These 4 Brands Are Embracing the Twitter Emoji Craze

Twitter wants in on brands' obsession with emojis. Marketers including Coca-Cola and Dove have gone gaga for the miniature digital stickers that reward consumers for tweeting out branded hashtags.

Here's how four marketers are using Twitter emojis:

Coke

The soda brand became the first to pay for a custom Twitter emoji in September.

Each time someone tweeted #ShareaCoke, Twitter spit out an image of two Coca-Cola bottles clinking as part of its popular social campaign that also included personalized ads and out-of-home activations.

Ready for some fun? Tweet #ShareaCoke to help set a new @RecordSetter record for the world's largest cheers. *clink!* pic.twitter.com/9UmY5WrVKE

— Twitter (@twitter) September 17, 2015

All told, Twitter recorded 170,500 mentions of #ShareaCoke in one day and will use the Twitter graphic in other campaigns for the rest of 2015.

Starbucks

Red coffee cups have become an iconic part of the chain's holiday marketing, so it added a Twitter emoji to this year's campaign.

Tagging a post with #RedCups plugs an icon of a coffee cup into tweets.

Off to make someone's day. #StarbucksCard #RedCups pic.twitter.com/L7lnKqzZkU

— Starbucks Coffee (@Starbucks) November 5, 2015

On Instagram, people can post pictures of their cups with the hashtag to enter a contest that will award gift cards for the best pics.

Dove

Until yesterday, women emojis only had one hairstyle—straight and sleek.

Citing research that 82 percent of curly-haired women want more emoji choices, Unilever-owned Dove created an app and a Twitter graphic to support its "Love Your Curls" campaign.

Tweet 1 word to describe your curls. Use #LoveYourCurls for a surprise (hint: it's an emoji just for you)! pic.twitter.com/9DR0eNM3vs

— Dove (@Dove) November 4, 2015

Each time someone tweets #LoveYourCurls, a small image of a woman with curly hair and a heart appears.

India

The Indian government is sponsoring today's Promoted Trend—an ad format that costs roughly $200,000—with a custom emoji of a lion.

India is the first non-U.S. brand to create a custom graphic for the microblogging platform.

The #MakeInIndia hashtag and accompanying emoji promote the country as a center of global manufacturing.

#MakeInIndia becomes the 1st non-US based brand to get Twitter emoji! @TwitterIndia pic.twitter.com/nXbZIHaIhu

— Make in India (@makeinindia) November 4, 2015