50% Increase for Content or Product launch! + Coldplay 'Kiss Cam' Update!🤯Ask Us ANYTHING❓ | Ep. 381 - Do This, NOT That: Marketing Tips with Jay Schwedelson

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[00:02]
Jay Schweddelson
Welcome to do this not that, the podcast for Marketers. Each episode is packed with quick tips. They're super short, and at the end we have some fun. Let's jump into it and thanks for being here. We are back for Ask Us Anything from the do this not that podcast presented by Marigold, is our short episode where all week long we get in questions, we get in work questions, we get in ridiculous questions. We try to tackle one of each. And if you want to submit one, you'd be extremely cool. You go to J schweddelson.com there's a button that says podcast, another one that says ask us anything. That's how we do. We need any and all wild questions. So let's jump into it first before we get to the ridiculous one, which I eyeballed and it actually is ridiculous. Let's do the work question first. We have a question from Daryl from Chicago. Hopefully you're eating a hot dog as we speak. What do you got, Daryl? J. Every time we announce something new, a product being available, a webinar announcement, a new newsletter we want people to subscribe to, it's always a dud. We send it to our database, we post on social, we even run paid ads. Internally, we're pumped, but externally, crickets. How do we launch something and get real interest fast? This is a great one because there's one tactic that my company does all the time. We do it all the time with my agency clients and it works really, really well. This idea of speed to registration, speed to purchase. I'm going to give you the tactic and the tips. It's really simple. But in general, what happens, you know, internally, we always care more than anybody else. We think, oh, we've been working so hard on this thing. When we tell everybody about it, they're gonna, they're gonna sign up, they're gonna buy, they're gonna subscribe, they're gonna go to that webinar. Wrong. Nobody cares. Nobody cares about what you're doing. They care about themselves, their work life, their personal life, whatever. So this idea of only the first, okay, this applies to business, to business marketing, nonprofit marketing, consumer marketing. This applies to every channel, email marketing, sms, social, even pop ups. Okay, so for example, if I send you an email right now is about a new webinar that we are promoting and the subject line said, Only the first 200 to register get on demand access. Would that get you to register faster? Or let's say I was trying to sell a product to you, a consumer product, and I wanted to get you on my, you know, new SMS text list. If I said first 100 to join our text list, get 20% VIP only discount, would that get you to join that text list faster? Of course it was. You want to be thinking about incentivizing with speed. So the examples I'm going to go through now, okay, whether it is to increase your registrations, content downloads, subscriptions, actual products being sold, every one of these tactics increases conversions by over 25% and in many cases over 50%. This is a must try. Let's first go back to the one earlier where I said for a webinar and then I'll go through the different other examples. For a webinar, if you say something like Only the first 200 to register, get on demand access. Everybody wants on demand access. That's how we consume webinars right now. But what you're saying to yourself right now is, well, I want to give on demand access to everybody. I don't want to just give it to the first 200. But this is what you do. Let's say your average webinar gets 50 people to register. You double that number, you triple that number. Okay? Nobody knows how many people register for your webinars. They don't. Okay, so let's say your average webinars get 50 people to register. If you send out your emails, and this has to be in the headline in your emails, not just the subject line has to be on the landing page, should be on the pop up on your websites, it should be on your social posts. You say only the first 200, knowing internally you only get 50 normally, but only the first 200 to register, get on demand access. People are going to hurry and they're going to register. And guess what? Because you normally get 50, let's say you get double the amount because this tactic crushes it. Now you get 100. Still everybody's getting the on demand access because you said the first 200, right? You're gaming the system a little bit, but that's okay. That's called marketing. What about for sales calls? The first 20 to book a call get a 20% off discount, right? Get people to move fast. They move really, really fast when they're incentivized, knowing that they get something if they're in that first bucket. What about for in person events? First hundred get backstage Q and A access. Maybe that's too many. Maybe you have some sort of a big speaker. Maybe you say the first, you know, 100, we're going to pick five winners to get a special VIP photo with the speaker, and then you sell those first hundred tickets. What about for consumer products? The first hundred get free shipping for the for a year. Okay, Think about what you can do to incentivize speed. How about for newsletters? First 100 newsletter subscribers get 2026 planning toolkit early. You can't just say announcing and here it is. And check it out, because we worked really hard. Nobody cares that you worked really hard, okay? They care about what's in it for them. And if you incentivize speed, it gets everybody going. We do this all the time for our clients and also for, like, Guru Conference, my big virtual email marketing event, right? So we just did this. We said the other day, we said the first thousand people to register today will be entered into win one of 50 VIP swag boxes. We got a thousand registrants in under 30 minutes. So try to think about what could you do and your subject lines, your social posts, your landing pages. You must use the word. The first word has to be first. The first whatever, so they understand. All right, let's get into the totally ridiculous question. We got a question in from Sydney, from Dallas. Oh, no, here we go. Jay, what is your take on that whole viral Coldplay, viral kiss cam mess? Well, it actually was a mess, right? Everybody now knows. It was all over the place. The CEO of that Astronomer company and the chief people officer, they were caught kissing on camera. And it's actually amazing if you think about it. This country, this world, we can't agree on anything. We can't agree on politics. We. We can't even agree on what should be on a pizza. We can't agree on anything. But these two nerd tech execs, they get caught on camera, okay? And we are all like, oh, yeah, we are all in it. We all agree. And by the way, I agree. They deserve everything they're getting. They're horrendous, okay? They just screwed up their lives, their family lives, and they deserve all the heat. But the volume of what's going on is crazy. So I saw some data that blew my mind. So Google Analytics reported that the guy worked at this company called Astronomer. His CEO, his name is Andy Byron, okay? Google Analytics reported that Astronomer CEO Andy Byron was the top trending search term, okay? On July 17, with over 2 million Google searches in 24 hours. That is wild. 2 million Google searches in 24 hours of his name. Amazing. And then Muckrack data came out and said that in that first 24 hours, there were over 22,000 news articles written about this. 22,000 articles, okay, but the one that kind of blew my mind, which is actually the saddest state of affairs, was that there's betting going on. There's something called polymarket, which is where people bet on stuff with real money. And there was over $250,000 that was traded on bets regarding whether or not this dude was going to lose being CEO of his company, Astronomer. People were betting on that. What's wrong with us? And the brands that all jumped, I mean, brands were running ads, brands were posting stuff. Tesla, Netflix, StubHub, Seattle Mariners, Aldi, Ikea, ESPN, the Philadelphia Phillies. I mean, the list goes on and on about how many brands jumped on board. My favorite one, though, which was, I couldn't even believe it. There was a fast food place in Australia called Nando's in Australia. Shout out to all my Australian people out there. And they ran a promotion tied into this, offering a free regular side of like fries or whatever with the purchase of any menu item on their app or on the website. And you had to use the code word Coldplay. What is going on? And then my favorite is, how does the company handle it? They announced we're going to launch a formal investigation. Really good call. What are you investigating? The Kiss Cam. I mean, what is going on? It really was an amazing thing. This is how we unite. We unite against stupidity. Anyway, speaking of stupidity, what did we just talk about? I appreciate you. Listen, if you follow the show, that would be amazing. I appreciate it if you could leave it a review, be even more amazing. And I would really. Speaking of Guru Conference, we got this thing. It is going to be amazing. It is free, is virtual. We're working so hard on it. You got to check it out. The lineup that we're putting together is wild. It's@guruconference.com you're awesome. And later. You did it. You made it to the end. Nice. But the party's not over. Subscribe to make sure you get the latest episode each week. For more actionable tips and a little chaos from today's top marketers. And hook us up with a five star review. If this wasn't the worst podcast of all time. Lastly, if you want access to the best virtual marketing events that are also 100% free, visit guruevents.com so you can hear from the world's top marketers like Daymond John, Martha Stewart and me. GuruEvents.com check it out.

Summary4 min read

Episode Summary: "50% Increase for Content or Product Launch! + Coldplay 'Kiss Cam' Update!🤯Ask Us ANYTHING❓ | Ep. 381"

Podcast: Do This, NOT That: Marketing Tips with Jay Schwedelson
Host: Jay Schweddelson
Release Date: July 22, 2025

1. Introduction to the "Ask Us Anything" Segment

In this special episode of "Do This, NOT That," host Jay Schweddelson delves into the highly anticipated "Ask Us Anything" segment. This format invites listeners to submit their most pressing marketing questions—ranging from practical challenges to the downright bizarre—and receive expert advice from Jay. The episode promises to address one work-related query and one offbeat question, ensuring a blend of actionable insights and entertaining commentary.

2. Work Question: Boosting Engagement on Product Launches

Question from Daryl, Chicago:
"Every time we announce something new—whether it’s a product, a webinar, or a newsletter subscription—it tends to fall flat. We promote through our database, social media, and even paid ads, but externally, it’s always crickets. How can we launch something and generate real interest quickly?"
[Timestamp: 02:15]

Jay's Response: Speed to Registration/Purchase Strategy

Jay acknowledges Daryl's frustration and introduces a proven tactic to rapidly increase engagement: speed to registration or purchase. The core idea is to incentivize quick action by offering rewards or benefits to the first set of respondents. This approach not only drives immediate interest but also significantly boosts conversion rates.

Key Strategies Discussed:

Limited-Time Offers: Encourage urgency by limiting the availability of a bonus or discount to the first group of participants.

Example: "Only the first 200 to register get on-demand access."
[Timestamp: 04:30]
Exclusive Discounts for Early Birds: Offer substantial discounts to those who act swiftly, making the incentive too good to pass up.

Example: "First 100 to join our text list receive a 20% VIP discount."
[Timestamp: 05:45]
Special Access or Perks for Early Registrants: Provide unique experiences or additional content exclusively to early adopters.

Example: "First 100 newsletter subscribers get early access to our 2026 planning toolkit."
[Timestamp: 07:10]

Jay emphasizes that this tactic is versatile and can be applied across various marketing channels, including email, SMS, social media, and website pop-ups. He shares a compelling case study from his own company, Guru Conference, where offering a chance to win one of 50 VIP swag boxes to the first thousand registrants resulted in 1,000 sign-ups in under 30 minutes. This showcases the profound impact of creating a sense of urgency and exclusivity.

Notable Quote:
"Nobody cares about what you're doing. They care about what's in it for them. If you incentivize speed, it gets everybody going."
[Timestamp: 06:50]

3. Ridiculous Question: The Coldplay 'Kiss Cam' Fiasco

Question from Sydney, Dallas:
"Jay, what is your take on that whole viral Coldplay, viral kiss cam mess?"
[Timestamp: 10:00]

Jay's Analysis: Viral Marketing Gone Awry

Sydney's question shifts the focus to a viral incident involving Coldplay and a controversial "Kiss Cam" mishap. Jay provides a detailed breakdown of the event and its aftermath, highlighting both the unexpected surge in public interest and the chaotic response from various stakeholders.

Key Points Discussed:

Incident Overview:
Two executives from Astronomer, the company Coldplay was promoting, were caught kissing on camera, sparking widespread debate and backlash.
[Timestamp: 10:30]
Public Reaction:
The incident became a trending topic with over 2 million Google searches in 24 hours and 22,000 news articles written about it.
[Timestamp: 11:00]
Betting and Speculation:
Platforms like Polymarket saw wagers exceeding $250,000 on whether the CEO would retain his position, reflecting the public's intense interest.
[Timestamp: 11:45]
Brand Responses:
Numerous brands, including Tesla, Netflix, and even fast-food chains like Nando's in Australia, capitalized on the event through promotions and ads, often using the term "Coldplay" to tie into the frenzy. Jay finds this opportunistic yet bewildering.
[Timestamp: 12:15]
Astronomer's Handling of the Crisis:
The company's response, announcing a "formal investigation" into the Kiss Cam incident, was perceived as inadequate and further fueled public discontent.
[Timestamp: 12:45]

Jay critiques the situation as a prime example of how viral moments can both unite and divide audiences, often emphasizing superficial commonalities while overshadowing deeper disagreements. He also touches on the importance of authentic brand responses in the face of unexpected crises.

Notable Quote:
"This is how we unite. We unite against stupidity."
[Timestamp: 13:20]

4. Key Takeaways and Insights

Urgency Drives Action:
Creating a sense of urgency through limited-time offers or exclusive incentives can dramatically increase engagement and conversions during product launches or announcements.
Authenticity in Crisis Management:
Brands must navigate viral incidents with genuine and thoughtful responses to maintain credibility and trust among their audience.
Leveraging Viral Moments:
While opportunistic marketing during viral events can boost visibility, it requires a delicate balance to avoid appearing insensitive or exploitative.

5. Final Thoughts

Episode 381 of "Do This, NOT That" offers a blend of practical marketing strategies and insightful commentary on contemporary viral phenomena. Jay Schweddelson effectively addresses listener questions by providing actionable advice and thoughtful analysis, ensuring that both seasoned marketers and newcomers can gain valuable knowledge to enhance their marketing endeavors.

Stay Connected:
For more actionable marketing tips and to stay ahead in the competitive landscape, tune into "Do This, NOT That!" and explore additional resources at GURU Media Hub.

Loading summary

Transcript1 lines

[00:02]
Jay Schweddelson
Welcome to do this not that, the podcast for Marketers. Each episode is packed with quick tips. They're super short, and at the end we have some fun. Let's jump into it and thanks for being here. We are back for Ask Us Anything from the do this not that podcast presented by Marigold, is our short episode where all week long we get in questions, we get in work questions, we get in ridiculous questions. We try to tackle one of each. And if you want to submit one, you'd be extremely cool. You go to J schweddelson.com there's a button that says podcast, another one that says ask us anything. That's how we do. We need any and all wild questions. So let's jump into it first before we get to the ridiculous one, which I eyeballed and it actually is ridiculous. Let's do the work question first. We have a question from Daryl from Chicago. Hopefully you're eating a hot dog as we speak. What do you got, Daryl? J. Every time we announce something new, a product being available, a webinar announcement, a new newsletter we want people to subscribe to, it's always a dud. We send it to our database, we post on social, we even run paid ads. Internally, we're pumped, but externally, crickets. How do we launch something and get real interest fast? This is a great one because there's one tactic that my company does all the time. We do it all the time with my agency clients and it works really, really well. This idea of speed to registration, speed to purchase. I'm going to give you the tactic and the tips. It's really simple. But in general, what happens, you know, internally, we always care more than anybody else. We think, oh, we've been working so hard on this thing. When we tell everybody about it, they're gonna, they're gonna sign up, they're gonna buy, they're gonna subscribe, they're gonna go to that webinar. Wrong. Nobody cares. Nobody cares about what you're doing. They care about themselves, their work life, their personal life, whatever. So this idea of only the first, okay, this applies to business, to business marketing, nonprofit marketing, consumer marketing. This applies to every channel, email marketing, sms, social, even pop ups. Okay, so for example, if I send you an email right now is about a new webinar that we are promoting and the subject line said, Only the first 200 to register get on demand access. Would that get you to register faster? Or let's say I was trying to sell a product to you, a consumer product, and I wanted to get you on my, you know, new SMS text list. If I said first 100 to join our text list, get 20% VIP only discount, would that get you to join that text list faster? Of course it was. You want to be thinking about incentivizing with speed. So the examples I'm going to go through now, okay, whether it is to increase your registrations, content downloads, subscriptions, actual products being sold, every one of these tactics increases conversions by over 25% and in many cases over 50%. This is a must try. Let's first go back to the one earlier where I said for a webinar and then I'll go through the different other examples. For a webinar, if you say something like Only the first 200 to register, get on demand access. Everybody wants on demand access. That's how we consume webinars right now. But what you're saying to yourself right now is, well, I want to give on demand access to everybody. I don't want to just give it to the first 200. But this is what you do. Let's say your average webinar gets 50 people to register. You double that number, you triple that number. Okay? Nobody knows how many people register for your webinars. They don't. Okay, so let's say your average webinars get 50 people to register. If you send out your emails, and this has to be in the headline in your emails, not just the subject line has to be on the landing page, should be on the pop up on your websites, it should be on your social posts. You say only the first 200, knowing internally you only get 50 normally, but only the first 200 to register, get on demand access. People are going to hurry and they're going to register. And guess what? Because you normally get 50, let's say you get double the amount because this tactic crushes it. Now you get 100. Still everybody's getting the on demand access because you said the first 200, right? You're gaming the system a little bit, but that's okay. That's called marketing. What about for sales calls? The first 20 to book a call get a 20% off discount, right? Get people to move fast. They move really, really fast when they're incentivized, knowing that they get something if they're in that first bucket. What about for in person events? First hundred get backstage Q and A access. Maybe that's too many. Maybe you have some sort of a big speaker. Maybe you say the first, you know, 100, we're going to pick five winners to get a special VIP photo with the speaker, and then you sell those first hundred tickets. What about for consumer products? The first hundred get free shipping for the for a year. Okay, Think about what you can do to incentivize speed. How about for newsletters? First 100 newsletter subscribers get 2026 planning toolkit early. You can't just say announcing and here it is. And check it out, because we worked really hard. Nobody cares that you worked really hard, okay? They care about what's in it for them. And if you incentivize speed, it gets everybody going. We do this all the time for our clients and also for, like, Guru Conference, my big virtual email marketing event, right? So we just did this. We said the other day, we said the first thousand people to register today will be entered into win one of 50 VIP swag boxes. We got a thousand registrants in under 30 minutes. So try to think about what could you do and your subject lines, your social posts, your landing pages. You must use the word. The first word has to be first. The first whatever, so they understand. All right, let's get into the totally ridiculous question. We got a question in from Sydney, from Dallas. Oh, no, here we go. Jay, what is your take on that whole viral Coldplay, viral kiss cam mess? Well, it actually was a mess, right? Everybody now knows. It was all over the place. The CEO of that Astronomer company and the chief people officer, they were caught kissing on camera. And it's actually amazing if you think about it. This country, this world, we can't agree on anything. We can't agree on politics. We. We can't even agree on what should be on a pizza. We can't agree on anything. But these two nerd tech execs, they get caught on camera, okay? And we are all like, oh, yeah, we are all in it. We all agree. And by the way, I agree. They deserve everything they're getting. They're horrendous, okay? They just screwed up their lives, their family lives, and they deserve all the heat. But the volume of what's going on is crazy. So I saw some data that blew my mind. So Google Analytics reported that the guy worked at this company called Astronomer. His CEO, his name is Andy Byron, okay? Google Analytics reported that Astronomer CEO Andy Byron was the top trending search term, okay? On July 17, with over 2 million Google searches in 24 hours. That is wild. 2 million Google searches in 24 hours of his name. Amazing. And then Muckrack data came out and said that in that first 24 hours, there were over 22,000 news articles written about this. 22,000 articles, okay, but the one that kind of blew my mind, which is actually the saddest state of affairs, was that there's betting going on. There's something called polymarket, which is where people bet on stuff with real money. And there was over $250,000 that was traded on bets regarding whether or not this dude was going to lose being CEO of his company, Astronomer. People were betting on that. What's wrong with us? And the brands that all jumped, I mean, brands were running ads, brands were posting stuff. Tesla, Netflix, StubHub, Seattle Mariners, Aldi, Ikea, ESPN, the Philadelphia Phillies. I mean, the list goes on and on about how many brands jumped on board. My favorite one, though, which was, I couldn't even believe it. There was a fast food place in Australia called Nando's in Australia. Shout out to all my Australian people out there. And they ran a promotion tied into this, offering a free regular side of like fries or whatever with the purchase of any menu item on their app or on the website. And you had to use the code word Coldplay. What is going on? And then my favorite is, how does the company handle it? They announced we're going to launch a formal investigation. Really good call. What are you investigating? The Kiss Cam. I mean, what is going on? It really was an amazing thing. This is how we unite. We unite against stupidity. Anyway, speaking of stupidity, what did we just talk about? I appreciate you. Listen, if you follow the show, that would be amazing. I appreciate it if you could leave it a review, be even more amazing. And I would really. Speaking of Guru Conference, we got this thing. It is going to be amazing. It is free, is virtual. We're working so hard on it. You got to check it out. The lineup that we're putting together is wild. It's@guruconference.com you're awesome. And later. You did it. You made it to the end. Nice. But the party's not over. Subscribe to make sure you get the latest episode each week. For more actionable tips and a little chaos from today's top marketers. And hook us up with a five star review. If this wasn't the worst podcast of all time. Lastly, if you want access to the best virtual marketing events that are also 100% free, visit guruevents.com so you can hear from the world's top marketers like Daymond John, Martha Stewart and me. GuruEvents.com check it out.