Marketing doesn’t always have to be sunshine and sparkle—sometimes a little “doom” drives way more clicks. Jay Schwedelson digs into fresh data showing that negative words, emojis, and angles can outperform the classic “win-win” tone we’re all told to use. So if you’ve ever wanted to tell your boss that positivity is tanking your subject lines, now’s your moment. Plus, Jay gets fired up about weird moviegoers and horror trailers in a classic ridiculous question rant.
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Best Moments:
(01:30) Why "positive vibes only" might actually kill your marketing results
(02:44) Negative words in headlines generate 63% more clicks than positive ones
(03:31) Using “mistake” in your subject line can double CTRs
(04:48) Negative emojis outperform positive ones in email subject lines
(05:56) The “nope” subject line trick that boosts open rates by 17%
(07:45) Jay rants about people bringing blankets to the movies (and taking off their shoes)
(08:48) The battle of the trailers: Jay loves them, his wife hates them
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