How to Put an Emoji in a Facebook Ad

Adding an emoji to your Facebook ad is one of the simplest ways to make your copy stand out in a crowded feed, but finding the right one and getting it into Ads Manager can feel awkward if you don't know the trick. This guide will show you exactly how to add emojis to your ad copy in just a few seconds, along with strategies to use them effectively to boost your ad's performance.

Why Should You Use Emojis in Facebook Ads?

Before getting into the how-to, it’s helpful to understand why this small addition can make a big difference. Emojis aren’t just fun decorations, when used correctly, they are powerful communication tools that can significantly improve your ad's effectiveness. This applies whether you're creating static image ads or dynamic Facebook video ads.

• They Grab Attention. The Facebook feed is a fast-moving, competitive space. A well-placed, colorful emoji breaks up blocks of text and draws the user's eye, acting as a visual cue that encourages them to stop scrolling and read your message. Think of it as a tiny, friendly billboard in your ad copy.
• They Add Tone and Emotion. Text alone can be flat and easily misinterpreted. Emojis instantly inject personality and emotional context that words sometimes struggle to convey. A simple celebratory popper (🎉) makes an announcement feel exciting, while a thoughtful face (🤔) can frame a question in a relatable way. This helps you build a more human and approachable brand identity.
• They Improve Readability. Large paragraphs can be intimidating on a small phone screen. Emojis can act as visual bookends for sentences or replace standard bullet points, making your ad copy easier to scan and digest. Breaking up your text this way guides the reader's eye through your key points.
• They Can Increase Clicks. By making your ads more visible, engaging, and clear, emojis often lead to higher engagement and click-through rates (CTR). They make your call-to-action more noticeable (e.g., Shop Now 👉) and create a friendlier, lower-pressure invitation to interact.

Two Easy Ways to Add Emojis to Your Facebook Ad

You don't need any special software or complex workarounds to get this done. Here are the two most common and effective methods for adding emojis directly into your Facebook Primary Text, Headlines, and Descriptions inside Ads Manager.

Method 1: Copy and Paste From an Emoji Library

This is the most straightforward method, especially if you want to browse and find the perfect emoji to fit your message. Websites like Emojipedia, Get Emoji, or iEmoji are excellent resources for this.

Here’s how it works, step-by-step:

1. Open Your Favorite Emoji Website. We recommend a site like Emojipedia because you can search by keyword and also see how an emoji renders on different platforms (like Apple, Google, Samsung, and Facebook).
2. Find and Copy Your Emoji. Use the search bar to find the emoji you need or browse the categories. Once you find it, click on it, and you'll typically see a "Copy" button. This action saves the emoji to your computer's clipboard.
3. Paste it into Facebook Ads Manager. Navigate back to your ad creation window in Facebook Ads Manager. Click your cursor where you want the emoji to appear - whether it's in the Primary Text, Headline, or Description field - and paste it using your keyboard shortcut (Ctrl + V on Windows or Cmd + V on Mac). This method can also be adapted if you're looking to add an emoji to an Instagram story.

That's it! The emoji will instantly appear in your ad text, ready to go.

Method 2: Use Your Computer’s Built-In Emoji Keyboard

If you already know which emoji you want to use, this method is even faster because it doesn't require leaving the Ads Manager interface.

How to access the emoji keyboard on a Mac:

Press Command + Control + Spacebar at the same time. This will bring up a small pop-up window with all available emojis. You can search for what you need or scroll through the list and click to insert it.

How to access the emoji keyboard on a Windows PC:

Press the Windows Key + . (period) or Windows Key + , (semicolon) at the same time. Like on a Mac, this will open a floating keyboard where you can find and select the emoji you want to use. This menu also includes GIFs and symbols for extra utility.

Once you get used to these shortcuts, you'll find they are the quickest way to add emojis on the fly as you write your ad copy.

Best Practices for Using Emojis in Ads

Now that you know how to add emojis, it's time to talk strategy. Just because you can use an emoji doesn’t always mean you should. Randomly adding them without a clear purpose can backfire. Here are a few best practices to follow.

1. Know Your Brand Voice and Audience

Emojis are a form of communication, and they should always align with your brand's personality. If your brand is playful and casual (like a new consumer app or a clothing brand), using fun emojis like 🤪, 🔥, or ✨ feels natural. But if you're a B2B law firm or a financial services company, a more professional approach is needed. Use simple, universally understood emojis like ✅, ➡️, or 📍 for more appropriate purposes.

First, ask yourself: Who is my ideal customer, and do they communicate with emojis? The goal is to speak their language, not confuse or alienate them. Understanding how to target your audience on Facebook ads is crucial for this.

2. Be Relevant and Add Value

The best use of emojis is when they complement and clarify your message. Don't just pepper them in for decoration. They should serve a purpose by adding context, acting as a visual stop sign, or emphasizing a point.

Good Example:
"Looking for the perfect gift? 🎁 Our holiday bundles just arrived. Save 20% this week only! →"
Here, the 🎁 adds immediate context, and the → visually guides the user toward the link.

Bad Example:
"Looking 🕵️‍♀️ for the 🎁? Our bundles have 😮 arrived. Save 🤑 this week 📅!"
This version is distracting and makes the message harder to read. The emojis are noise, not helpful signals.

3. Don't Overstuff Your Copy

Less is almost always more. Overloading your ad copy with a long string of emojis looks unprofessional and can hurt your brand's credibility. It can also reduce the readability of your ad. A good rule of thumb is to stick to one to three emojis in the Primary Text and one in the Headline.

Using emojis as bullet points is an excellent way to organize information cleanly without overwhelming the reader:

Our new running shoes feature:
👟 Feather-light design
✅ Breathable materials
🏃‍♀️ Built for long distances

4. Test, Test, and Test Again

There are no universal "best" emojis that work for every ad and every audience. The only way to know what resonates with your customers is to test. Set up a simple A/B test in Facebook Ads Manager to see how different versions of your ad perform.

• Test 1: Emojis vs. No Emojis. Run the same ad, but add one or two relevant emojis to the copy of one version. See which one gets a better cost per click or conversion rate.
• Test 2: Different Emojis. If you know emojis work for you, test one against another. For a call to action, does 👉 perform better than 👇 or ➡️?

Pay close attention to metrics like Click-Through Rate (CTR) and Engagement Rate. The data will tell you what captures your audience's attention most effectively.

Final Thoughts

So there you have it. Adding emojis to your Facebook and Instagram ads is a fast and easy tactic you can use to boost visibility, clarify your message, and build a more human connection with your audience. Just remember to use them thoughtfully, stay true to your brand voice, and test to see what works best.

Mastering the small details that create better content is something we're totally focused on, since creating great social content often comes down to getting the workflow right. To help organize that entire process - from planning visual content on a calendar to seeing all your platform comments in one unified inbox and scheduling posts that reliably go live - we built Postbase. It's a simple, modern tool designed to make social media management feel less chaotic.