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Welcome to do this, not that, the podcast for marketers. We share quick tips, things you can do right now, and then we add a little bit of chaos at the end of every episode. We also keep it short, like this intro. Let's check it out. We are back for what's up this week from the do this not that podcast. This is our short episode where we break down what's going on in business and marketing and life. And then we still have our other episodes later in the week. So let's jump into it. What is going on with marketing stuff? So one of the biggest, I would say, trends in marketing right now is something called preseason marketing. You know, all of us as marketers, we're always using urgency to drive everything. Two days left. Today's your last chance, whether it's for a webinar registration or a sale, whatever other nonsense you're doing. But preseason marketing is really, really growing and basically really bleeds out of the holiday. So at the holidays, what pre season marketing means is people start selling, you know, Christmas decorations in the summer earlier and earlier every year that people are promoting their offers, whatever they are, business offers, consumer offers, donation offers for nonprofits, just way earlier than they ever have. And so we're seeing it now from some major marketers. And there's something that I'll give you a tactic that you can do that I think can radically change the performance of all of your marketing. But in general, this stat kind of blew my mind for World Data Research. Okay. Early access marketing across both business and consumer categories is up 35% year over year. Early access marketing, meaning marketing tactics that are focused on early access. As an example of that, Salesforce has their big annual conference called Dreamforce every year. So in the past, in 2025, their event is in September, October, every year. All right, in 2025, they really started pushing Dreamforce in April and May for 2026, they've already started early signups. Okay. We're in February. They already launched this Coca Cola. Another great example, just last week, okay, they rolled out their first phase of their World cup promotions. It doesn't start until June. They already rolled it out. Okay. Everything is happening earlier and earlier and earlier. So I'll give you some secret sauce stuff that you could think about for your own marketing. Let's talk about webinars. Really hard to get people to sign up for webinars these days. Okay. If you just. If you lean into webinar promotions with the concept of first two, first two, and I'll give you examples of exactly what it means. But first two, as your tactic to drive webinar registrations is actually increasing registrations by over 20%. What does that mean? So when you go out and you market your webinar, you get out there early and what you say is the first hundred people to register get on demand access. And you're like, wait a minute though. I want to give everybody on demand access. And you can. So let's say on average, I'm making this up, that you normally only get about 50 people to register for your website webinar. You double that number and then in your subject lines, in your promotions, you tell everybody the first hundred people to register will get on demand access. What you are doing is you're creating this FOMO fear of missing out around getting that on demand access. And people register early because they want to be in the first two. The first to register get on demand access. Now you want to make it available for everybody. That's why you double the number. So if your number is normally 50 and you say the first hundred, nobody knows how many people register for your webinar, who knows how many people register for your webinar. You just double your normal number. And this way you get a lot of early registrations. Now, you could do this in so many different ways. Okay, you don't need to just do it as it relates to your webinar. All right, let's say you are putting on an event. You can use the concept of control. What do I mean by that? If you go out with your promotions, you say early registrants choose the session order. Early registrants get to vote on potential speakers. Early registrants get access to the agenda draft first. Right. You're giving people control if they register in the next two days, in the next three days, by tomorrow. Using control to drive early action works so, so well. And you could also do it, obviously, on the consumer side, early access locks in pricing. On the nonprofit side, early supporters get listed as a founding supporter. If you're not using preseason marketing, you're really not leaning into the mindset, especially here in Q1, coming out of the holiday time, that is working so incredibly well. All right, forget about that tactic. What else is going on out there? Well, one of the other coolest things I saw that just came out this week is from Reddit. Reddit is doing. If you're not trying to test marketing, I don't care what category you're in and you're not looking at Reddit, we're doing this a lot in our agency, Reddit has so many cool new ad units, paid ad units that you can test for like 50 bucks. It's nothing. They just rolled out a brand new ad unit this week called Reminder Ads. It's a super cool ad unit. You can just Google it, you know, Reddit reminder ads. And basically, if you have an event that you're promoting, if you have a sale that you're promoting, whatever it is, it's this special ad unit that while you're on Reddit, you click a little button saying remind me, and then instantly you actually will get a reminder, you'll get a notification of whatever it is that you need to be reminded about and then the advertiser actually gets the lead. So Reddit is rolling out more and more cool ad units. Other things going on this week. Well, this kind of stinks. So Pizza Hut announced that they're closing 250 of their locations. I don't mean to be rude about Pizza Hut, but I haven't been to a Pizza Hut in, I don't know, I'm going to say 20 years. I don't know. That doesn't. I have no problem with pizza chains. I like Domino's Domino's thin crust rocks. If you don't like Domino's thin crust, you don't know what you're talking about. I think Papa John's is extremely overrated. It doesn't taste like pizza. I'm just saying it tastes weird. It's not bad. It just doesn't taste like pizza to me. And I haven't tried a Pizza Hut thing in a long time. Kind of feel like it might be gross. Am I wrong in saying that? I don't know. Never going to get them as a sponsor. Facts. All right, what's going on in pop culture that's totally irrelevant? So I know the big movie that's coming out is Wuthering Heights, Weathering Heights. Am I saying that right? Yeah, it's like a remake or whatever. And it's this whole love story movie, whatever. And it's got Margot Robbie and it's got Jacob Elordi. I always say his name. Elordi, Elordi, whatever his name is. He's the dude from Saltburn and Frankenstein. And I keep seeing the previews everywhere for Wuthering Heights. And my only issue with it is that this takes place, I don't know, in like the Victorian era, like, I don't know, 1700s or something like that. Why is everybody hot? Why is everybody good looking? Why does everybody look like they just Got done doing, like, you know, soul cycle or some sort of fitness class. Like, they just finished. They're going to their Pilates studio. Was everybody hot in the 1700s? It's just like, can they have some people walking around that look like garbage? That, like, look like they probably haven't showered in a month and they're kind of gross? Because I feel like that's probably was the real vibe. There's no way everybody looked like Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, whatever the hell his name is. I don't know. What am I talking about? Who even knows? The thing I'm most hyped for this week that's coming out on Friday is a new show on HBO called Neighbors. Okay. This is a reality show. I like all reality shows. This one's great, though. The premise is it is all about bizarre and dramatic, like feuds between neighbors that, like, spiral out of control. This seems fantastic to me. First off, I've lived in my home that I'm in right now for 17 years. Okay. I can tell you right now, I do not know my neighbors names. I have, like two across the street and then one on either side of me. I know one person in two of the houses and I don't know the names of either person in two of the other houses. 17 years I've lived in my house. What does that mean? I think it means I'm a weirdo. How is that possible? I mean, I walk outside, do the old, wave, hello, how are you? But I don't actually. I try very hard not to talk to my neighbors other than hello, how are you? Because I really don't care and I don't want to know what's going on with them. And I make up stories in my head of weird stuff that I think is going on in their homes. And if they do listen to this, well, awkward. I don't know what else to say. Super awkward. But there's no chance. So I'm excited about the show Neighbors that was coming out Friday. What is going on? Anyway, listen, you would be amazing. We go to jschwettleson.com I want to work with you. My team does consulting and marketing and all sorts of nonsense. Go to jschwettelson.com Drop me a note there. Let's hang out. Let's do stuff. You're awesome. See you at the next one. Wait, the party is not over. Go to jschwettleson.com because I want to do stuff with you. I want to partner with you. When you click on the button, partner with Jay, you let me know what you got going on. Work with my agency. Work with me directly. Get access to all of my free resources@jschweddelson.com and I got a book coming out this April. It's called Stupider People have Done it. And all of the net proceeds are going to the V Foundation for Cancer Research. Go on Amazon. Buy Stupider People have Done It. That way, you can help kick cancer's butt with me. And if this podcast wasn't the worst podcast you've ever listened to, it might have been. Leave it a review. Follow the show. You are awesome. Go out there and crush it.
Do This, NOT That: Marketing Tips with Jay Schwedelson
Episode 459 – What’s Up THIS WEEK: New Engagement Trend for B2B and Consumer That’s Working!
Date: February 10, 2026
Host: Jay Schwedelson (GURU Media Hub)
This short, energetic episode zeroes in on a rapidly-emerging trend in marketing engagement: preseason marketing and associated tactics to drive early action. Jay Schwedelson discusses how brands are achieving higher engagement and earlier conversions—both in B2B and consumer contexts—by nudging audiences to act ahead of traditional timelines. He also spotlights fresh ad innovations (notably on Reddit), sprinkles in candid pop culture commentary, and closes with some personal asides, all in his characteristically witty, conversational style.
[00:40 – 05:30]
[05:35 – 08:30]
[08:31 – 10:15]
[10:16 – 13:00]
On urgency in marketing:
“We’re always using urgency to drive everything. Two days left. Today’s your last chance, whether it’s for a webinar registration or a sale, whatever other nonsense you’re doing.” (01:20)
On the FOMO tactic for webinars:
“What you are doing is you’re creating this FOMO—fear of missing out—around getting that on demand access. And people register early because they want to be in the first two.” (07:05)
On authenticity in period dramas:
“Can they have some people walking around that look like garbage? That, like, look like they probably haven’t showered in a month… because I feel like that’s probably was the real vibe.” (12:25)
On personal neighbor relations:
“I try very hard not to talk to my neighbors other than ‘hello, how are you,’ because I really don’t care and I don’t want to know what’s going on with them.” (13:20)
| Timestamp | Segment | Notes | |-----------|-----------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:40 | Preseason marketing emergence | The accelerating shift of marketing calendars | | 02:45 | Early access marketing up 35% | Key data insight | | 05:35 | The "first to" tactic for webinars | Actionable technique with example | | 07:05 | Creating FOMO for early signups | How fear of missing out fuels engagement | | 08:31 | Reddit’s Reminder Ads explained | Upcoming low-cost ad unit for event-driven marketing | | 10:16 | Pizza Hut closures & pizza riff | Lighthearted interlude | | 12:14 | Wuthering Heights film cast commentary | Humorous pop culture tangent | | 12:55 | “Neighbors” show + personal anecdote | Jay on neighbor relations and reality TV excitement |
Jay’s delivery is casual, quick-witted, and peppered with self-deprecating humor. He jumps between actionable tips and wry asides, keeping the episode breezy and approachable, yet packed with legitimately useful marketing tactics.