Just in case some of you are not aware, there is a panel applet for Cinnamon called Cinnamenu. It works very similar to the stock application menu, but it has the option to select and search for emojis right from the application menu. To search for an emoji, just open the menu, type ‘e’, [space[, then type a keyword for the emoji you want. Once you click on the emoji, it’s copied onto your clipboard, and you can paste it where you want.
Invoking super + alt + e actually brings up a preinstalled emoji picker.