction or frustration. | “I’m sorry to hear that you’re feeling this way about our product 😞 We truly value your feedback and want to make things right.” |
Table of Contents
1. Smiley Emoji
The smiley face emoji conveys positivity and happiness, two things you’d like your customers to feel after getting off the line, whether through chat or email.
With more smiley emojis than ever, which one should you use? The smiley without teeth? The one who’s smiling boldly? The blushing and smiling emoji?
The smiling face with smiling eyes is one of the standard smiley emojis and is a safe bet. Although this emoji is blushing a little, it’s expressing its gladness without being too overt about it.
Some smiley emojis can be a bit much and make your sentiment feel cheap or inauthentic, which effectively undoes all the work and time that you just put into the customer.
If you are going to use the smiley emoji, you might do so at the beginning or end of the conversation, but choose one, not both.
In digital communications (texting, professional emails, live chat, etc), emojis compensate for the lack of facial expressions, body language, warmth, and positive emotions that real-life conversations bring to the table.
There’s little need to incorporate this emoji into the middle of a chat as you’re helping the customer.
2. Thumbs Up
The thumbs-up emoji is widely understood to mean “okay” or “yes.” Thus, it’s an appropriate emoji to put into your customer service emoji collection.
As we discussed in our post on business-friendly emojis, you should use the default cartoony yellow skin tone thumbs-up sign rather than try to choose a natural skin tone.
After all, your skin tone might not be everyone’s skin tone that you deal with. You don’t want to come across as exclusionary to your customers over an emoji.
Some people just send a thumbs-up when messaging colleagues or friends and don’t add any text. We don’t recommend that in your situation.
You can send a thumbs up as part of your message, explaining that you’re actively working on a customer’s problem or that you’ve solved it. However, simply sending an emoji in a business setting can come across as somewhat passive-aggressive and unprofessional.
👉Discover the most effective customer management strategies that will transform your business in our detailed article! 📈
3. Information Desk Emoji
If you read our post on confusing emojis decoded, then you’ll remember that the emoji of the person with their hand out is not showing off a chic new haircut.
Rather, they’re the information desk emoji!
Even if your job is that of a customer service attendant and not a front-desk employee at a hotel, the information desk emoji still suits your job duties awfully well. Keep it handy to use.
If you want to humanize your introductory messages to the customer, you might include the emoji when introducing yourself. You can select from a man or woman version of the emoji with a variety of different skin or hair colors to match yours.
There shouldn’t be a need to repeat the use of this emoji for the rest of your correspondence with the customer. It’s more effective if you use it just once.
Read also: 150+ Emojis and Their Meaning Explained 😀
4. Checkmark
You can choose among several versions of the checkmark, including a big, bold black checkmark and a smaller white checkmark in a neon green box. Checkboxes are one of the most commonly used customer service emojis.
The checkmark conveys activity and productivity. If you’re emailing back and forth with a customer about a problem and you’re on the case, you might send the checkmark in the email subject line or body.
Compared to many emojis, the checkmark is rather innocuous. It blends in well and doesn’t look like an emoji, especially if you hold up this emoji to everything else that we’ve discussed on this list so far.
Even so, follow the rules of emoji use and only use the checkmark sparingly. Any emoji you abuse gets old fast, even the subtler ones.
5. Email Inbox Emoji
The inbox emoji includes several variations. Most are email inboxes, including an empty inbox with a red arrow atop the inbox and another inbox with an envelope dropping in.
The email inbox likely makes a lot more sense in your customer service dealings than a physical mailbox.
You might use the email inbox emoji to let a customer know that an email from your company is on its way to their inbox.
This emoji doesn’t have a lot of uses in customer service besides that, though.
Read also: 10 Advertising Emojis To 10X Your Conversion Rates
6. Computer Emoji
Most emoji keyboards have only one computer emoji. If you’re on an Apple device, then the computer will be a photorealistic Mac.
On other devices, the computer will look less like any particular make and model.
There’s also a separate keyboard emoji if you’re interested in that.
Is there a specific context in which you might send a customer the computer emoji? Not really, but it’s one to hold on to if you ever need it.
Read also: Business Emojis – Are They Professionalism Killers?
7. Phone Emoji
The next customer service emoji we’ll look at is the phone emoji. You’ll also spot a red rotary phone emoji — a little more old-school.
If you were going to call a customer or ask for their phone number to get in touch, you might include this emoji in your message, but even then, it’s not wholly necessary.
Read also: Emoji with Symbols – Dress Up Your Marketing Messages
8. Star Emoji
The star emoji is a fantastic way to convey appreciation, recognition, and feedback for your customer support interactions.
The star emoji is universally recognized, making it a safe bet for excellence and approval from your consumers.
It should be noted that the star emoji should be used sparingly and at the end of the conversation (after addressing and resolving all customer issues) — not in the middle of a query.
9. Heart Emoji
The red ‘heart’ emoji is a universal symbol of love, affection, and warmth, making it a great choice when you want to display genuine feelings.
Like the star emoji, it’s best when used sparingly and at the end of a conversation. Conclude your conversation with the heart emoji (if the customer issues are addressed and resolved) to express genuine appreciation for your customers.
Read also: Smiles, Winks, and Hearts: Unlocking Snapchat Emoji Meanings
10. Sad Emoji
The sad face emoji is generally used to convey your sympathy, as it allows you to acknowledge your customer’s disappointment and frustration without feeding into the negativity.
The key here is to use this emoji when initially addressing customers’ problems/frustrations and then moving to more positive emojis as you work towards a resolution with your customers.
Always focus on addressing and resolving customer complaints promptly.
Read also: Emoji Marketing: New Marketing Trend — Make Your Business Memorable
When to Use and When NOT to Use Emojis
While using emojis in your customer service conversations is important and beneficial, it’s even more important to know when not to use them.
Don’t overuse emojis
Think about how emojis affect your brand image.
Think about your target audience, business industry, and brand image. Does using emojis help or harm your brand image? Generally speaking, most brands have customers from various backgrounds, meaning they may have differing views on emojis.
Don’t use emojis on the first go
Testing the waters to see how customers converse is always a good idea. If your customers are using emojis, then use emojis by all means.
This is especially true in positive scenarios, as not using emojis back may seem cold and distanced.
Using emojis at the right time, with the right person can help customer service agents build rapport and improve customer relations.
Avoid too many emojis
Follow the basic rule – overusing anything is bad.
The key here is balance. Avoid excessive use of emojis, especially when something bad has happened. If you are in a serious conversation with your customers and they seem frustrated, it’s best to avoid using emojis until the issue is resolved.
As mentioned before, a single emoji is enough to empathize with your customers and focus on the issue.
Read also: Customer Experience Quotes to Inspire Your Team on CX
Trivia: World Emoji Day
Did you know that World Emoji Day, celebrated on the 17th of July, was chosen as the date simply because it appears as the date on the calendar emoji 📅? Yes, that’s right!
Started in 2014, World Emoji Day is an annual event created to honor those cute icons that have become an indispensable part of our digital communication, breaking language barriers and breathing life into our messages.
Conclusion
There you have it: ten customer service emojis you can slip into an email or chat correspondence with a customer. No matter which ones you liked the most, remember only to use emojis occasionally!
What’s your favorite customer service emoji? Let us know in the comments below.
