What’s Up THIS WEEK: 25% Increase in EMAIL OPENS! And...Avoid doing this with AI! 📺 Nobody Wants This??📺| Ep. 433

Do This, NOT That: Marketing Tips with Jay Schwedelson

GURU Media Hub

Growth, Education, Email, Business, Revenue, How To, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Profit, B2b, B2c

5 • 715 Ratings

🗓️ 21 October 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

October’s serving up some wild marketing data, and Jay Schwedelson is here for it. From why company-name personalization suddenly skyrockets email open rates this month, to why it’s officially time to ditch your Instagram posts for reels, Jay breaks down the trends that actually move the needle. Plus, a surprising stat about ChatGPT content that’ll make you rethink your next prompt—and a hilarious detour into celebrity weirdness that you didn’t know you needed.

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Best Moments:

(00:59) Why using company names in subject lines boosts B2B email opens by over 30% right now

(01:59) The right time to drop “Black Friday” in your emails for maximum engagement

(02:43) Why regular Instagram posts are basically dead and reels dominate reach

(03:37) Instagram’s upcoming redesign proves it’s all about reels and DMs

(04:29) The top 50 AI phrases killing your engagement (and how to un-AI your writing)

(06:49) Kristen Bell’s bizarre anniversary caption that broke Jay’s brain

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Check out our 100% FREE + VIRTUAL EVENTS! ->

Guru Conference - The World's Largest Virtual EMAIL MARKETING Conference - Nov 6-7!

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Check out Jay’s YOUTUBE Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@schwedelson

Check out Jay’s TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@schwedelson

Check Out Jay's INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/jayschwedelson/

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MASSIVE thank you to our Sponsor, Marigold!!

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Claim your offer now at jayschwedelson.com/emma

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Do This, Not That, the podcast from marketers.
0:05.0	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.
0:11.0	We also keep it short, like this intro. Let's check it out.
0:15.0	We are back for what's up this week from the Do This, Not That Podcast, presented by Marigold.
0:24.1	And this is our short episode. We break down. What's going on this week in business and marketing in life? So let's jump right into. We got some about email, Instagram, all sorts of
0:29.2	stuff. So first off, October is such an interesting time for email marketing. And people don't
0:34.2	realize there are certain tactics that work incredibly well in October and early November that don't do as well other times for some reason. And this is some
0:42.8	data from subjectline.com. So one of those tactics, first on the business side, business to business,
0:49.0	is in your subject line, the personalization that does actually the best, this specific time of
0:56.2	the year is company name personalization.
0:59.5	So when you actually put whoever you are sending an email to, you put their company,
1:04.8	the name of their company in the subject line, it increases email open rates by over 30%
1:10.4	this time of year, meaning things like this.
1:12.9	Your subject line could be, is Acme at risk?
1:16.2	Or new security tips for Acme or is Acme prepared for 2026?
1:21.6	There's something about seeing your company in the subject line and it's getting your mind
1:27.2	thinking about what's coming next, what's the outlook for the upcoming year, whatever it may be. But if you, first of all, if you've never tested company in the subject line, you're missing out. But this is the time of year that it does particularly well. So that's a really great personalization tip this time of year. And then the other one, which is so obvious on the
1:45.7	consumer side, but I don't think people realize it enough is actually talking about Black
1:49.8	Friday, saying Black Friday. Do not wait for mid-November to say Black Friday. Do not wait for,
1:58.4	you know, post- Thanksgiving or that would be totally ridiculous.
2:02.0	I mean, that's out of control.
2:03.4	Now, literally right now, these next 10 days is when you want to be doubling down using Black Friday.
	...

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