Do Emojis Increase Engagement on Social Media? What the Data Actually Says
The research shows emojis boost engagement up to a point—then they start to hurt. Here's the platform-by-platform breakdown of what works, what doesn't, and where the sweet spot actually is.
Do Emojis Increase Engagement on Social Media?
You've probably heard that emojis boost engagement. The data mostly backs this up.
But the real question isn't whether to use them. It's how many and where.
The research shows a sweet spot. Miss it in either direction and you're either leaving engagement on the table or undermining your credibility. We dug into the studies so you don't have to.
Why Emojis Work
Emojis work because they make you seem more human.
A peer-reviewed study in the Journal of Interactive Marketing analyzed tweets from top celebrity and corporate brands and found that emoji presence increases both likes and retweets. The mechanism? Perceived playfulness. Emojis signal that there's a real person behind the account, not a corporate robot.
They also catch the eye. In a wall of text, a splash of color stops the scroll.
The numbers support this. According to Sprout Social, tweets with emojis see roughly 25% higher engagement than those without. Facebook posts with emojis get 57% more interactions. And in Sprout's own LinkedIn ad test, the emoji variation pulled in 84% of all downloads with a 400% lower cost per lead than the version without.
Emojis aren't just decoration. They're doing real work.
The Sweet Spot Problem
More isn't always better.
A 2025 study in the Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing analyzed 64,547 tweets from 82 B2B brands and found an inverted U-shaped relationship between emoji count and engagement. Emojis help up to a point. Then they start to hurt. The researchers put it plainly: "Too many emojis can diminish fluency and undermine professionalism."
LinkedIn data tells a similar story. A study of 4.6 million posts found that using zero emojis gives you a 3.09% chance of hitting 100 likes. Add 15 or 16 emojis and that probability jumps to 10.38%. But keep adding and it drops back down. The researcher found an asymptote around 18 emojis. Beyond that, no benefit.
And then there's what doesn't work at all. Hootsuite's 2025 Social Media Trends report found that emoji-only comments are "a total bust." Comments between 10 and 99 characters drive the most engagement. Anything shorter, including emoji-only responses, fails.
The pattern is clear. Emojis work as enhancement, not replacement.
The Contrarian Finding
Not everyone agrees the effect is real.
Agorapulse ran a controlled test on their own Twitter account: 100 tweets with emojis versus 100 without. They tested one, two, three, four and five emojis per post. The result? No meaningful difference in impressions or engagement.
Their conclusion: "Don't feel like you 'have' to put emojis in posts to feel hip and millennial."
It's also worth noting that the widely cited "25% more engagement" stat from WordStream came from a single paid tweet A/B test. One tweet with an emoji, one without. That's thin methodology.
The takeaway isn't that emojis don't work. It's that they're not magic. Content still matters most. Emojis might give you an edge, but they won't save a weak post.
Platform Breakdown
Here's what we know platform by platform.
Twitter/X
Academic research supports a positive effect. The Journal of Interactive Marketing study found that emojis increase likes and retweets, with placement mattering: emojis work best when they precede and directly relate to the text. But the Agorapulse test found no effect at all. Your mileage may vary.
This is where we have the strongest data. The 4.6 million post study found a clear relationship between emoji use and engagement, with a sweet spot around 15 or 16 emojis. Worth noting: 80% of LinkedIn posts use zero emojis. Simply using them helps you stand out.
The data here is older but consistent. Posts with emojis see 57% more interactions and 33% more shares. Ad tests show major improvements when emojis appear in headlines.
Studies suggest 48% higher engagement for posts with emojis. But the sourcing is weaker than other platforms. Directionally positive, not definitive.
Bluesky
No engagement data exists yet. The platform is too new. Mirror the Twitter approach until we know more.
Quick Reference
| Platform | Recommendation | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Twitter/X | 1-3 emojis | Positive effect but contrarian data exists; don't overdo it |
| 3-10 emojis | Strong data; diminishing returns past 15 | |
| 1-3 emojis | Boosts interactions; works well in ads | |
| 1-5 emojis | Positive effect; weaker data | |
| Bluesky | 1-3 emojis | No data yet; mirror Twitter approach |
The Bottom Line
Emojis work. But they work as seasoning, not the main course.
They add warmth. They catch the eye. They signal that there's a human behind the post. The data across platforms is mostly positive, with some caveats about overdoing it.
The key is restraint. Too many emojis undermine professionalism and readability. Emoji-only content fails outright. The goal is to enhance your message, not replace it.
This is why Steadily gives you the choice. If emojis fit your voice, turn them on. If they don't, leave them off. Either way, now you know what the data says.
Sources and Further Reading
Emoji, Playfulness, and Brand Engagement on Twitter Journal of Interactive Marketing (McShane, Pancer, Poole & Deng, 2021) Peer-reviewed study analyzing tweets from top celebrity and corporate brands. Found that emoji presence increases likes and retweets, with the effect mediated by perceived playfulness.
Can emojis and B2B mix? The effects of emojis and emoji–text interactions on B2B social media engagement Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing (Deng, McShane, Wang & Banu, 2025) Analysis of 64,547 tweets from 82 B2B brands finding an inverted U-shaped relationship between emoji count and engagement. Too many emojis diminish fluency and undermine professionalism.
LinkedIn: the surprising effect of emojis on the virality of posts IntoTheMinds (Dr. Pierre-Nicolas Schwab, 2021) Study of 4.6 million LinkedIn posts showing that emoji use increases the probability of viral engagement, with a sweet spot around 15-16 emojis and diminishing returns beyond 18.
Social Media Trends 2025 Hootsuite Annual trends report finding that emoji-only comments fail to drive engagement. Comments between 10 and 99 characters perform best.
How to Use Emoji in Marketing to Drive Engagement Sprout Social Overview of emoji effectiveness across platforms, including first-party data from Sprout's own LinkedIn ad tests showing 400% lower cost per lead for emoji variations.
Will Adding Emojis to Tweets Lead to More Impressions and Engagement? Agorapulse Social Media Lab (2021) Controlled test of 200 tweets finding no meaningful difference in impressions or engagement between posts with and without emojis. A useful contrarian data point.