The Complete Guide to Snapchat Emoji Meanings

• How Emojis Got Their Start
• What Do The Snapchat Emojis Mean?
  • Snapchat’s Top Emojis: Meanings and Explanations
• How to Add Snapchat Emojis to Your Videos and Pictures
• How to Make Your Own Snapchat Stickers
• Our Favorite Snapchat Doodles
• Snapchat Marketing

Emojis are a language all their own. The beloved symbols add emotions and humor to 💬 text, 📧 emails and 📱apps. They’re not only in the digital world. Their faces have appeared in products, pillows and Halloween costumes. Even if you're familiar with emojis, it's easy to get lost when it comes to emojis on Snapchat because they each have a unique meaning.

Today I’ll dive into Snapchat emoji meanings and touch on how you can leverage Snapchat marketing for your business!

How Emojis Got Their Start

Emojis were invented by Shigetaka Kurita for the Japanese mobile phone company NTT DoCoMo in the late 1990s. The Japanese translation of emoji is "picture" (e) and "character" (moji). While "emoji" is a sleek abbreviation of the word "emoticon", don't mistake it for its clunkier older sibling. Kurita's intention with emojis was to enable mobile phone users to message each other with images instantaneously, using as few characters and as little data as possible. Sounds a bit like how Snapchat works, doesn't it? 😉

Apple is credited with introducing the world to emojis by adding them to the iPhone's keyboard. According to NY Mag, Apple wanted to penetrate the Japanese market when it released the iPhone in 2007. Since Japanese mobile phones already contained emojis, it was both a wise move and a no-brainer for Apple to come equipped with an emoji keyboard. The emoji keyboard wasn't intended to be easily discoverable by North American markets, but savvy users discovered the emojis' hidden location. The rest is emoji history.

What Do The Snapchat Emojis Mean?

Snapchat is a social media photo-sharing app that lets you send pictures to your friends and followers for a limited time. Once the time limit expires, the picture disappears. It’s a fun way to directly share snippets of your life, goofy pictures and funny clips with select friends, or publish a 24-hour story to all of your Snapchat friends.

You may have seen emojis on Snapchat appear next to friends or celebrities you follow. All verified celebrity accounts, for example, have a gold star emoji next to their name. 

The Snapchat emojis by your friends’ names in your contact list are different. You’re the only one who can see 👀 them, and the emojis change based on how you interact with each person. 

A Breakdown of Snapchat’s Top Emojis

Source: Emojipedia 

Adding Snapchat Emojis to Your Videos and Pictures

Adding Snapchat emojis to your videos and Snaps is easy and fun.

• Make sure your app is up to date so you have access to the latest emojis.
• Open your Snapchat app and navigate to the camera. After you take the picture, tap the square icon in the right-hand menu.
• You’re in the Snapchat menu. At the bottom are several icons indicating the categories. You can make a sticker, use Bitmoji emoticons of yourself and countless phrases, animals, food and other random illustrations to embellish your Snapchat.
  
  

Making Your Own Snapchat Stickers

Not an emoji type? Use Snapchat scissors to make your own Snapchat sticker.

Draw a border around the part of the image you want to duplicate into a sticker. You can freehand it or use a preset shape like a rectangle or oval.

Once you’ve done that, the item you highlighted becomes a sticker that you can shrink, enlarge, and place anywhere on your picture. 

Want to use your own personal emojis? You can use Bitmoji in your Snaps.

Or, you can express yourself through hundreds of other Snapchat stickers.

Our Favorite Snapchat Doodles

Creativity knows no bounds, especially on social media. Here are a few of the most creative, intricate Snapchats we’ve seen. What are you waiting for? Get creative!

Image Credit: Dbatsnap

Image Credit: emgarber

Snapchat Marketing

Snapchat marketing is a way for businesses to reach out to potential and current customers in a way that’s engaging, eye-catching and personal.

There are several benefits of Snapchat for businesses. For example, businesses can use Snapchat marketing to promote products, special offers, or events, and create behind-the-scenes content that gives followers a glimpse into the company culture. Done correctly, it can also be used to build brand awareness and generate leads. 

If you plan to use Snapchat for your business, here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Keep your content quick and to the point
• Make sure your content is visually appealing
• Use language that is relatable and approachable
• Be creative with your snaps
• Take advantage of Snapchat's unique features, such as filters and geofilters
• Always keep your audience in mind
• Test out different content to see what works best for your brand
• Be willing to experiment and have fun with your snaps!

Check out our article about advertising with Snapchat filters if you want to learn more about the ins and outs of Snapchat marketing.