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Welcome to do this, not that, the podcast from 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. So let's jump right into it. Everybody is confused about email marketing and how many of your emails should be going to the inbox versus the junk folder and spam folder. Here's the truth, here's the wild stat. So some new data from Validity came out and it shows that on average, about 83.5% of all email, business, consumer, nonprofit, whatever, 83.5% go to the inbox. And you're like, well, when I go in my tracking report, it shows me 98% deliverability. And this is where people get confused. Deliverability is to the mailbox level. After the mailbox, the mail gets sorted, okay? Some goes to the inbox, some goes the junk folder, spam folder, whatever. So, number one, there is email that you're sending out that will not go to the inbox, and that's okay. You, you need to manage that expectation internally that some of your email is not going to go the inbox. Nobody's going to get 100% deliverability to the inbox. I don't care who you are. And according to this data, about 1 in 6 emails. Okay. Are not going to go to the inbox. And it's okay. The other one is the promotions tab is part of the inbox. So if your emails are going in there, that is part of that. 83.5% of that are going to the inbox. So it's this management of expectations and understanding the difference between emails delivered to the mailbox versus the inbox and some go to the junk or spam are okay. You don't want a lot going there, but it's okay. All right, let's get into some other data that came out about podcast advertising. Podcasts are exploding. Okay? The IAB just now released showing that 58% of Americans are now monthly podcast listeners. I imagine all of those people are ignoring this podcast, but I don't know, maybe they're not. Maybe a handful of listening to this. But as it relates to ads, if you're a marketer and you really haven't thought about running ads on podcasts, I think that you're Missing out. This is not like the days of just radio back in the day, okay? Podcast ads are doing really, really well. And according to ad results media, they just came out with data. This seems high to me, but what do I know? 75 to 88% of listeners take action after a podcast ad that. Now listen, that seems a little bit high to me. I don't think when I'm going to do my ad read in a little bit, you're just going to stop and you're going to immediately react to it. But I will say that. And we've run a lot of podcast ads for our agency clients. They are very effective. But you have to do this one thing. The one thing is you want your podcast ad to be host read. Meaning when I have an ad on my podcast, you hear me kind of read the ad or it's coming from my voice and the data supports it. According to the Nielsen, okay. Their ad effectiveness report that just came out, 68% higher brand recall when you have a host read ad than a prerecorded ad. So host red ads are dominating. As a matter of fact, 62% of all podcast ad revenue is now coming from host red ads. So, yeah, we should be thinking about all this stuff. Another super random tactical thing that you can test in the world of email marketing that came out from my group in World Data Research this past week is that subject lines that lead with a behavior or outcome or a statistic. Okay. Are leading to open rate increases of about 19% overall. What do I mean by that? So when your subject line is either for consumer or business to business, and it all. The entire subject line doesn't tell anybody to do anything. All it is is a stat. It is actually leading to a much higher open rate. So what does that look like on the consumer side? It would be something like 78%. Add this to the cart. 68. 4% are skipping this now. Three hours is all that this lasts. Okay. Or on the B2B side, you know, 64% of HR leaders stop doing this. Or 71% of pipelines stalls here. Or 82% of your data is outdated. Whatever it is, you take a hero stat that's going to be then reiterated internally and that's your entire subject line. You're not saying this about a webinar. You're not saying it's about a guide. You're not saying it's about a sale. If you just do that, it's a great easy test, something to try that's working really, really well. Right? Now, something I think might be completely irrelevant that I saw come out just in the last few days is that Instagram is now adding the ability to edit your comments. So now if you make a comment on a post, you can edit your comment within 15 minutes. I don't know why we care, but do we care about that? I guess so. Maybe if you misspelled something. I misspell things all the time. Or maybe you, like, wrote something on somebody's thing that you like or you're interested in. You're like, why did I write that? I need to edit it. I need to take it down. I guess that's fine. But apparently this has been something everybody wants, so Instagram just. Just came out with that. All right, before we get into some nonsense news that's going on, I want to know. This podcast is sponsored by CallRail. Look at me, I'm doing an ad read. Problem is, I'm not actually even reading the ad because I don't need to, because CallRail rocks. Here's the thing about CallRail, People get confused. I think CallRail is all about making phone calls. It's not. It's really about attribution tracking. It's really about using AI to figure out what is working in your marketing. What is working when people fill out your forms? Where? In their chat box on your website, when people are leaving voicemails, when people are calling in, when people are doing anything. CallRail is the thing that allows you to figure out all your attribution and how it's actually working. Get rid of this last click, last touch, attribution garbage. They're giving a free trial for listeners of this thing. If you've never checked out CallRail, they have 220,000 customers using it of companies of all sorts of sizes. Different things, amazing things. Go to CallRail.com do this. That is CallRail.com do this. It is a free trial for listeners of this show. You got to check it out. They are crushing it. I'll tell you what's not crushing it. Let's get into some nonsense. So WrestleMania. I don't know if it just happened or it's happening this week. I don't know. I actually went to WrestleMania too, so I like wrestling. So the WWE came out, though, and the tickets for WrestleMania. How much do you think the tickets are for WrestleMania? According to USA Today, $850 to go see a bunch of dudes wearing inappropriate clothing, jumping on each other and yelling at each other's faces. I mean, I like wrestling. I do. Genuinely. I Do. I can go deep on Wrestling, but $850 is wild because, like, for example, I was looking at tickets to go to different concerts. Luke Combs. Okay, WrestleMania is $850. What do you think the average ticket price is for Luke Combs, who I happen to like 200 to $300. Still expensive, but come on, 850. I would go to Luke Combs all day over WrestleMania at that price. How about Bruno Mars? $250 for an average ticket. The weird thing about Bruno Mars, I really like Bruno Mars music. I don't know why, but I don't have any interest in going to a Bruno Mars concert. Why is that? It's almost like. It's like background music for me when I hear Bruno Mars. Is that bad? Am I going to get a lot of hate on Bruno Mars? I like Bruno Mars a lot. It just feels. Whatever. The craziest thing. How about Backstreet Boys? Very into Backstreet Boys. Their average ticket price is $533. Can you believe that? Backstreet is getting double the ticket price of Bruno Mars. That's wild. I don't know why that's so wild to me, but it is. And then you didn't ask you. I know what I'm watching on TV right now. I will break it down. Here it is. I'm watching the second season of Beef on Netflix. Very good show. You do not need to see season one of Beef. Every season is different. It's kind of like White Lotus. Everything just starts over again. Beef, Netflix, Great season. Okay. I am now also very invested in the Real Housewives of Rhode Island. This is a new series on Bravo. They just started out. It is a disaster ville. Okay? These people are not. Not making Rhode island look good at all. If I lived in Rhode Island, I'd be very pissed about what they're making Rhode island look like. But the show is great. And then the last one, because a lot of people wrote me on my newsletter and I said, have you never watched this? I am now watching Dark Matter on Apple, which I know has been around for a little bit. This is a fantastic sci fi show. Very excited about this. So, yes, that is what's going on with me. Listen, y', all, I want to partner with you. You don't know what I do for a living. I have an agency. I work with brands. We help them drive, net, new registrations, customers, all the things. We do consulting work. We do design work. I do custom webinars. I do all the stuff. And I do collabs with brands to help you promote your stuff. If you're interested in any of that garbage, go to J Schweddelson.com in the upper right hand corner the button says Partner. Fill that out. I want to work with you. We're lining stuff up for the second half of the year in 2027. Let's make it happen. Have a great week. Later. Wait. I have two huge things to share with you. First, I have a book coming out. Stupider People have Done it. It's coming out the first week of June and all net author proceeds are going to the V Foundation for Cancer Research. This book might be terrible, but who cares? When you buy this thing on Amazon or anywhere else, you are going to be helping to kick cancer's butt. Let's do that together. The second thing is you can go to jschwettleson.com on the upper right hand corner, this thing that says Partner. My agency wants to help you. If you're a business marketer, consumer marketer doesn't make a difference. I want to help you drive net new sales, registrations, growth, change the design. All the stuff that you you are doing. Hit me up there. Also, if you want to do brand collabs, I want to know about your brand. I want to help you amplify that message. Go to JSON.com click on partner. Let's do stuff Together. And the last thing is leave this show a review if it wasn't the absolute worst podcast you've ever heard and you're awesome for being here later.
Podcast: Do This, NOT That: Marketing Tips with Jay Schwedelson
Episode: What’s Up THIS WEEK?? 📬 Your Deliverability Rate Is Lying to You, Does Podcasting Advertising Work? Backstreet Boys? TV Recos? | Ep. 495
Date: April 21, 2026
Host: Jay Schwedelson, GURU Media Hub
This brisk and engaging episode delivers a rapid-fire overview of the week’s most pertinent marketing trends and tactics. Jay Schwedelson unpacks recent data on email deliverability, the true impact of podcast advertising, tactical subject line strategies, and quick takes on pop culture topics ranging from concert ticket pricing to TV recommendations. The episode maintains its trademark conversational, sometimes irreverent, tone, emphasizing practical, testable advice for marketers.
(Timestamp grouping: 06:30-08:50)
On Email Deliverability:
“Nobody’s going to get 100% deliverability to the inbox. I don’t care who you are.” (Jay, 01:16)
On Podcast Ad Action Rates:
“75 to 88% of listeners take action after a podcast ad…that seems a little bit high to me… But… podcast ads are very effective.” (Jay, 03:06)
On Host-Read Podcast Ads:
“Host-read ads are dominating… 62% of all podcast ad revenue is now coming from host-read ads.” (Jay, 04:02)
On Subject Line Tactics:
“You take a hero stat that’s going to be reiterated internally, and that’s your subject line.” (Jay, 05:00)
On Ticket Prices:
“Backstreet is getting double the ticket price of Bruno Mars. That’s wild. I don’t know why that’s so wild to me, but it is.” (Jay, 08:00)
The episode rocks a fast, humorous, and sometimes self-deprecating tone with Jay mixing tactical advice and pop culture commentary. He invites listeners to try specific marketing tactics, maintains realistic expectations (“it's okay if not every email hits the inbox!”), and peppers in personal recommendations and candid perspectives.
For actionable marketing advice and a bit of chaos each week, this quick-hit episode delivers the goods with energy and candor.