Network etiquette: how fonts and emoji affect how messages are perceived#
February 14, 2025
On WhatsApp, we text our clients, colleagues, and friends every day. But how clear and understandable are our messages?
Appropriate use of formatting, emoji, and visual elements can make your text more expressive, improve communication, and speak the same language as your customers.
Contents
Formatting text in WhatsApp
Emoji: When and how to use them
Capitalized words and sentences, abbreviations, and visual noise
Images should also be used thoughtfully
How GREEN-API helps businesses communicate with their customers
To summarize
Formatting text in WhatsApp#
WhatsApp supports basic formatting tools to help you structure your text and emphasize what's important:
Bold text - important information (**text**)
Italics - add emphasis or a touch of emotion (__text__)
Strikethrough - correction or undoing (~text~)
Monospaced β codes, articles, technical data (``text``)
Use them deliberately: bold for key points, italics for subtle nuances, and monospaced for details that require precision.
Emoji: When and how to use them#
Emoji bring text to life, convey emotion, and help convey the meaning of a message instantly. For example:
β
"Your order is confirmed!" - dry and formal.
π "Your order is confirmed! π Thank you for your purchase!" - warmer and friendlier.
However, it is worth remembering a few rules:
β Keep a balance - a few emoji enliven the text, and their excess overloads it.
β Consider your audience - in business correspondence, neutral emoji (ππ
β
) work better than informal ones (ππ₯π).
β Check the display - emoji may look different on different devices or may not load at all.
β Wrong emoji can ruin your credibility in the eyes of your customers or partners.
Capitalized words and sentences, abbreviations, and visual noise#
Writing in all caps is generally considered inappropriate and is equivalent to shouting or raising your voice. Occasionally, you may use it to attract attention, such as "GET HALF PRICE BEFORE THE END OF DECEMBER". You need to know and understand your audience well to understand how people will perceive your writing. In most cases, it is enough to emphasize the text with bold or emoji, so as not to irritate the interlocutor.
Also be careful with abbreviations and acronyms. For example:
β
"We have received your request. We will reply within 15 minutes.
β"Received VZ. RESPONSE IN 15 MIN." (Not everyone will understand this, especially new customers).
Images should also be used thoughtfully:#
β
Use images for infographics, charts, instructions.
Duplicate the information on the image in text; if the image doesn't load, the customer will still understand what it's about.
βAvoid overloading messages with a lot of attachments - the text should remain readable.
Remember that you usually need a good Internet connection to transfer media files.
How GREEN-API helps businesses communicate with their customers#
GREEN-API is your reliable WhatsApp API provider for automating routine tasks, building chatbots, integrations and creating your unique products. Our service allows you to send formatted messages with emoji and images, customize auto-replies, and provide a consistent communication style across your team.
To summarize#
Create your clear, unique voice through text. Make sure the text is beautiful, informative, recognizable and dynamic. The formatting of the text should emphasize the main point and help the customer quickly find the right information in your message.
Last but not least, don't forget to test mailings on different devices to see the text through your customers' eyes and save you from embarrassing mistakes and errors.