What’s Up THIS WEEK: NEW Subject Line Test TRENDING! + TV Watching Update! 📬 | Ep. 437

Summary

Podcast Summary

Podcast: Do This, NOT That: Marketing Tips with Jay Schwedelson l Presented By Marigold
Episode: What’s Up THIS WEEK: NEW Subject Line Test TRENDING! + TV Watching Update! 📬 | Ep. 437
Date: October 28, 2025
Host: GURU Media Hub

---

Episode Overview

This week’s “Do This, NOT That!” short episode is a rapid-fire update on the latest marketing tactics, digital features, and pop culture buzz. The host focuses on a trending email subject line tactic, platform updates from Instagram and OpenAI, and rounds out the episode with some humorous takes on TV and Halloween costume trends—delivering both practical tips and light-hearted commentary in a lively tone.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Instagram Rolls Out Watch History Feature

• Highlight: Instagram has introduced a watched history for Reels and videos.
• Detail: Users can view content they’ve watched over the past 30 days by going to their profile → settings → activity → watch history.
• Impact: Makes it easier to find previously watched content, a feature many have wanted.
• Memorable Moment:

  “I don't know about you. I'll watch something and then I'll scroll and then it's gone. And I'm like, oh, where is that thing? I can't find it. Actually the most annoying thing of all time.” (A, 00:28)

• Lifestyle Implication:

  “It's probably going to also disrupt so many relationships… I'm sure people watch weird stuff and everyone's going to look at each other's watch history.” (A, 01:13)

• Personal Take:

  “All I watch is stupid memes. So I'm excited about that.” (A, 01:25)

---

2. NEW Trending Subject Line Test: Mid-Word Capitalization

• Highlight: Email open rates are boosted by capitalizing a single word in the middle of the subject line (e.g., FREE, NEW, OUTLOOK).
• Source: Data from subjectline.com
• Performance Lift:
  • Business-to-business: ~16% increase in open rates
  • Consumer: ~21% increase in open rates
• Practical Tip:

  “If you've never tested a mid subject line capitalization test, this is a great one to try. It costs nothing, super easy. So that's trending right now, which is kind of cool.” (A, 02:08)

• Quote:

  “Not at the start of your subject line and not at the end… somewhere in the middle, you take a word and you capitalize all the letters in the word … And this is crushing it right now.” (A, 01:37)

---

3. OpenAI’s Project Sharing for ChatGPT Goes Public

• Update: OpenAI (ChatGPT’s parent company) has rolled out project sharing for all ChatGPT users, previously limited to enterprise accounts.
• Implication: Makes ChatGPT more collaborative, in direct competition with Google Drive’s document sharing features.
• Quote:

  “What OpenAI now has is basically project sharing where different people can participate and make changes very similar to you can on a Google document.” (A, 02:54)

• Competitive Landscape:

  “So much head-to-head battling going on between OpenAI and Google. It is wild.” (A, 03:24)

---

4. Pop Culture Segment—TV Watching & Halloween Trends

TV Watching Update

• “Love is Blind” Season 9 reunion is the week’s TV highlight for the host.
• Quick reviews of other shows:
  • “Nobody Wants This” Season 2: “Not as good as the first season but I still say it's worth watching.” (A, 03:39)
  • “The Chair Company” on HBO Max: Not a fan, says, “It makes me uncomfortable… I don't want to be uncomfortable.” (A, 03:46)

Halloween Costume Trends (Google Fright Geist)

• Top Costumes for 2025:

  1. Demon hunter costumes (multiple variants)
  2. Chicken Jockey (Minecraft)
  3. Labubu (“…if you're dressing up as Labubu, you're on the way out.”)
  4. Elphaba (“El Faba”) from Wicked
  5. The Lorax
  6. Hamilton
  7. Nightwing (first superhero on the list—formerly Robin from Batman)
  8. Nurse from Silent Hill

• Pop Culture Hot Take:

  “I don't consider demon hunter superheroes… Nightwing is really cool… Robin was a big tool. So what they did was they turned Robin into Nightwing, okay? And Nightwing became really cool.” (A, 04:41)

  • “I have no idea. And then the next one is a nurse from Silent Hill. I actually have no idea what that means. I don't even understand what I just said.” (A, 05:20)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote/Comment | |-----------|---------|------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:28 | A | “I'll watch something and then I'll scroll and then it's gone. And I'm like, oh, where is that thing? …Most annoying thing of all time.” | | 01:37 | A | “Not at the start of your subject line and not at the end… somewhere in the middle, you take a word and you capitalize all the letters…” | | 02:08 | A | “If you've never tested a mid subject line capitalization test, this is a great one to try. It costs nothing, super easy.” | | 02:54 | A | “What OpenAI now has is project sharing where different people can participate and make changes very similar to Google Docs.” | | 03:39 | A | “I did complete the second season of Nobody Wants This. It was not as good as the first, but I still say it's worth watching.” | | 04:41 | A | “Nightwing is really cool… Robin was a big tool. So what they did was they turned Robin into Nightwing, okay? And Nightwing became really cool.” | | 05:20 | A | “A nurse from Silent Hill. I actually have no idea what that means. I don't even understand what I just said.” |

---

Timestamps for Main Segments

• Instagram Watch History Feature: 00:14 – 01:32
• Email Marketing Subject Line Test (Mid-Word Capitalization): 01:33 – 02:29
• OpenAI Project Sharing vs. Google Drive: 02:30 – 03:33
• TV/Streaming & Pop Culture Thoughts: 03:34 – 04:13
• Halloween Costume Trends (Google Fright Geist): 04:14 – 05:24

---

Recap

The episode efficiently combines sharp, actionable marketing tips (mid-word subject line capitalization is this week’s biggest takeaway) with quick hits on tech, pop culture, and holiday trends. Jay Schwedelson’s signature, playful tone keeps things light while emphasizing what’s buzzworthy and what marketing professionals should be testing right now.

Takeaway:

• Try mid-subject line capitalization in emails for big open rate increases.
• Watch for evolving digital platform features and how they can impact end-users.
• Stay tuned for pop culture shifts—they often reflect what's capturing public attention and may shape marketing opportunities.

---

Host's Sign-Off:

“We've really covered some really important information on this thing today. I have no idea what's going on, as usual. Listen, you're awesome.” (A, 05:26)

---

Transcript

[A]

Welcome to do this not that, the podcast for marketers.

[B]

We share quick tips, things you can do right now, and then we add a little bit of chaos at the end of every episode. We also keep it short, like this intro.

[A]

Let's check it out. We are back for what's up this week from the do this not that podcast. This is our short episode. We break down what's going on this week in business and marketing and life. We still have our other episodes later in the week. So what's going on? Well, Instagram released something that's actually very useful, which is a watch history feature. I'm so into this. So Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, announced that now if you want to see any reels or videos that you've watched, you now have a watched history feature on your Instagram, which is amazing because I don't know about you. I'll watch something and then I'll scroll and then it's gone. And I'm like, oh, where is that thing? I can't find it. Actually the most annoying thing of all time. And then what I end up doing is I, I save a million things on Instagram and my save file or whatever on Instagram is, is just a mess. So now, which is pretty cool. What you can do is if you go to your profile and under settings and under activity, there's a watch history and it goes back 30 days for anything that you watched, which is probably going to also, like, disrupt so many relationships. I don't even know because I'm sure people watch weird stuff and everyone's going to look at each other's, you know, watch history, be like, oh, no, what are you watching that for? I don't know. I'm very pumped about it because all I watch is stupid memes. So I'm excited about that. What else is going on? Well, in the most bizarre stat of an email marketing stat that's trending right now, that's working really, really well. When we've tested a bunch. And this is data from subject line.com. this one's awesome. If you haven't tried it, you should. And it's really trending. It's mid subject line capitalization. What? Okay, so not at the start of your subject line and not at the end of your subject line, but somewhere in the middle. You take a word and you capitalize all the letters in the word. Maybe it's the word free. F, R, E, E. They're all capitalized. Maybe it's new and ew. Right? Maybe it's outlook. You know when you capitalize all the letters in the word, not just the first letter of the word. And this is crushing it right now. In the last 60 days when this tactic is used on the business to business side, it's increasing open rates by about 16% and on the consumer side is increasing by 21%. If you've never tested a mid subject line capitalization test, this is a great one to try. It costs nothing, super easy. So that's trending right now, which is kind of cool. What else is going on? So OpenAI, you know that's the parent company of ChatGPT. They just announced this week that they are rolling out project sharing for all users of ChatGPT. You're like, what does that even mean? Well, basically it doesn't mean a lot now, although for some people it might. But I think it's gonna be a lot ongoing because this is a head to head thing. They're going after Google Drive and how. I don't know about you all but my organization, we use Google Drive and sharing Google Docs all day long, that's where we are, that's where we live, right? All of our stuff, that's where we do all of our stuff. And so what OpenAI now has is basically project sharing where different people can participate and make changes very similar to you can on a Google document. And before this was only available to like Enterprise users of ChatGPT but now it's available to everybody. So I mean there's so much head to head battling going on between OpenAI and Google. It is wild. So what is going on in useless things because you know I'm useless. Well, the thing, the biggest thing this week is going to be Love is Blind Season 9 reunion. I'm very locked in on that. I need to see everything that's going on. These, none of these people should be together. So I need to see the update on everybody and anybody. I did complete the second season of Nobody wants this. It was not as good as the first season but I still say it's worth watching. So I did watch that. I tried watching the Chair Company on HBO Max. This was not good. I know it's very popular. I didn't, I do not like it. I don't know, it makes me uncomfortable. It's not that it's not good, it just makes me uncomfortable. I don't want to be uncomfortable. And since Halloween, okay, is this week Google released Fright Geist which is based on all the data they have. The searching, the buying, the doing what are the top costumes this year for Halloween. So these are the top costumes. Are you ready? This is their in rank order with all of Google's data, which is all the data. Okay. The top costumes this year are. The top four are all different demon hunter costumes. So if you're a demon hunter, you are trending and good luck to you. I don't even have to understand what that means. The next one is the chicken jockey from Minecraft. Again, not on my list that I want to wear, but what do I know? And then after that is Labubu. I feel like Labubu is done. I mean, if you're dressing up as Labubu, you're on the way out. I don't think there's going to be as many Labubus as Google is saying. And then after that is El Faba from Wicked. Okay? Then the Lorax, then Hamilton. And then the first superhero that really shows up. Because I don't consider demon hunter superheroes. The first superhero that shows up on this list is Nightwing, which is wild because I would think it would be Spider man or something. You probably even know Nightwing is. I'm a loser. Nightwing is really, you know, you have Batman and Robin and basically Robin was a big tool, okay? Dressed like a tool. He looked like a tool, acted like a tool. So what they did was they turned Robin into Nightwing, okay? And Nightwing became really cool. So that's that. I don't know. I have no idea. And then the next one is is a nurse from Silent Hill. I actually have no idea what that means. I don't even understand what I just said. So anyway, wow, we've really covered some really important information on this thing today. I have no idea what's going on, as usual. Listen, you're awesome.

[B]

Leave this thing review if it didn't.

[A]

Stink and if it did sting, don't leave it a review because that's not nice. And Guru conference, check it out. Coming up, free gurucom.com be there. Be square later. You did it. You made it to the end. But wait, the party is not over. Listen, I want to keep hanging out.

[B]

Subscribe to this podcast and if it wasn't the worst podcast you've ever listened to, give it a five star review. Why not? But you know what? I want to do even more with you.

[A]

Go to gurumediahub.com and we can partner there.

[B]

You can find out about all of our free events, all of our stuff, and if you're epically bored, go to jschwedelson.com and we could stay connected. You could find my newsletter and everything.

[A]

Else I got going on.

[B]

Thanks for being here and hope you subscribe.