SPECIAL SERIES == 💀 Templates Are Killing Your Marketing 🚫 <== | BATHROOM Break #67 COLLAB: The Marketing Millennials + Do This, Not That

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Do This, NOT That: Marketing Tips with Jay Schwedelson" – Episode: SPECIAL SERIES == 💀 Templates Are Killing Your Marketing 🚫 | BATHROOM Break #67 COLLAB: The Marketing Millennials + Do This, Not That

Release Date: August 4, 2025

In this engaging and insightful episode of "Do This, NOT That," hosted by Jay Schwedelson in collaboration with Daniel Murray from the Marketing Millennials, the duo delves deep into the pervasive use of templates in modern marketing. Titled "Templates Are Killing Your Marketing," this special series episode, part of the "Bathroom Break" mini-series, offers a candid discussion on the advantages and pitfalls of relying on templated approaches in various marketing channels.

Introduction to the Bathroom Break Series

The episode kicks off with a light-hearted introduction by Daniel Murray, setting the stage for a quick yet impactful discussion that listeners can enjoy during a short break. Daniel humorously refers to the "Bathroom Break" as that extra 10 minutes where one can either absorb marketing tips or take care of personal needs, highlighting the podcast's approach to delivering concise, valuable content.

The Allure of Templates in Marketing

Jay Schwedelson initiates the core conversation by addressing the widespread adoption of templates across different marketing platforms—from email campaigns to social media posts. He poses a critical question:

Jay Schwedelson [02:19]: "Should we be using templates that are out there available to us?"

Daniel responds thoughtfully, challenging the conventional wisdom:

Daniel Murray [02:20]: "My quick answer is no, because everybody's doing that. In marketing, you don't want to do what everybody's doing."

Why Templates Can be Detrimental

Daniel elaborates on the drawbacks of using standard, readily available templates:

1. Lack of Differentiation: Utilizing common templates leads to homogeneous content that fails to stand out. Daniel points out that, while templates may streamline processes, they often result in a "most common denominator" approach that dilutes brand uniqueness.

2. Audience Fatigue: As Jay notes, audiences are likely to "tune out" templated content quickly, especially on platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram where personalized and authentic posts garner more engagement.

3. Brand Personalization: Templates often lack the flexibility needed to convey a brand's unique voice and tone. Daniel emphasizes the importance of developing custom templates that align with a brand's distinct identity.

Daniel Murray [03:20]: "Templates limit personalization of your brand. Your brand has some sort of voice, some sort of tone, and the template is the most common denominator."

Confirmation Bias and the Template Trap

Jay introduces the concept of confirmation bias in the context of templates:

Jay Schwedelson [04:10]: "You did something new, right? You mixed it up, you did something that stood out for the first time. ... It’s this idea of confirmation bias that you think because it worked that you should double down on it and then you roll with that for the next six months and then you wind up in the gutter again with horrible performance."

This highlights how initial success with a new template might lead marketers to over-rely on it, ultimately harming long-term engagement and effectiveness.

Embracing Customization and Authenticity

Daniel advocates for moving beyond canned templates:

Daniel Murray [05:08]: "I would make my own custom newsletter template that fits my brand, fits my vibe, fits what I'm trying to do."

He underscores the value of flexibility and authenticity, suggesting that personalized, less polished content often resonates more with audiences in today's marketing landscape.

Daniel Murray [05:59]: "Non-polished things work. ... you could do a promotions email that looks like it came from the founder, it looks like it came from the head of marketing, looks like it came from someone in the company. It doesn't have to be a template."

Practical Alternatives to Templates

Both hosts discuss practical strategies for avoiding the pitfalls of templated marketing:

• Developing Unique Templates: Create custom templates that reflect the brand's identity and allow for personalization.

• Varied Content Formats: Experiment with different content formats, such as text-based emails from different team members or authentic video messages on social media.

• Continuous Innovation: Regularly update and tweak marketing materials to keep them fresh and engaging, rather than sticking to a static template.

Real-World Implications and Examples

Jay provides a relatable example of a typical email promotion:

Jay Schwedelson [05:24]: "Imagine what an email promotion for a webinar looks like... two circles of people's faces... boring headline and like a blue background."

This cliché format is a perfect illustration of the homogenization that results from overusing templates, which fails to capture audience interest or convey the unique value proposition effectively.

A Brief Detour: The Future of Smart Glasses

In a spontaneous light-hearted segment, Jay and Daniel pivot to discussing the potential of smart glasses. Daniel muses about futuristic functionalities such as real-time translation and environmental analysis, reminiscent of spy movies like Iron Man:

Daniel Murray [07:09]: "I feel like the what would be cool is glasses that if someone's speaking another language, like translates in front of you."

While amusing, this tangential conversation underscores the duo's forward-thinking mindset and willingness to explore innovative ideas beyond conventional marketing topics.

Conclusion and Key Takeaways

As the episode wraps up, both hosts reaffirm their stance against the overreliance on templates:

Jay Schwedelson [08:18]: "Templates suck. But this podcast doesn't."

They encourage listeners to seek out personalized, authentic marketing strategies that truly resonate with their target audiences, rather than defaulting to generic, templated approaches.

Key Takeaways:

1. Avoid Overusing Standard Templates: Standard templates can lead to generic content that fails to engage audiences effectively.

2. Prioritize Brand Personalization: Develop custom templates that reflect your brand's unique voice and identity.

3. Embrace Authenticity: Authentic, less polished content often outperforms highly polished, templated content in terms of audience engagement.

4. Continuously Innovate: Regularly update and vary your marketing materials to maintain audience interest and avoid stagnation.

5. Be Wary of Confirmation Bias: Initial success with a new approach should be a cue to explore further innovations, not to rigidly adhere to the initial method.

By steering clear of cookie-cutter templates and embracing customized, authentic marketing strategies, businesses can cultivate stronger connections with their audiences and achieve more meaningful engagement.

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Additional Notes:

• Sponsors: While the episode mentions Marigold as a sponsor, this summary focuses solely on the content discussions, omitting promotional segments as per guidelines.

• Engagement: Listeners are encouraged to leave reviews for both "Do This, Not That" and the Marketing Millennials podcasts to support the hosts and stay updated with future insightful discussions.

Transcript

[Daniel Murray]

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.

[Jay Schwedelson]

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 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'm here with Daniel Murray from the Marketing Millennials. And I'm Jay Schwedelson from Do this. Not that we're going to be talking about templates today, if they're good, bad social media, email, you name it. But before we do that, along those lines, Daniel, when you, like, find a shirt that you like, like, oh, I just want to buy this new shirt from Lululemon. Do you just get a bunch of the same shirt and then you rock that as if it's like a template in your marketing or you, you like to have a mixed bag in your. In your closet.

[Daniel Murray]

Mixed bag, mixed bag. I don't have the. I probably have, like, probably like two or three of that shirt, but not like, my closet's. Different colors. Different styles, different. It's not the same.

[Jay Schwedelson]

Oh, I'm the exact opposite. If I find a shirt that I like and Allie is not, it's so annoying. Like, I'll just get like a bunch of even the same color, which makes no sense. Like, I have three long sleeve black aloe shirts and those are the best. Yeah, they're so comfortable.

[Daniel Murray]

I'm wearing aloe right now.

[Jay Schwedelson]

Yeah, it's the best. And then she's like, that's. You can't wear that all the time. That's ridiculous. I'm like, but why? So you're down on templates as a human?

[Daniel Murray]

Yes, I'm down. They do make things easier, but there's reasons why not.

[Jay Schwedelson]

All right, fair enough. All right, let's get into the episode here. Templates. Every company, business, consumer, whatever, you're like, oh, we got to mix it up. We need new templates. Let's go into our email signing platform. Let's go on Canva. Let's go here, there, wherever, and we get a template and then we start using the template. Because why? We think it looks nicer. It looks so slick. It's what got it checks all the boxes for best practices. Daniel, is this the way that we should be doing it?

[Daniel Murray]

Should be.

[Jay Schwedelson]

Should we using templates that are out there available to us?

[Daniel Murray]

My quick answer is no, because everybody's doing that like you in marketing, you don't want to do what everybody's doing. And I, I feel like we've templates 10 years ago were different than like, like using 10 to 10 user goes different than using it now because like there's a lot of different ways to do it in a cheap way to get better templates. So I think if you want to blend in and also I think subconsciously as humans we turn tune out templates. So if you scroll your, your LinkedIn feed, your Instagram, if you see a canva templated like scroll through, you kind of tune that out. The other thing I think it really limits for me is like personalization of your brand. Like your brand has some sort of voice, some sort of tone and the template is template to like the most common denominator and you don't want to be the most common nominate when you're sending out emails or doing social posts.

[Jay Schwedelson]

I totally agree. And I think one of the biggest problem with templates in general, regardless of the media, social media, email doesn't matter. Here's what happens in your organization. You're like, oh, we need it, we need to freshen up our thing and okay, and you get a template from wherever and use it and then here's what happens. It does really well. Oh, our newsletter did so much better. Or we got so much more engagement on the social post with this new template. The template is amazing. Wrong. What happened was you did something new, right? You mixed it up, you did something that stood out for the first time. It's this idea of confirmation bias that you think because it worked that you should double down on it and then you roll with that for the next six months and then you wind up in the gutter again with horrible performance. So it's not a matter of you pick the world's greatest template. That's why it's better. It did better because you mixed it up. And that's the key thing, you gotta mix it up.

[Daniel Murray]

But I will add what I am anti is canned templates, like ones that the platform serves to you. Like I think if you can own an email style with flexibility, but if you can own a temple that are your brand colors like your like how you do it. Like with newsletters, I feel like you have to show up consistently to look the same because you have to. But I will never, would never. For news that I pull out the newsletter template in Pardot, for example, I would not go. I would make my own custom newsletter template that fits my brand, fits my vibe, fits what I'm trying to do, this newsletter. And if it does, if I want to do something different, I'll build a new section in that newsletter. I could change up the template and make it different, but I'm talking about using canned templates that everybody's using when they not developing your own template.

[Jay Schwedelson]

Yeah, and it's also not just actual templates, it's copying what everybody does. So for example, if I said to you in your mind right now, maybe you're walking, maybe you're driving, maybe whatever. I want you to imagine what a email promotion for a webinar looks like. Doesn't matter the company or the topic. What it probably looks like in your head is two circles of people's faces that nobody knows who they really are except for their moms. Okay? Some boring headline and like a blue background. And that is what every webinar promo looks like, whether it's on social media or email, whatever. And that's not a template, that's a format that everyone just copies. And that's what you want to get away from. Also you want to stop the scroll on social media in email, whatever it is. And if you're just copying everybody else's playbook, it is a recipe to nowheresville.

[Daniel Murray]

Yeah, I'll add on that. I mean having a template on social media, for example, like right now we're in a age where like non polished things work. So like for example, Jay does this really well with your emails and you can do this as any brand is like do a non tech a text based email instead of a text template email. Like you don't have to have all your promotions. Emails don't need to be a certain email template. You could do a promotions email that looks like it came from the founder, it looks like it came from the head of the marketing, looks like it came from someone in the company. It doesn't have to be template, same as social. Like things that are a template style are not going to work as well as like someone talking to a camera or something. Someone like that. Templates is just a way to get started for a lot of people. So you if you're doing nothing, it's better than doing nothing. But do more if you're trying to stand out and be different.

[Jay Schwedelson]

All right, super random question before we wrap up. This is the most bizarre thing. So me and Daniel actually recording in front of each other live right now, and Daniel's wearing glasses. What is your take on the eye glasses? Like, the meta glasses? Do you want to get a pair of glasses that you could ask random questions to, or is that not something you ever want to do?

[Daniel Murray]

It's interesting. I think what I want to eventually do is, like, I feel like the what would be cool is, like, glasses that if someone's speaking another language, like, translates in front of you or, like, analyzes your environment. You know, like the spy movies where it's like, oh, this is like, you can analyze, like Iron Man. Yeah. So I think that. But I think there's a. It's a couple years away to that. But I wear contacts and glasses, so if I can get mine better in any way, I'm down to do that.

[Jay Schwedelson]

I think it'd be cool, you just walking around like, hey, hey, what's the weather going to be in two hours? I don't know. So you should. You should rock those glasses. All right, I don't know what we talked about, as usual, but templates suck. But this podcast doesn't. So leave Daniel a review at the Marketing Millennials, or leave me a review at do this, not that. We'll check you at the next one later. 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, from marketers. Each week we share really quick tips on stuff that can improve your marketing, and I hope you give it a try. Oh, here's Daniel. He's finally out.

[Daniel Murray]

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. A shout on LinkedIn and tell us what you want to hear. Peace out.

[Jay Schwedelson]

Later.