Congrats - you're approved for Marketingland. Activate your free membership now, because we can't hold your spot for long.

Hi Marketing Bestie,

I need YOUR help.
 
2026 is the year I want to make The Marketing Millennials EXACTLY what you need.
 
So let’s do it: 
 
Reply to this email with the Marketing or career topics you want to learn about in 2025.
 
NOTHING is off limits.
 
Want to learn about AI? Say it.
 
Struggling with Instagram's algorithm changes? Tell me.
 
Trying to get promoted but don't know how? I’m in. 
 
Need to prove Marketing ROI to your CEO? Don’t we all LOL. 
 
I read EVERY. SINGLE. RESPONSE.
 
This is your chance to shape what lands in your inbox, on The Marketing Millennials Podcast, and of course on LinkedIn (our home base) and IG (where I try to be my funniest 😂). 
 
Hit reply. I’m at your service. 
 
Us Marketing Millennials have to stick together. 2026 is ours. 

Was this email forwarded to you?

SPARKNOTES FROM THE POD

We're counting down the TOP 8 most downloaded episodes of the year.

Last week we dropped tips 5-8.

THIS week? Tips 1-4. The ones you kept sending to your teams. The episodes you listened to twice.

These are the tactics, frameworks, and mindset shifts that defined 2025 for marketers.

Let's go.

Zaria's Take: "We have our internal team which works on the day-to-day brand... but our writer's room are actually external writers... their whole task is to essentially roast the brand... if you were to write an SNL skit about Duolingo, what would you write?"

Duolingo went from 50K to 16 MILLION followers in 5 years.

How?

Zaria found a crusty owl suit in the office and said "let's use this."

That's it. That was the genius idea.

But here's what ACTUALLY made it work:

They built their content strategy on improv rules.

Not marketing frameworks. Not brand guidelines. IMPROV.

The rules:

1. YES, AND — Never block ideas

2, Commit to the bit — Go 120% in

3. It's hard for an idea to get rejected

It's hard to win when a brand has 47 approval layers. Legal reviews. Brand safety committees.

Duolingo? They ask: "Will this make people laugh?"

But here's the unlock:

They run an EXTERNAL writer's room.

Every week, comedians and writers (not marketers) come together and roast Duolingo.

Their job? Write an SNL skit about the brand.

Push boundaries. Walk the line. Don't cross it.

The internal team handles day-to-day. The writer's room expands the lore.

Two work streams running simultaneously.

This is why Duo went from snarky tweets to having babies with other mascots to DYING on TikTok.

It's not random. It's calculated chaos.

Takeaway: Stop running every idea through compliance.

Hire 3-5 external creatives (comedians, writers, creators) to run a monthly "roast session."

Give them one job: If this brand were on SNL, what would the sketch be?

Then let your internal team scale back what's too wild...but START wild.

Phill's Take: "Losses feel twice as painful as equivalent gains. If your boss said you'd gain an extra $50 this month, you'd be a bit happy. If they said you'd lose $50, that would feel twice as painful."

You've been taught to talk about what customers will GAIN.

Talk about what customers will GAIN.

"Get 1000 new shows with Netflix!"
"Save money with Amazon Prime!"
"Unlock premium features!"

But psychology says we're doing it backwards.

People don't want to gain things.

They want to AVOID LOSING things.

This is called loss aversion.

And it's 2x more powerful than talking about gains.

Classic example: Insulating your home.

Gain framing: "Save 75 cents a day by insulating your home."
Loss framing: "You're LOSING 75 cents a day. Insulate your home."

The second one drives way more action.

Amazon Prime knows this.

When you try to cancel, they don't list all the stuff you GET with Prime (music, TV, delivery).

They show you EXACTLY how much money you'll LOSE by canceling.

"Phil, you'll lose £313 over the next year if you cancel."

Result? 44% decrease in churn.

Not because they added more value.

Because they reframed what you're giving up.

Here's the key: It can't feel like a penalty.

If Amazon said "we'll CHARGE you for leaving," people would rage-quit.

Instead, it feels like they're doing you a FAVOR by showing what you'd lose.

That's the difference between good and bad loss framing.

Takeaway: Audit your landing pages and emails RIGHT NOW.

Find everywhere you say "get" or "unlock" or "gain."

Rewrite it as: "Don't lose [specific benefit]" or "You're missing out on [dollar amount/outcome]."

Test loss framing vs. gain framing in your ads. Watch your conversion rates climb.

Nick's Take: "You no longer need to buy your way into people's feeds. It's actually better to find ways to improve your content and then eventually get into the feeds organically... What used to be a barrier is no longer an issue."

Nick's ran marketing at Taco Bell, Stance, Samsung, Hulu, Disney, and TikTok.

He's seen every shift in the media landscape.

And here's what he's watching right now:

The death of media buying as a competitive advantage.

10 years ago at Stance, they couldn't compete with Nike's ad budget.

Nike would outspend them 100-to-1 on TV, radio, print, OOH.

So Stance had to win on creativity and partnerships.

Today? That playbook is available to everyone.

Because algorithms distribute content for free.

You don't need a $10M media budget to reach millions.

You just need GREAT content that the algorithm loves.

Problem?

The hacks are public now.

Type 'MrBeast hooks' into ChatGPT and you'll get 50,000 hooks.

Same templates. Same influencers. Same formats.

Which means we're heading toward content commoditization.

Feeds will start to feel identical.

Nick's prediction: People will LEAVE feeds entirely to find new ways to engage with brands.

So what's the move?

Go back to SUBSTANCE over style.

Think about Canva.

Pre-Canva, you could win pitches just by having a beautiful deck—even if the content was weak.

Post-Canva? Everyone's decks look good.

So now it's back to substance.

Same thing is happening with content.

AI makes it easy to optimize hooks, formats, pacing.

But it can't give you unique POV. Original thinking. Stuff only YOU can say.

That's your moat.

Takeaway: Stop optimizing for what "performs well" on the platform.

Start creating content that ONLY your brand can make.

Ask: "If we removed our logo, would this be indistinguishable from our competitors?"

If yes, scrap it. Create something that requires YOUR unique insight, data, or perspective.

JS's Take: "Social media is the front door, front porch of your brand... 10 years ago people thought we could put an intern in charge of it. But now it's too important and you really need a professional who is going to handle that responsibility."

Here's the uncomfortable truth about social media roles.

They're the most important AND most undervalued positions in marketing.

- Your social media manager is:

- Your brand's voice

- Your community manager

- Your video editor

- Your content strategist

- Your crisis PR team

- Your trend forecaster

All. In. One. Person.

And most companies pay them like they're posting memes for fun.

JS's analogy: You wouldn't hand someone a microphone in front of thousands of people without PR training.

So why let interns run your social with zero oversight?

The internet is INFINITE.

There are micro-communities everywhere.

One wrong post and you've alienated an entire audience...or worse, gone viral for the wrong reasons.

You need someone who:

1. Knows the platforms inside-out

2. Understands internet culture

3. Can spot a bad trend before it tanks your brand

JS's pitch to executives: "How do you quantify all the times I SAVED you from posting something that would've destroyed your brand?"

You can't.

But that's the value.

The move? Reposition social managers as CREATIVE DIRECTORS.

Not executors. Not schedulers. DIRECTORS.

They should oversee a team - even if it's small - not do everything themselves.

And if you're a social manager reading this?

Advocate for yourself.

Screenshot every win. Every compliment. Every "give your social manager a raise" comment.

Send it to your boss.

It feels cringe. Do it anyway.

No one else will advocate for you.

Takeaway: If you're in leadership, stop treating social as an entry-level role.

Pay them like creative directors. Give them a team. Give them a seat at the table.

If you're a social manager, start documenting EVERY win and sharing it with leadership monthly.

Build your case for why you deserve a raise...because you do.

IN A MEME

If you haven't replied to my intro. PLEASE DO.

Your friend,

Daniel

Join 7,390 other marketing leaders in Marketingland

The conversation doesn't have to stop here
Keep learning and connecting in Marketingland

EVENTS  |  FEED  |  LIBRARY  |  DIRECTORY

Get your brand in front of 118,000+ marketing leaders.

Workweek Media Inc. 
1023 Springdale Road, STE 9E
Austin, TX 78721

Want to ruin my day? Unsubscribe.