SPECIAL SERIES ==> Stop Taking Terrible Marketing Advice 🚽 <== | BATHROOM Break #89 COLLAB: The Marketing Millennials + Do This, Not That

Summary

Podcast Summary: “Stop Taking Terrible Marketing Advice 🚽” (Bathroom Break #89)

Podcast: Do This, NOT That: Marketing Tips with Jay Schwedelson
Collab: The Marketing Millennials + Do This, Not That
Hosts: Jay Schwedelson (Do This, Not That) & Daniel Murray (The Marketing Millennials)
Date: January 5, 2026
Episode: Special Series – Stop Taking Terrible Marketing Advice 🚽

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Episode Overview

This “Bathroom Break” installment brings together Jay Schwedelson and Daniel Murray in a collaborative, rapid-fire session focused on debunking the worst pieces of marketing advice circulating at the start of the new year. With humor and actionable insights, they expose common industry misconceptions, emphasize prioritizing strategy over trends, and advocate for more informed, results-driven marketing decisions.

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Key Discussion Points & Takeaways

1. The Annual Surge of (Often Bad) Marketing Advice

• January is “Nostradamus” season in marketing: everyone is handing out predictions and advice, but most of it is “epic toilet paper garbage.”
• Jay and Daniel critique the prevalence of regurgitated tips that lack substance or consideration for real-world effectiveness.
• Jay: “The majority of marketing advice that’s given out there ... is epic toilet paper garbage. Trash.” ([02:26])

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2. Social Media Platforms: Quality Over Quantity

• Bad Advice: “You need to be on every social platform.”
• Daniel’s Take: It’s better to be an “A on one platform than C’s on 10 platforms.”
  • Dominance on one channel is more valuable; once you win there, you can repurpose successful content elsewhere.
  • Mindless posting everywhere, every day, isn’t necessary and may dilute your efforts.
• Daniel: “Posting every day and being great on every platform is not something you need to do… it’s horrible advice.” ([03:06])
• Jay adds the importance of looking alive on platforms, but warns that a weak presence on any network can send negative signals. ([03:38])

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3. Audience Insights > Personal Preferences

• Bad Habit: Marketers shut down ideas based on personal dislikes.
• Jay: “You are not your audience. And if you don’t have a testing culture… you are in a bad marketing environment.” ([04:09])
• Groupthink in meetings is called out—teams often reject good ideas if leadership simply says, “I wouldn’t click on that.”
• Testing and data-driven decisions should override individual opinions.

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4. Distribution > Content Perfection

• Problematic Mindset: Focus on making the perfect piece of content, then hoping it goes viral.
• Daniel: The focus should be on distribution—even average content can perform well if targeted and delivered properly.
• Quote: “Distribution is going to be way more important than creating, because everybody can create now… how you distribute it… matters way more than… making this A+ piece of content.” ([05:03])

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5. Content Calendars: Plan, But Stay Flexible

• Jay’s Rant: Rigid, year-long content calendars are often counterproductive.
  • The best-performing social posts and emails are those that react in real time to cultural moments—not those that were planned months in advance.
• Quote: “Sometimes you have to move at the speed of culture. …Don’t feel bad if you don’t have a content calendar. It’s more than fine.” ([05:38])
• Adapting quickly, even for B2B and conservative brands, is critical for relevance.

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6. AI Will Not Replace Marketers (For Now)

• Common Fear: “AI is going to replace marketers.”
• Daniel’s Perspective: AI will replace lazy or purely task-based execution, not strategy or taste.
• Quote: “Stop listening to everybody that says [AI] is going to replace marketers… it’s actually going to help you as a marketer. Think of it as a tool.” ([06:40])
• Jay: “If your job is a singular task, yeah, you might be screwed. But that’s not the job of a real marketer.” ([07:23])
• Marketers should embrace AI for efficiency, not fear it.

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7. Lighthearted Personal Checks (Health, Resolutions)

• The hosts riff on holiday eating, resolutions, and the struggle to maintain health habits (walking more, cooking at home instead of eating out).
  • Daniel: “Walking is the best option… trying to at least cook at home.” ([08:42])
  • Jay: Comments on blood pressure monitoring and the joys and perils of salmon night.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Bad Social Media Advice:
  “It’s better to be an A on one platform than C’s on 10 platforms.”
  —Daniel Murray ([03:02])

• On Team Feedback:
  “You are not your audience.”
  —Jay Schwedelson ([04:09])

• On Content Distribution:
  “Distribution is going to be way more important than creating, because everybody can create now…”
  —Daniel Murray ([05:03])

• On Content Calendars:
  “Sometimes you have to move at the speed of culture.”
  —Jay Schwedelson ([05:50])

• On AI’s Impact:
  “AI… is going to replace lazy execution… people with taste, people with strategy, people who understand marketing will thrive.”
  —Daniel Murray ([06:42])
  “The only jobs AI will take is if your job is a task. That’s not the job of a real marketer.”
  —Jay Schwedelson ([07:23])

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [02:26] – Jay blasts the flood of bad marketing advice at the start of the year.
• [03:02] – Daniel’s rant against “every platform” social strategy.
• [04:09] – Jay on the importance of testing vs. “I don’t like it” mentality.
• [05:03] – Daniel on why content distribution is more important than perfection.
• [05:50] – Jay lambasts inflexible content calendars and stresses cultural relevance.
• [06:40] – Daniel addresses AI not replacing marketers, but lazy execution.
• [07:23] – Jay’s perspective on how marketers should approach AI.
• [08:42] – Daniel shares realistic health resolutions for the new year.

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Summary Tone & Style

Throughout the episode, Jay and Daniel maintain a lively, candid, and occasionally self-deprecating tone. They mix humor with actionable commentary, offering both veteran wisdom and fresh takes for marketers navigating a landscape full of hype and misconceptions.

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Bottom Line

Ignore most New Year marketing clichés. Instead, double down on understanding your audience, focus your energy where you have the most impact, embrace flexibility and cultural responsiveness, and use AI as an amplifier—not a replacement. And if you need inspiration, skip the perfect plan—just take action and test.

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Endorsements and Follow-ups:

• Follow Daniel Murray’s “Marketing Millennials” for more no-nonsense marketing insights.
• Check out Jay Schwedelson’s “Do This, Not That” for quick, practical tips every week.

Series runs weekly – send your marketing questions via LinkedIn for a chance to be featured.

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 topics. 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 am Jay Schwedelson from Do this, not that. And I'm here with the guy himself, Daniel Murray from the Marking Millennials. And here we are. It is a new year, Daniel. We're only like a few days in here. Have you broken your resolutions? Are you. Are you holding strong? Where are you at?

[A]

Well, I think I took your advice on a previous podcast and I ate a lot over the holidays, so, like net zero. I am like, down weight because I gained like 10 pounds on the holiday. So I. I'm currently crushing my resolution of that. So I'm proud of myself for that. What about you? What are you. Are you crushing yours?

[B]

I. I am trying to crush it. So, uh, my wife thinks I'm like, very. I'm always very stressed, so she made me start taking my blood pressure every morning. That's such a picture of it. She's such a doctor. I've been doing that and thankfully it's not been terrible. I was taking it in the middle of the day. I didn't know that your blood pressure is really. You're supposed to take it in the first thing in the morning. Because in the middle of the day it's like 4 billion. Over 4 billion. And it looks like you're in trouble. So it's.

[A]

I didn't know that. I go to the doctor all the time and they like, if I. Sometimes it's perfect and sometimes they say you need to go on blood pressure medication.

[B]

Oh, I've been on blood pressure medication for 25 years.

[A]

Oh, my God, it's so bad. Okay, well, that's a fun fact for everybody.

[B]

Don't do whatever I'm doing. But speaking of, don't doing stuff. This time of year is very unique. Everybody becomes Nostradamus this time of year. Everybody gives advice. They have outlooks, they tell you what's going to happen. And everyone's. Nobody knows what's going on. And the thing that annoys me the most is everyone's giving advice. And the majority of marketing advice that's given out there, not just about the new year rolling out, but in general, is epic toilet paper garbage. Trash. So I want to rip through with you, Daniel, some marketing advice overall that you think is an epic piece of garbage.

[A]

I think the one I'm thinking about because I love social and I think think people do this is I hear this all the time that you need to be on every social platform without thinking about where your audience is. And I honestly believe that it's better to be a on one platform than C's on 10 platform. And I think if you don't focus on being dominant on one platform because once you're dominant on one platform, it's easy to recreate the winners on that platform or another platform. But this theory that you need to be on every platform posting every day is not maybe have some sort of presence, just looks like you're alive as a business. But posting every day and being every platform, being great on every platform is not something you need to do. And I think it's horrible advice.

[B]

It is horrible advice. And I think you're better off not being on a platform than being on a platform with barely any exposure because then you look like you're like you don't even know what you're doing, which is a negative signal. The advice that I think I cannot stand, I don't even know if it's really advice is you'll. Everybody has probably number one problem in market, you'll be in a market, you'll be in a meeting with your higher ups, whatever. And some come with an idea, a marketing idea, and they're like somebody like, well, I don't like that or I wouldn't open that or I wouldn't click on that. And then everyone piles on, yeah, I wouldn't either. I wouldn't, I wouldn't interact with that. We shouldn't do it. And the problem is you are not your audience. And if you don't have a testing culture and you're not testing first, as opposed to whatever your opinion is, you are in a bad marketing environment. Because this idea of I don't like it, dictating what you're doing is absolutely the worst thing in the world of marketing.

[A]

I'll piggyback off that and say that a lot of people, which is bad marketing advice is create this great piece of content and not even think about the distribution of that content. So they just like Just create something great and post it and see what happens. And just because you've created something that you think is great, like air quotes, a lot of things that you think is great aren't great to your audience doesn't mean. So stop waiting to create this perfect piece of content, this perfect piece of. And just post above average things that you think your audience might like and let it rip. I think that's a horrible advice because. And also, when you're posting a piece of content, think about the distribution plan, because that's. Honestly, in this day and age, with all the slop out there with AI and stuff like that, distribution is going to be way more important than creating, because everybody can create now, like how you distribute it and how it gets on the platform and how the formatting matters way more than like making this a plus piece of content.

[B]

You know, along those lines, especially this time of year, the thing that I stink at, and I'm telling you right now, is a waste of time. It's great if you have one. But content calendars, everyone sits back and they go, okay, this is our content calendar for the year. And then you put it in like stone. You're like, we have to follow this thing. And don't feel bad. If you don't have a content calendar, it's more than fine. And the reason I say that is sometimes you have to move at the speed of culture. Okay? That is how you win. You wake up in the morning, there's something going on. You can participate in that. And whether you're a boring B2B brand, a nonprofit consumer, doesn't matter. But, oh, no, it's not on our content calendar this week, so we can't do it. The social posts, the emails that perform the best for my clients and for my organization are usually the ones that we didn't have a plan for. It's like when I'm somewhere on a trip and I'm cold, I go to the Gap and I buy a hoodie. That hoodie winds up being my favorite piece of clothing that I own for the next 20 years. I don't know why that always happens, but it's not the thing that you plan for. That's gonna always work.

[A]

On another note, I think because we're in the revolution and it's 20, 26 is. I don't believe that when people say AI are going to replace marketers, I think it's going to replace lazy execution. I think it's going to replace tasks that suck, but it's going to amplify people with taste, people with strategy, people who understand marketing. So stop listening to everybody that says it's going to replace marketers and replace marketers. It's actually going to help you as a marketer and think of it as a tool. I hate this, like, narrative that it's just going to get rid of people, especially right now, maybe far down the line, but in this moment, AI is not replacing marketers.

[B]

I could not agree with you more. AI is not taking people's jobs. Let me just tell you. I think it's the most annoying. First of all, everything you read, it says the career you have to go into is coming plumber, become an electrician, which is wonderful. Those are great jobs, trade jobs, whatever. But the amount of times people are saying it, there's going to be 4 billion plumbers. There's going to be more plumbers than toilets with. How often people are saying everyone should go get a trade job. It's out of control. And here's the reality of it, okay? The only jobs AI will take is if your job. And now, where did I hear this? I have no idea. Your job is a task. If your job is a singular task, yeah, you might be screwed. But that's not the job of a real marketer. You're not doing a task. So if you're not doing a task, get good at AI and lean into it and stop being a tool and think it's taking your job. Why do I get so worked up? I'm out of control. I probably have high blood pressure right now. That's not good.

[A]

No, you're probably in your 6 Celsius. That's. Let's be honest. That's really happening right now.

[B]

All right, so wait, before we wrap up, since it is the start of the year, I know you're on your tennis kick now. You're trying to lose weight from this giant number that you're at. And I'm not calling you big.

[A]

What is the other podcast, luckily, is not video right now. So.

[B]

Right. What is the other health tactic that you are doing as this new year rolls out?

[A]

Yeah, one, I need to start walking more. Baby just, like, makes me not. So I'm just, like, forcing myself to just take the baby out more. So that's. I feel like walking is the best option. And one thing me and Ari suck at is, like, cooking at home. So we're trying to at least, like, cook at home.

[B]

Yeah. Step it off.

[A]

It's so hard to cook at home when you two of the people have jobs.

[B]

But tonight's salmon night. I'm cooking salmon as soon as I get home. What's wrong with you?

[A]

Oh, yeah, salmon night. It's the best night of the week.

[B]

There you go. And then I get hungry an hour later and nauseous simultaneously.

[A]

You need your omega 3s for your heart, though.

[B]

Yeah. There you go. I need to do something. Well, another amazing episode. Listen. Go follow the marking Millennials, the greatest podcast in the universe. The one that's terrible is mine. Do this, not that, and we'll see you at 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 Mark and Millennium podcast, but also tune into the 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.

[B]

Peace out. Later.