The Art of Building an Emoji Empire one Emoji Domain at a Time

One year out, and another year in! And with a new year, brings a slew of new domain investing opportunities and perspectives to explore.

Over the last 6 months or so, I’ve shared a number of domain interviews from technologists to designers to entrepreneurs to investors to marketplaces and more…

Picking up from where we left off last, one of the latest opportunities to take hold in the domain industry are emoji domains.

Until now, most interviews I’ve covered have highlighted independent investors or traders investing in emoji domains.

However, today’s interview explores Emoji Empires, a business founded by three lifelong friends in search of innovative marketing strategies on the forefront of technology and communication.

I had the pleasure of first meeting Emoji Empires while attending MERGE! Conference 2017.

That said, I hope you enjoy learning about Emoji Empires as I have in over the last 6 months, and how they are transforming both new and existing industries’ ability to profitably market, brand, and message by way of emoji domains.

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KC: So, to kick things off, how did Emoji Empires come to be?

EE: In business just over a year, the concept of Emoji Empires was conceived after an introduction to the emoji domain space through good friend and successful emoji domain investor, Matan Israeli.  We recognized emoji domains as a lucrative opportunity that we couldn’t pass up in the forever changing landscape of the domain industry.

As for our business name, we felt combining the word Emoji and Empires just felt right. So Emoji Empires was decided upon as we felt it encompassed our mission of delivering strong, long-lasting tools to help businesses and industries globally. Knowing this, we believe an empire, especially Emoji Empires, is strong and built to last a long time.

“The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.”
-Winston Churchill

KC: It was mentioned that “three lifelong friends” started Emoji Empires, but do share a bit more with readers about each person, and their roles and responsibilities.

EE:

Emoji Empires is represented by Eric Thoni (left), Michael Rasmussen (middle), and Tanner Schenck (right). Within the company, roles and duties are shared, as we are all interested in every aspect of the business. We collaborate together on marketing & advertising efforts, technical support, and general business operations.

With collegiate degrees focused on Marketing & Advertising, Business Economics, and International Business, from three of the nation’s premier Universities, our team encompasses skills and knowledge perfect for creating a successful business.

KC: Now that we know who’s behind Emoji Empires, what exactly does Emoji Empires offer by way of products, services, and solutions?

EE: Today, companies and brands are always searching for new ways to make them stand out amongst their competitors… Enter emoji domains.

Because emoji domains are a new phenomena with no clear right or wrong way to use them, we see huge value in emoji domains and strive for our customers to fully embrace this new experience with the following service offerings:

Emoji Consulting

Our ‘Emoji Consulting’ services rely on communication and relationship building to offer customers a unique experience that we believe no other emoji domain competitor is offering at this time.

We work with customers to find an emoji domain of their choosing, leading to the successful implementation of their emoji domain to meet (if not exceed) their goals.

Emoji domain marketing and implementation strategies provide customers a seamless transition to a new concept.

Domain Brokering

Our ‘Domain Brokering’ services allows for 3rd party or external emoji domain investors to broker the purchase or sale of Emoji domains through our website and expertise.

We also work with our clients to locate already registered emoji domains, help contact the owner, and negotiate a deal that is fair and secure

Technical Support

Our ‘Technical Support’ provides customers with best practices when using emoji domains, specifically dealing with hands-on technical support. Not many individuals know the ins and outs, but we do!

Last but not least, we’ve competitively priced service offerings based on a number of different aspects and data points including but not limited to:

• Historical domain sales data
• Ability to brand
• Emoji popularity
• Emoji domain belief

And it goes without saying, we certainly believe data collection is imperative for the growth and adoption of our emoji domain service offerings. We use several third party resources (e.g., Google Analytics) to track and measure campaign engagement in its entirety, keeping all data confidential between Emoji Empires and the customer.

Being a new and intriguing niche of the domain industry has allowed us to pioneer value creation by offering customers affordable, yet profitable sales and marketing strategies to grow their market reach, both offline and online.

KC: So, in short, what exactly should customers partnering with Emoji Empires be able to achieve and experience?

EE: We aim for customers to achieve meaningful and measurable results, all while having a great experience with our team. Working hard to make sure customers are satisfied and their goals are met, our team truly believes in the value and power emoji domains can bring to a business.

Benefits realized by customers from the use of emoji domains and Emoji Empires’ services are as follows:

• Increasing click-through rates and web traffic by new and existing customers
• Brand development and recognition globally
• Increase search marketing visibility and optimization

KC: So, shifting gears a bit, when and how did Emoji Empires learn about emoji domain names?

EE: We were introduced to emoji domains by Matan Israeli, founder of EmojiURL.com, prior to NamesCon 2017.

After multiple conversations with Matan and a plethora of market research, entering into the emoji domain industry was a no-brainer for Emoji Empires.

KC: Speaking of NamesCon, will Emoji Empires be attending and/or exhibiting at NamesCon 2018?

EE: Yes, Emoji Empires plans to attend NamesCon 2018! We are very excited to continue to educate and spread awareness about Emoji domains.

Be sure to look for us at the conference wearing our custom ‘Emoji Expert’ shirts and say hello!

If you’d like to set up a meeting prior to arriving at NamesCon 2018, contact one of our Emoji Experts and we’d be happy to meet with you.

KC: Why does Emoji Empires consider emoji domains to be so special and attain much value?

EE: In our opinion, the domain industry has been relatively unchanged for 25-30 years, allowing for a new and exciting type of domain to make waves, emoji domains. Disruptive innovations within industries are changing the way people think, act, and live.

We strongly believe emoji domains are disrupting the domain industry in a positive way because they are:

• Rare domains available
• Visually appealing and colorful
• Short and memorable
• Globally recognized
• Unique and fun to use

The chance for companies to brand themselves using emojis, which are at the fingertips of billions of people worldwide, is a big opportunity.

This is especially true due to the strict governance of the emoji language by Unicode. Unicode has not and will not allow companies to get ‘branded’ emojis into the emoji keyboard, as this would provide for unfair advantages within the emoji language and goes against the purpose of the language.

With more and more people using and sending billions of emoji daily when communicating, we believe there is a HUGE opportunity for businesses to creatively market a brand or product with the use of a visual domain.

The data on emoji usage worldwide is astronomical and the adoption by big brands is inevitable, as we have witnessed many brands implementing and executing emoji marketing.

KC: So you know my next question is, does Emoji Empires invest in domains? 🙂

EE: Of course we do! Emoji Empires invests solely in premium .WS emoji domains since early 2017. We’ve sold, leased, redirected, and are currently holding emoji domains for investments.

In addition, we use 😀👑.ws as our primary emoji domain that redirects to the EmojiEmpires.com landing page. We’ve also developed printed marketing materials with this specific domain to help gain exposure.

KC: With alternative emoji domain extensions to register emoji domains, why solely focus on the .WS extension?

EE: Due to IDNA2008 restrictions, we believe the .WS extension for emoji domains to be the premier emoji domain extension.

With the emergence of emoji domains in the past year, we have seen registrations with other extensions such as .TO, .AI, and .ML, but Emoji Empires has not bought any of these extensions.

Currently, .WS is the only emoji domain extension supported by GoDaddy, NameJet, Uniregistry, and more, which provides legitimacy and strong value in the .WS extension.

KC: Let’s talk cost. With steep renewal costs of $20-$40 per year, should customers purchasing emoji domains be concerned or make special considerations?

EE: No, as long as the customer realizes value exceeding the investment cost of renewal, then emoji domain renewal pricing shouldn’t be a factor at all.

KC: Based on experience, how does Emoji Empires view emoji domain names impacting how a personal brand or business markets to reach their target audience?

EE: Based on experience, companies today are currently missing the opportunity to creatively reach out to their consumers by not using an emoji domain.

Emoji already exist in marketing efforts put forth by brands and companies, making emoji domain names the next logical tool of choice to differentiate marketing efforts with an opportunity for greater upside than traditional marketing efforts.

We believe emoji domains are an amazing way to attract and retain clientele by using what is familiar. We want businesses to capitalize using emoji domains to offer a new and innovative channel to create brand awareness that does not exist in the text-based or ASCII domain arena.

Having a “wow” factor associated with emoji, once you see emoji domains you can never forget them.

KC: Will emoji domains become mainstream, and how long do you estimate it’ll take for such an achievement?

EE: Emoji (and soon to be emoji domains) are here to stay based on the growth and adoption of the emoji language by people globally.

Because emoji domains are short and memorable, brandable, and universally recognized, we believe emoji domains are set become mainstream once they are adopted by credible companies — Coca-Cola, Sony and Budweiser, just to name a few.

We’ve witnessed the implementation of very lucrative emoji marketing using emoji domains performed by aforementioned companies.

Emoji domains offer an outlet to capture target audiences with ease and greater visibility like never before.

Lastly, for emoji domains to become successful, we believe emoji domains must be in the hands of the forward-thinking personal and professional brands.

In addition, these brands MUST be willing to use and promote emoji domains to their mainstream audience in a meaningful and professional manner that in turn generates greater ROI than traditional marketing methods.

KC: So, I discovered your latest tweet a week or so ago about a “Emoji Domain Beta Program”. What is this program and what does it provide?

EE: Our Beta program gives customers the opportunity to use an Emoji Empires’ emoji domain for a period of time to “try it before you buy it.”

We believe this gives customers a taste of how emoji domains work without fully committing to purchasing one or multiples. There’s no doubt emoji domains are new and unfamiliar to most customers, hence why we created our beta program.

Our team closely works with customers to guide them through the process of properly putting their emoji domain to work to obtain maximum results and meet business goals.

KC: What are the top 3 “sealing the deal” reasons for personal and corporate brands to consider when deciding to “try before buying” emoji domains?

EE:

• Pay nothing up front (FREE)
• Universal language recognition and ability to brand
• See the results for yourself

KC: And last but not least, if I own an emoji domain, how do I enter into relationship with Emoji Empires?

EE: Simply send us an email, and one of our Emoji Experts will contact you to discuss next steps.

KC: Anything else you would like or care to share?

EE: Emoji Empires would like to thank our colleague and friend, Alvin Brown, for his relentless effort in educating and informing like minded individuals within the domain industry and beyond. We look forward to continuing to collaborate in the future!

Start Building Your Emoji Domain Empire Today!

Although in their infancy, emoji domains are turning the proverbial corner towards being adopted by end users from a wide range of personal and corporate brands.

With companies like Emoji Empires leading the way, emoji domains are poised to become the effective marketing tool of choice to produce meaningful and profitable results — both online and offline.

Special thanks to Emoji Empires for taking time out of their busy schedule, and allowing me the opportunity to interview and learn more about the emoji domain service empire they’re building.

In closing, I look forward to seeing each of you, Emoji Empires, and many others at NamesCon 2018! See you there!