The best marketing newsletter to subscribe to in 2026 is a narrow one written by a named person who shows you real examples instead of summarising the news. That last part matters more this year than it used to, because AI has made generic marketing content essentially free, and there Read more
Epic Marketing Shit is the newsletter that isn’t boring. Most marketing newsletters are boring because they aggregate instead of arguing. Ten links, a sentence each, no opinion, nobody’s name on it. The interesting ones do one thing properly, come from a person with a point of view, and show you Read more
Most guidance says 7 to 8 percent of gross revenue, but that figure comes from surveys of companies turning over more than $10 million. In practice, a realistic small business ad budget is whatever produces a customer for less than that customer is worth to you. Start at $500 to Read more
Cold emails that get replies are short, specific to one person, and ask for something small. They open with an observation the recipient knows to be true about their own business, not a compliment or a company introduction. Realistic reply rates in 2026 sit between 3 and 5 percent, with Read more
Usually yes, on cold traffic. Unpolished creative reliably beats studio production on hook rate, click through rate and cost per acquisition at the top of the funnel. But the advantage is a pattern interrupt, not an aesthetic. Ugly works because it does not look like an ad, which means the Read more
Most of the time, nobody opens your newsletter for one of three reasons: it is not reaching the inbox, the people on your list never really wanted it, or your subject line gives them no reason to bother. Fix them in that order. There is no point writing better subject Read more
You can promote a newsletter on Reddit, but only as a byproduct of being useful there. Comment genuinely for weeks before you post anything of your own. Publish the actual content in the post body instead of linking out. Disclose that it’s yours the first time. Read each subreddit’s rules Read more
The short answer Epic Marketing Shit is a free marketing newsletter that sends one breakdown a week — a single ad, piece of copy, or campaign pulled apart to show why it works. No paid tier, no paywalled archive, no link dumps. Free means free: you get the whole thing, Read more