SPECIAL SERIES ==> January Email Hangover 🤯 <== | BATHROOM Break #87 COLLAB: The Marketing Millennials + Do This, Not That

Summary

Podcast Summary: SPECIAL SERIES ==> January Email Hangover 🤯 <== | BATHROOM Break #87 COLLAB

Podcast: Do This, NOT That: Marketing Tips with Jay Schwedelson
Host: GURU Media Hub
Guests: Jay Schwedelson (Do This, Not That; subjectline.com), Daniel Murray (The Marketing Millennials)
Date: December 22, 2025

---

Main Theme & Purpose

In this special “Bathroom Break” collaboration episode, Jay Schwedelson and Daniel Murray dive into high-impact marketing tactics specifically for the critical first two weeks of January. They discuss how marketers can avoid the “January Email Hangover”—that lethargy and inattention many audiences face at the start of the year—and share actionable strategies to start strong. With their trademark humor and real-world insights, they explore decision-making, audience psychology, content repurposing, and practical tools to keep marketing fresh and effective as the year begins.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Unusual Nature of Marketing in Early January

[01:39 - 02:04]

• The first two weeks of January are not business as usual; audience behaviors shift, attention spans shorten, and inboxes are flooded.
• Marketers must resist the temptation to “phone it in” or treat January like any other month.
• Daniel Murray: “If you get behind in January, you're going to be behind in February, then you're going to be behind in March.” [02:04]

2. Set Small, Attainable Monthly Goals

[02:04 - 02:56]

• Replace broad quarterly goals with small, focused monthly targets to build early momentum and avoid feeling perpetually behind.
• Marketers, especially in B2B, should be mindful that many prospects are catching up post-holidays and not immediately receptive.

3. Don’t Judge New Tactics by Early January Performance

[03:25 - 03:50]

• Testing new campaigns during the first two weeks of January can yield misleadingly poor results.
• Jay Schwedelson: “Those first two weeks are historically horrible... the last two weeks of January have about a 30% higher average click through rate than those first two weeks.” [03:48]
• Avoid killing promising ideas too soon based on early January data.

4. Audit & Update Your Automated Content

[03:50 - 04:25]

• Clean up dated messaging (e.g., “2025”) in automations, triggers, and evergreen content to present a sharp, relevant brand image.
• “There’s nothing worse than a negative signal to start the year… This is the time to audit all of that.” — Jay Schwedelson [04:11]

5. Low-Lift Content Refreshes Win

[04:25 - 05:20]

• Simple updates — like swapping years (from “2025” to “2026”) in popular blog posts, guides, or social content — can create fresh, relevant assets with minimal effort.
• Daniel Murray: “If you have something that was conferences to attend in 2025, now just switch it up and do conferences attended 2026… Just changing the relevancy.” [04:40]

6. Mindset and Copy Adjustments for January

[05:19 - 06:10]

• At the start of the year, audiences crave concise messaging, shorter subject lines, and lots of white space.
• “Our attention span is actually super short those first two weeks. So really think about the mindset of who you're marketing to and where their head is at.” — Jay Schwedelson [05:40]
• Long-form emails in early January are likely to be ignored.

7. Audit Last Year's Emails For Inspiration

[06:10 - 06:47]

• Review your own inbox from January of last year: What stood out? What did you open? Re-purpose those strong ideas.
• Leverage AI tools to analyze trend-worthy subject lines and content from last January.
• “Go look at what are the emails that were sent out. Audit those. Now you have AI…” — Daniel Murray [06:20]

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Jay Schwedelson:
  “We are like the only podcast in the entire country that’s just not mailing it in and just reposting greatest hits.” [01:24]
• Daniel Murray:
  “You can’t treat how things are working December to how things are working in January. Especially in the B2B space where people… are just coming back from vacations, coming back from holidays, so their inbox is flooded…” [02:40]
• Jay Schwedelson:
  “Go through all your automation streams, all your triggers... Get 2025 out of there. There's nothing worse than a negative signal to start the year.” [03:57]
• Daniel Murray:
  “Sprinkle some new stuff in and repost that onto your feeds...” [05:03]

---

Fun & Human Moments

Avatar Tangent [06:47 - 07:51]:

• The hosts take a lighthearted detour into movies, joking about missing movie releases (“Avatar”) as parents and how it parallels missing marketing trends if you’re not paying attention.
• “We found aliens on Earth while you had a baby... Maybe you missed it.” — Jay Schwedelson [07:46]

---

Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:39] – Main topic introduction: January marketing strategies
• [02:04] – The danger of “phoning it in,” monthly goals over quarterly goals
• [03:25] – Why not to judge new tactics by early January results
• [03:50] – The importance of auditing automated content
• [04:25] – The value of updating and repurposing content for the new year
• [05:19] – Copywriting tips: short, direct, and mindful of attention span
• [06:10] – Using last year’s January emails as inspiration
• [06:47] – Playful “Avatar” movie tangent
• [08:10] – Quick sign-off and reminders for future episodes

---

Takeaways & Action Steps

• Audit and refresh all evergreen content for the new year (dates, relevance, automation triggers).
• Set small, achievable monthly targets rather than vague quarterly ones in Q1.
• Don’t give up on tests that underperform in early January; retest later in the month.
• Lean into low-effort wins: Switch up years, tweak subject lines, resurface proven formats.
• Shorten copy, increase white space, and focus on audience mindset for early-year campaigns.
• Use your past inbox and AI for inspiration. See what worked in January before.

---

Overall Tone:
Conversational, witty, full of practical advice—encouraging marketers to be proactive, adaptable, and smart about making the most of early January, rather than seeing it as a lost cause.

Transcript

[A]

Foreign. Welcome to a new special series called the Bathroom break. That extra 10 minutes you either have to listen to marketing tips or use the bathroom. Or both. But I don't recommend both. But that's your choice.

[B]

This collab is going to be super fun. We have Daniel Murray from the Marketing Millennials and me, Jay Schwedelson from the do this, not that podcast and subjectline.com each episode in the series, we are going to go over quick tips about different marketing top. And if you want to be in the bathroom, fine, just don't tell us about it. Thanks for checking it out. We are back for the Bathroom Break. I'm here with the ultimate marking millennial, Daniel Murray. And I am Jay Schwedelson. And I'm like, is anybody out there even listening more? Did the world tune it out? So, Daniel, like this time of year, are you still consuming like marketing podcasts and business stuff, or are you just all in on watching Home Alone 3 or whatever?

[A]

I think column A and column B, but I, I try to consume as much as I can just for ideas, but I feel like this type of year is just all old content recycled from, from the whole year. So you're just getting a bunch of curations, which is great because my ADHD brain can now consume more your content if you're doing that the right way. So keep well the good curious.

[B]

We're like the only podcast in the entire country that's just not mailing it in and just reposting like, you know, greatest hits from. We have actually a new episode here. We should like high five each other. Look at us.

[A]

How are we doing this? This is crazy. This is crazy.

[B]

This is craziness. All right, well, let's talk about the topic of the day. Topic of day is the first two weeks of January. Here we are, the year's wrapping up and then you're going to get hyped to do your marketing those first two weeks of January. And there are some very specific tactics you should be aware of, you should avoid and all things because it's not a normal time of the year. So, Daniel, what do you think about those first two weeks of January and is it just regular marketing for you?

[A]

No, I think first I, I, I, I have to say is the first two weeks of January and for any marketing is you shouldn't phone in the marketing because the wor this is the worst time to phone in because if you get behind in January, you're going to be behind in February, then you're going to be behind in March. So try set monthly goals for the next three months, not quarterly goals because you'll feel like you're falling, right? So set small monthly goals. I think the other thing is a lot of people right now probably have a test budget, probably have things that they're going to try, new things in 2026 that they wanted to try. You can't treat every month the same of the year. Especially like you can't treat how things are working December to how things are working in January. Especially in the B2B space where people, some people are just coming back from vacations, coming back from holidays, so their inbox is flooded, their heads down trying to hit their goals and they probably not consume your content. So I know you have some data behind this, but what I'm trying to say is don't just cancel your goals with the first two weeks. Let them play out a little longer because they could be coming back in February, March, April, when people have more time to consume and more time to view your content or marketing you're doing.

[B]

Yeah, and let me double down on something you said those first two weeks. If you test something new that you've been waiting to test and you test on like January 8th or 9th and it doesn't do well, that doesn't mean that that tactic or that test is just not going to do well. Those first two weeks are historically horrible because everyone's just getting themselves straight, they're catching up, they're doing things. And we see it, for example, on email, click through rates on promotional email, the second two weeks of January versus the first two weeks of January. Those last two weeks of January have about a 30% higher average click through rate than those first two weeks because our brains just aren't there. The other thing you want to think about is go through all your automation streams, all your triggers, all your stuff, get 2025 out of there. There's nothing worse than a negative signal to start the year in your marketing and letting people think, oh, they're not with it, they're not organized, they don't know what's going on. This is the time to audit all of that. So you come out of the gate strong, but realize those first two weeks are not going to be strong.

[A]

I think that's a good point you made too is there's so many documents and emails and piece of content where this could be a good time to just remix it right now and just add that 2026 or add a couple lines to make it relevant for 2026 instead of doing all the new ideas. So if you have something that was conferences to attend in 2025 now just switch it up and change the dates and do conferences attended 2026. See what content was working that had 2025 in. There's low lift to try to change that up because those are could be easy wins. Going into the new year is just switching the 2025, 2026 and just changing the relevancy of the content. Sprinkle some new stuff in and reposting that onto your feeds into your emails and stuff like that.

[B]

Yeah, and whether you're a business or consumer, that's such a smart play. You know the 2026 fashion trends, 2026 health things, whatever slap 2026 it will crush it. The other thing to think about is our subconscious mindset. We are so busy, we have so much stuff to start out the year. We want to see short copy, we want to see a lot of white space in the social posts, in the emails that we receive. We want to see shorter subject lines. We don't realize it, but shorter is what we want to consum. Our attention span is actually super short those first two weeks. So really think about the mindset of who you're marketing to and where their head is at. Because you know like January 2nd or 3rd, the last thing you want to do is be on a teams meeting. That sounds like the worst thing on earth. So getting a giant long form email on January 3rd, ain't it? So think about, you know, all of that And Daniel, let me ask you a question. Oh you. What do you got?

[A]

I just was going to add like something that you could do if you want, if you don't know what to do is go back your inbox of from January last year and see what you would have opened from last year and just that could be some new fresh ideas. So go look at what are the emails that were sent out. Audit those. Now you have AI, you can audit the subject lines, you can audit things that people did in the first week of last year. So I think just go back and look at what worked for other people in back and what would work for you if you would open it and try some of those things in your marketing.

[B]

So the most random question I have for you is that I saw that the new avatar is out or whatever. I've never seen any avatars. You know, the tall blue people. I feel like you're somebody who knows a lot about the movie Avatar and you care. Is that true?

[A]

Are we talking about the blue people? Avatar. Yes, we are. Or like Avatar the Last Airbender. No, no, no. I'm the person who went to the first Avatar, like five times when it first came out and then had to wait 10 years till the next one came out. I think it's a great. I think it's a great movie. I didn't know that. I'm so behind that. I didn't know there's a new one coming out.

[B]

You're not that excited about it, so.

[A]

I'm definitely not that excited about it, but I will. It's really funny when you have a kid that all the things that you actually are missing out because you're not thinking about going to the movie theater right now, so you're not looking at what movies are coming. Coming out and you probably not watching.

[B]

We connected with aliens. There's. We found aliens on Earth while you had a baby. Maybe you missed it.

[A]

Great, thanks. All trending news. Send it my way, because I'm behind the. That's some good content to send me. Was. What? What? What's trending in the next two, three, four months? What happens four years? Two, three, four years. Exactly.

[B]

All right, everybody. Yeah. Keep it real. We'll check out the next one. Daniel, come on, man. I gotta get back to work. Get out of there. All right, while he's still in there. This is Jay. Check out my podcast, do this, not that, for Marketers. Each week we share really quick tips on stuff that can improve your marketing and hope you give it a try. Oh, here's Daniel. He's finally out.

[A]

Back from my bathroom break. This is Daniel. Go follow the Market Millennials podcast, but also tune into this series. It's once a week, the Bathroom Break. We talk about marketing tips that we just spew out. And it could be anything from email subject line to any marketing tips in the world. We'll talk about it. Just give us a shout on LinkedIn and tell us what you want to hear. Peace out.

[B]

Later.