Podcast Summary:

Podcast: Do This, NOT That: Marketing Tips with Jay Schwedelson
Host: GURU Media Hub
Episode: SPECIAL SERIES ⇒ 📩 “Open This Email” Works?! ⇐ | BATHROOM Break #88
Guests: Jay Schwedelson (Do This, Not That), Daniel Murray (The Marketing Millennials)
Release Date: December 29, 2025

Episode Overview

This “Bathroom Break” special episode—a collaboration between The Marketing Millennials and Do This, Not That—dives into a surprisingly powerful marketing tactic: the outsized effectiveness of giving explicit instructions within copy, email, and social content. Hosts Jay Schwedelson and Daniel Murray swap stories, data, and actionable takeaways about how telling your audience exactly what to do (e.g., "Open This Email," "Save this post," "Screenshot and share") boosts engagement. Sprinkled with gym banter and candid anecdotes, the episode is an energetic blend of practical psychology, personal experience, and quick tips designed for marketers looking to drive more action.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Icebreaker: Gym Habits & Embarrassment (00:39–02:45)

• Relatable banter: Light-hearted talk about staying fit, embarrassment at the gym, and personal quirks reveal both hosts as “regular people.”
• Daniel highlights Jay’s consistency:
  "This guy for the last two years goes to the gym three times a week and he runs Saturday, Sunday, so he's really some sort of athlete out here." (00:39)
• Jay downplays his prowess but admits embarrassment makes him time his gym visits:
  "I'm not thinking about getting healthy or getting stronger. I'm just thinking about how embarrassed I am by how weak I am when I'm at the gym." (01:12)
• Daniel reminisces about his college football days, revealing an impressive (but long-gone) bench press record of 425 pounds. (02:26)

2. Main Topic: Explicit Instructions Get Results (02:45–06:58)

The Tactic: Tell People Exactly What to Do

• Jay introduces the core marketing principle:
  "When you actually tell somebody what you want them to do in your copy, in your social post, copy, in your images, it crushes it." (02:45)
• Daniel elaborates by sharing his favorite actionable content CTAs:
  • "Screenshot this and send this to your team."
  • "Save this for later."
  • "Especially even in my email where I might have a guide... say, 'save this and send this to your team.'" (03:16)
  • Observation: Shareability increases when audiences are reminded or explicitly told to take an action.

“Open This Email” Subject Lines Boost Opens

• Jay reveals a data-backed tip from subjectline.com:
  "If you start your subject line with 'open this right' or 'open this email', it actually lifts the open rates by about 15% from what we've seen, which is ridiculous because you're telling somebody what to do." (04:22)
• The hosts express both fascination and annoyance that such a direct approach works so reliably.

Platform-Specific Examples (“Save This Post” on LinkedIn)

• Explicit prompts like “Save this post” in LinkedIn carousel copy increased saves significantly, as seen in analytics after LinkedIn added this metric. (04:22)

Calls to Action Beyond “Click Here”

• Daniel considers experimenting with more directive button labels on websites in 2026 (e.g., “Learn here” instead of “Content Library”; “Network here” instead of “Community”). (05:25)
• Hypothesis: Making buttons action-oriented improves user experience, retention, and outcomes.

Psychological Reasoning & Next Steps

• Jay notes current CTAs are often boring or self-serving (e.g., “Register,” “Buy now”) and typically placed at the end, not the beginning, of the user journey. (06:28)

• Strong advice: Move clear instructions to the front or throughout the process, not just as a final step.

• Daniel emphasizes testing different CTAs and tracking the effect on key metrics (downloads, saves, shares), especially when platforms directly report these interactions (e.g. LinkedIn “saves,” Instagram “shares”). (06:58)

  “If you're saying those things and people are doing those action that gives you signal that you're trending in the right direction.” (07:50)

3. Gym Etiquette Comedy and Mark Wahlberg Tangent (07:50–09:45)

• Playful debate on whether leaving a towel to “save” a gym machine is justified.
• Daniel: "If the gym is busy, I'm just going to stick to my machine..." (08:09)
• Quick riff on celebrities’ routines, e.g., Mark Wahlberg’s early morning schedule:
  "He gets up at 3 in the morning, he said, and he goes to bed at 6:30 at night." (09:17)
• Jay jokes: “That literally is my baby schedule... So he's literally my baby.” (09:28)
• Light-hearted, keeps the episode's tone fun and conversational.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On uncomfortable gym moments:
  “I'm not thinking about getting healthy or getting stronger. I'm just thinking about how embarrassed I am by how weak I am when I'm at the gym.” — Jay (01:12)
• On the key marketing tactic:
  “When you actually tell somebody what you want them to do in your copy, in your social post, copy, in your images, it crushes it.” — Jay (02:45)
• Email marketing insight:
  “If you start your subject line with 'open this right' or 'open this email', it actually lifts the open rates by about 15% from what we've seen..." — Jay (04:22)
• Testing new CTA concepts:
  “Instead of like saying content, you could say learn here or have a what action they're going to take at that button.” — Daniel (05:25)
• Core marketing takeaway:
  “The hardest thing to do in marketing... is to get attention. But once you have attention, the next thing you need to do is invest in ways in capturing that attention.” — Daniel (06:58)
• On user signals:
  “If you're saying those things and people are doing those actions that gives you signal that you're trending in the right direction.” — Daniel (07:50)

Timestamps for Major Segments

• [00:39]–[02:45]: Gym habits, embarrassment, and stories from the hosts' athletic pasts.
• [02:45]–[06:58]: Main topic—why explicit instructions in marketing materials work, with multiple channel examples and actionable tips.
• [06:58]–[07:50]: The importance of testing CTAs and leveraging platform engagement metrics.
• [07:50]–[09:45]: Fun side conversation: gym etiquette and the absurdities of celebrity/workout routines.

Actionable Tips from the Episode

• Test commands in subject lines (“Open This Email”) and track open rate increases.
• Add explicit action requests to social copy (“Save this post,” “Screenshot this,” “Share this with your team”).
• Experiment with more directive button/CTA labels on websites and emails.
• Move strong CTAs to the front or integrate them throughout, not just at the end.
• Watch platform analytics (LinkedIn saves, Instagram shares) to see what explicit CTAs move the needle.

Final Thoughts

This episode blends fresh insight—explicit behavioral cues in marketing—with relatable banter and practical advice. Jay and Daniel prove that sometimes, the simplest instructions carry hidden power when nudging audience behavior, and that a little testing (in both the gym and your marketing) goes a long way.

For more tips, follow "Do This, Not That" and "The Marketing Millennials," and check out their Bathroom Break series for digestible, actionable marketing wisdom.