😱 Don't get ghosted in the workplace
Plus: How to master 'strategic clarity,' and the key to better email performance
What email marketing myths are holding you back?
This week, we’re covering the growth strategies you need to know to fuel your business this spring.
Today’s agenda:
🪴 The key to sustainable growth
👻 Why workplace “ghosting” is so common
📧 Does your email marketing need a revamp?
💼 Briefly — our quick news roundup
⏱️ Up & coming
What’s your competitive edge?
Companies that know the answer to “what’s next?” have a skill called “strategic clarity,” says Dan McKone, managing director and partner at L.E.K. Consulting.
🏆 Strategic clarity comes from a deep understanding of what makes a company different from (and what it does better than) its competitors:
Costco understands cost leadership
Salesforce is consistently moving toward more “intuitive” relationships with customers
Amazon knows its technological advantage
🏋️ McKone, via Harvard Business Review, explains that the key to (and biggest challenge of) strategic clarity is in committing to it and, essentially, living and breathing it in all aspects of your company, including:
Hiring
Supply chain
Marketing
💡 Does your company’s mission align with all aspects of your operations?
Stop the ghosting cycle
You’ve likely heard of the term “ghosting” in the context of dating, but it’s becoming increasingly common in the workplace—from applicants and employers:
78% of job seekers have ghosted a prospective employer, according to an Indeed poll
40% of job seekers said an employer ghosted them after a second- or third-round interview
💼 Both of these figures have increased since 2022. Experts believe it has stemmed from a strong job market.
Clint Carrens, a career strategist at Indeed, told CNBC it has become a “feedback loop”—if both sides are doing it, it becomes more normal behavior.
💡 Stop the cycle: Carrens says it leads to “reputational damage” on both ends.
Refresh your email content
Email has long been recognized as an effective (and cost-effective) marketing channel.
📨 Jay Schwedelson, marketing expert and host of the Do This, NOT That podcast, told Social Media Examiner that the biggest challenge with email are myths and outdated best practices, including:
Don’t use the word “free”
Avoid emojis, question marks, and exclamation points
Open rates are meaningless
Those aren’t spammy practices, says Schwedelson—they actually boost engagement.
And as far as open rates: They may not be precise, but they can give you valuable insights into which strategies are performing better.
Tips for better email performance
Subject lines are the most important part of your email—enhance them with numerals, emojis, or using title case
Use A/B testing to analyze performance
Regularly test date/time performance to find the optimal send times
💡 Use Schwedelson’s website, SubjectLine.com, to optimize your next email.
Briefly
🗞️ New research finds no link between social media engagement and page views for news publishers
📺 8 of the most popular ways to make video calls on a TV
👀 50+ blogs, newsletters, podcasts, and video channels that marketers love to reference
📱 Twitter/X competitor Bluesky is now open to the public—when does your business need to pay attention to it?
☎️ TikTok users bombard Congress with pleas to not ban the app—with some kids even calling during recess
Up & Coming
The week ahead: Read about what’s to come ahead of the Fed’s March 20 meeting.