Do emojis in subject lines increase open rates?

Sometimes, and only for some lists. Emojis help a subject line stand out visually, which can lift opens in crowded promotional inboxes. But the effect depends on your audience and how often you use them. The only honest answer is to A/B test the same subject line with and without an emoji, run it three times, and look at your own numbers.

Will an emoji send my email to the spam folder?

Not by itself. Filters look at sender reputation, authentication, engagement history, and overall content patterns. An emoji becomes a problem when it's stacked with all caps, multiple exclamation points, and words like FREE. Keep the rest of the subject line clean and a single emoji is fine.

How many emojis should I use in a subject line?

One. Two at most, and only if each one is doing a different job. Three or more makes the email look like a mass promotional blast, and readers who skim their inbox will skip it without reading the words.

Which emojis are safest to use?

Older, widely supported ones that stay readable at small sizes: food, weather, a calendar, a clock, a box, a simple star or heart. Avoid anything added to the emoji standard in the past few years, since some email clients will show an empty box instead.

Should emojis go at the beginning or end of the subject line?

The front grabs more attention but pushes your words to the right and can read as promotional. The end feels softer and works well for newsletters. Avoid putting one in the middle of a sentence, since it breaks the reading flow.

Should I use emojis in cold emails?

No. With no existing relationship, an emoji from an unknown sender signals a mass send. Plain text and a specific, relevant subject line perform better in cold outreach, especially for B2B audiences with stricter filters.

How to Use Emojis in Email Subject Lines (Without Hurting Opens), Insights

An emoji in a subject line is punctuation, not strategy. It can make a good subject line stand out in a crowded inbox. It cannot rescue a boring one.

That's the whole thing in two sentences. The rest of this is how to do it well, where it backfires, and how to check your work before you hit send in Constant Contact.

Start with the one rule that matters

The emoji has to add meaning the words don't already carry.

A pizza emoji in front of "Two large pies, $19 through Sunday" earns its spot. It tells the eye what the email is about before the brain reads a word.

A sparkle emoji in front of "Our May newsletter" adds nothing. It's decoration pretending to be a signal. Readers learn to skip it fast.

Ask yourself: if I deleted this emoji, would the subject line lose anything? If the answer is no, delete it.

Where to put it

Placement changes how the subject line reads.

Front. Strongest pull. Works for sales, holidays, and anything visual. Downside: it pushes your first words right, and some readers see it as spammy.
End. Softer. Acts like a period with personality. Good for newsletters and friendly updates.
Middle. Usually a mistake. It breaks the sentence and makes the line harder to scan.

One emoji per subject line. Two if they're doing different jobs, which is rare. Three or more reads as a coupon flyer, and plenty of people delete those on sight.

Which emojis actually work

Pick ones that are simple at small sizes. Subject lines render emojis around 16 pixels tall on a phone. Detail disappears.

Reliable picks:

Food and drink for restaurants and recipes
Weather and seasons for anything time-bound
A box or truck for shipping and delivery
A calendar or clock for deadlines and events
A simple heart or star for appreciation and reviews

Ones to skip:

Red siren, fire, and 100. Overused in promotional mail. Some filters and plenty of readers associate them with spam.
Money bags and gems. Same problem, plus they often read as a scam.
Hand gestures and faces with specific expressions. Meaning shifts by culture and age group. The folded-hands emoji alone means thanks, prayer, or a high five depending on who you ask.
Anything with skin tone or flag variants unless it's directly relevant. These render inconsistently.

Emojis don't render the same everywhere

The same code point looks different on an iPhone, an Android, Gmail on desktop, and Outlook. Sometimes dramatically.

Older Outlook versions on Windows render some emojis in black and white. A few newer emojis don't render at all and show up as an empty box or a question mark. That's an instant trust problem in the inbox.

So stick with older, widely supported emojis. If something was added to the emoji standard in the past two or three years, assume part of your list won't see it correctly.

Run the line through a subject line tester before you commit, and check how the whole thing looks in an email preview so you see the subject and preview text together the way a subscriber will.

Watch your character count

Emojis eat space. On a phone, most inboxes show roughly 30 to 40 characters of the subject line. An emoji takes one of those slots, sometimes more depending on how the app measures width.

That's a real trade. You're spending a character on attention instead of information.

Write the subject line without the emoji first. Get it under 40 characters and make sure it still works. Then add the emoji and see if the whole thing is better or just busier.

Does using emojis hurt deliverability?

On its own, no. A single emoji in a subject line won't send you to spam.

What hurts is the company it keeps. Emojis cluster with other spam signals: all caps, multiple exclamation points, "FREE," dollar amounts in the subject, and a sender nobody recognizes. Pile those together and filters notice the pattern.

Run your draft through a spam score checker if your subject line has an emoji plus anything else that leans promotional. It takes a minute and catches the obvious stuff.

Also worth knowing: some B2B inboxes and conservative filters are stricter. If you're emailing accountants, lawyers, or IT buyers, emojis are a harder sell than they are for a bakery's list.

Match the emoji to the email's job

Different email types have different tolerance.

Promotions and sales. Highest tolerance. Readers expect visual noise here. An emoji helps you compete.

Newsletters. Light touch. One at the end, if at all. Your subject line should promise a specific story, and the emoji shouldn't distract from it.

Transactional and account emails. Skip it. Receipts, password resets, and shipping confirmations should look plain and official. An emoji makes them look fake.

Cold outreach. Skip it. You have no relationship yet, and an emoji from an unknown sender reads as a mass blast. Which it is, but you don't want to announce it.

Welcome emails. Optional. A single friendly one can work if your brand voice already sounds that way. If your website copy is buttoned-up, your welcome email shouldn't suddenly sprout confetti.

Test it instead of guessing

Emoji performance is specific to your list. What works for a skincare brand won't work for a plumbing supply company.

Here's a simple test you can run in Constant Contact:

Write one subject line. Make it the best version you can without an emoji.
Make a copy and add a single emoji at the front.
Split your list and send both.
Compare open rates, but also compare unsubscribes and spam complaints.
Run it two more times with different emails before you decide anything.

One test tells you almost nothing. Three tests pointing the same direction tells you something.

If you're short on starting material, a subject line generator will give you variants to work from, and you can add or remove the emoji yourself.

A quick checklist before you send

Does the emoji add meaning, or is it filler?
Is it one emoji, not three?
Is it a common, older emoji that renders everywhere?
Does the subject line still work with the emoji stripped out?
Is the full line under about 40 characters on mobile?
Have you checked it in a preview on at least one phone and one desktop client?

Six questions. Takes two minutes. Saves you from the email that shows up in half your subscribers' inboxes as "☐ Spring sale starts now."