A rarely used but effective tactic is placing the same emoji at the beginning and end of the email preheader (the second subject line). This visual framing technique draws attention in a crowded inbox and can improve open rates for both B2B and B2C campaigns.
While emojis boost consumer email open rates around Halloween, the common pumpkin emoji performs poorly due to overuse. Marketers should instead use the ghost, skull, or spider emojis, which stand out in the inbox and are less likely to be ignored like visual "wallpaper."
Contrary to the belief that holiday themes are unprofessional for B2B, incorporating playful, Halloween-related subject lines like "Don't ghost your leads" can boost email open rates by over 15%. This tactic is most effective when used in the 10 days leading up to the holiday.
Since Microsoft is a primary partner for OpenAI, its published guidelines for making content AI-friendly (e.g., using Q&A blocks, simple tables) are a direct feeder for what gets surfaced in ChatGPT. Marketers should follow Microsoft's rules to optimize for all major AI tools, not just Microsoft's.