When book publishers use emoji in their Instagram marketing, their key is balancing quality and quantity.
There are many articles online that highlight the importance of companies using emoji in captions to increase engagement within Instagram book marketing. Most examples feature restaurants or other large, well-established commercial brands. But does this principle hold true with book publishing companies as well?
To answer this question, I gathered data from the Instagram posts of several book publishers (Hachette, HarperCollins, MacMillan, Penguin Random House, and Simon & Schuster). This data was collected from several of the most recent posts from each publisher. I looked at the number of emoji used in each caption and analyzed how that corresponds to the number of likes on the post.
Posts with one emoji got the most likes on average, and posts with 2 emoji got the next highest amount of likes on average. Posts with no emoji got the lowest number of likes. We can infer from this data that the audience of these Instagram accounts enjoy seeing an emoji or two when reading these captions but might be turned away from too many emoji or none at all.
Number of emoji in post | Average likes |
0 | 297 |
1 | 7,295 |
2 | 1,061 |
3 or more | 375 |
The company with the highest average of likes, Penguin Random House, used two emoji in their captions on average. The company with the lowest average likes, MacMillan, used an average of five emoji per caption. Companies that see more success in engagement on Instagram use a couple of emoji here and there, but they don’t overdo it. It’s important to find a balance between including relevant, aesthetically pleasing, and entertaining emoji in a company’s caption while also maintaining a professional and easy-to-read caption.
Publisher | Average Emoji Use | Average likes |
Hachette | 2.4 | 194.6 |
HarperCollins | 1.2 | 1,168.8 |
MacMillan | 5.4 | 156.4 |
Penguin Random House | 2.2 | 6,243.4 |
Simon & Schuster | 2.4 | 541.4 |
When it comes to Instagram book marketing, you need to bear in mind the audience and voice of the publishing company. Chances are the audience of these accounts enjoys reading and pays more attention to the captions than the normal Instagram user. Book publishing companies should be mindful of their post content and how they can connect with their audience in the best way possible.
Emoji are a great way to further engage the readers of an Instagram caption, but they should be used tastefully. As cliché as it sounds, quality over quantity is an essential principle when it comes to emoji for book publishers on Instagram.