Do This, NOT That: Marketing Tips with Jay Schwedelson

Subject lines that tap into who your audience wants to be, a bathroom emergency at a Nashville hot chicken spot, and a minus-200 degree cryotherapy experiment all show up in this Ask Us Anything with Jay Schwedelson. Jay riffs on a listener's challenge to share a subject line test they probably have not tried yet, breaking down the idea of aspirational personalization that speaks a level above your current audience. Then he answers...

Holiday gift snooping, F-bomb subject lines, and an AI country hit somehow all end up in the same conversation, and Jay Schwedelson has opinions. From Lowe's genius decoy gift boxes to a wildly misjudged suit sale email to a simple subject line trick that quietly spikes opens, this week is part marketing therapy, part pop culture catch-up. If you've ever wondered where the line is between clever and cringe, or how targeted your tar...

December might feel slow for B2B, but Jay Schwedelson and Daniel Murray are using it to double down on what actually worked in their email programs this year. They trade five real world email lessons headed into 2026 - from reply worthy CTAs and smarter list metrics to domain reports and AI powered repurposing - while calling out the bad hot takes about what does and does not matter in your metrics. You get practical tweaks you can...

Think your B2B world is doomed to be dry and boring? Kathryn Frankson sits down with Jay Schwedelson to prove the opposite, pulling stories from massive fintech stages, tiny city libraries, and even her own tea obsession to show how human your marketing could be. From last touch attribution myths to three year event strategies that actually leave room for creativity, this conversation is basically a permission slip to stop hiding b...

December might feel like a throwaway month, but Jay Schwedelson is here with a simple shift that turns the end of the year into a lead and revenue spike by using intent signals as your actual offer. He walks through how to spot and capture real buying intent across B2B, consumer, and nonprofit campaigns, then finishes with some very honest (and funny) thoughts on holiday cards and those ridiculous surprise-car commercials. Expect s...

From under-16 social media bans in Australia to the sneaky reason your email should never go out exactly on the hour, this weekly rundown packs in plenty of usable takeaways and a little chaos. Jay Schwedelson connects policy shifts, inbox strategy, influencer math, and the latest AI land grab so you can keep your marketing sharp without living in a news feed. He even throws in some wild traffic stats and a Stranger Things rant tha...

A quick-hit Bathroom Break with Jay Schwedelson and Daniel Murray that actually makes social feel manageable again — from tiny boost budgets that move mountains to a commenting play that beats mindless posting. You’ll also hear why short video still wins, how to turn email into a social flywheel, and a sneaky Stories tactic Daniel swears by.

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Follow Daniel on LinkedIn and check out The Marketing Millennials podcast for sharp, no-flu...

Most people cranking out content feel like they’re on a hamster wheel, and this one is Jay Schwedelson basically turning his own burnout into a live strategy session with Caleb Ralston. They get into why copying 400-post-a-week creators is wrecking your brain, how to reverse engineer a cadence that actually fits your life, and what it really means for a personal brand to “work.” If you care more about leads, trust, and reputation t...

AI sounds like a shortcut until your “great” ideas flop in the wild, and that is exactly what Jay Schwedelson digs into here. He breaks down a simple 100,000 person prompt that quietly flips AI out of generic creative mode and into deeper statistical thinking, then shares what happened when he A/B tested it on subject lines and CTAs. Plus, a surprisingly relatable question about hating phone calls turns into a legit strategy for st...

Getting ready for Thanksgiving has nothing on the chaos swirling around AI, privacy rules, and even Instagram trying to make you watch 20-minute reels. Before the turkey coma hits, Jay Schwedelson digs into everything from the death of the em dash to Google’s sneaky new flight deal superpower, plus a few very strong opinions on Netflix holiday movies. Somehow it all ties together in a way that’ll make your week a little smarter and...

Holiday email engagement is somehow both nerdy and genuinely fun here, as Jay Schwedelson and Daniel Murray use Thanksgiving food opinions, Hallmark movies, and Bathroom-Break banter to get into why replies matter way more than most marketers think. They dig into how to engineer responses in your emails and stories, why reply rate is a killer signal for both humans and algorithms, and how AI plus simple prompts like “Reply GUIDE” c...

Event folks like to joke about chaos, but Jay Schwedelson and Rachel Andrews get into what it actually takes to build a career inside that chaos. Rachel shares how she went from school events and holiday parties to leading a massive global events program, why “embrace the suck” is secretly great career advice, and what is really changing for attendees on-site. They also talk about burnout, boundaries, and how to build networking fo...

If you’re scrambling for a few last marketing wins before everyone mentally checks out for the holidays, Jay Schwedelson has you. He runs through ridiculously simple, data-backed plays you can still pull off in December to drive engagement, then pivots to underrated holiday movie picks you probably forgot existed. It’s fast, a little unhinged, and full of ideas you can steal right away.

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Best Moments:

(01:12) Jerry’s question about e...

If you’re looking for a quick spark for your marketing this week, this one’s packed with clever timing plays and wild cultural moments that Jay Schwedelson breaks down with zero fluff. From riding the wave of Spotify Wrapped to the bizarre reality of Brown Friday, he pulls out the stuff brands can actually use right now and the stuff that’s just too ridiculous not to mention.

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Best Moments:

(00:00) Why jumping on Spotify Wrapped is t...

Moving chaos, forgotten boxes, and the universal struggle of figuring out where the bathroom is in a new place somehow turn into the perfect setup for a smart chat about a wildly overlooked email tactic. You’ll hear how adding a simple animated gif can lift clicks, stop the scroll, and make your emails feel more alive, all thanks to the always blunt brilliance of Jay Schwedelson and the ever-game-for-any-topic energy of Daniel Murr...

If your career path feels like a loop instead of a launchpad, this candid convo is your blueprint for building something smarter on purpose. Jay Schwedelson and Monique Ruff-Bell - Chief Program & Strategy Officer, TED - get into how to stop waiting for permission, add new lanes to your skill set, and turn curiosity, courage, and "how can I help?" into real leadership opportunities.

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Connect with Monique on LinkedIn and use her ...

If you’ve ever wondered how to revive a dead email list or why people make a hard left into the airplane bathroom before takeoff, this one’s for you. Jay Schwedelson dives into his two favorite tactics to wake up unengaged subscribers before year-end—plus manages to work in an oddly passionate defense of Spirit Airlines. It’s classic Jay: part marketing brilliance, part relatable chaos.

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Best Moments:

(01:32) Why year-end is the best...

Bagel Bites just killed a meme, and Jay Schwedelson is here for it. From frozen snacks trying to be cool to the surprising power of lo-fi content, Jay breaks down what’s trending, what’s actually useful for marketers, and even how to hide your Instagram stories before you ruin a holiday surprise. Oh, and somehow it all ends with Hallmark movies and Mormon wives—because of course it does.

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Best Moments:

(00:25) Bagel Bites tries to jo...

The holiday season brings a different kind of marketing energy, and Jay Schwedelson and Daniel Murray are all about helping you use it. Between roasting each other about running habits and gym classes, they dig into why “the most” might be the single most powerful word you can use in your end-of-year campaigns. From “most downloaded” to “most gifted,” this episode shows how to wrap up your content (literally) in ways people can’t r...