Every time that calendar flips over, I see an uptick in emails in my inbox - especially in December, and I love it.

December is not only one of the best times of the year around the world, with amazing celebrations of all kinds of holidays, but it’s also my birthday month.

Notes, discounts, freebies - some email marketers really know how to make someone feel special. And I do even though I know someone set this up months or years ago, and that it’s automated, and that no one is genuinely “behind the curtain” pushing the buttons. It’s because at some point, someone did care enough to consider how to collect or lean into data they already had, to create the copy and set up the programming, to check and test the process and first hit “schedule”.

That all takes effort and work, and it’s not lost on me.

Here are just some of the great offers I received in case they inspire you:


• Topgolf - $20 off game play

• Sixt - 20% off a car rental

• AMC - free popcorn

• 4Top (Amerigo’s - a local Nashville restaurant) - free dessert

• Enterprise - 250 points and a fun interactive “where will you go” app (I picked France)

• Landry’s - $25 reward - though they admittedly need help designing emails that get through blocked content walls

• Stitch Fix - treat yo’ self (just a nice happy birthday mention with a well placed link)

• Torrid - $10 off (they understand blocked content a bit better than Landry’s!)

• And Starbucks will drop a free drink in my app on the actual day!

What do you know about the people or companies in your database? What can you do to help them feel special, remembered?

Whether or not you do it to drive sales or just drive goodwill, we hope you’ll take a moment this week to think what you can put in place for 2025! More inspiration here.

Oh - to get around blocked content, just add good “alt text” to your images!

Tools we’ve been learning

https://clarity.microsoft.com/ - Microsoft’s FREE tool has been amazing. We can see user experience issues on our site with far more, ahem, clarity, than with any other analytics tool we’ve seen. It doesn’t collect or allow views of the data entered**, but it is great at showing “rage clicks”, “quick backs”, and pesky long load times in a more individualized manner. Here’s a quick video of a couple of our favorite features.

**please review the proper updates to privacy policy that may be needed based on your country and industry

Make.com - Rebecca tested this in order to bring together a workflow across different tools and successfully built a “form sign up to google sheet” workflow using their AI assistant. It is a promising replacement or companion for Zapier and something we’ll continue exploring with clients that have complex tech stacks that don’t quite talk to each other.

Ads We’re Watching This Week

In last week’s email, we reviewed some amazing marketing impacts that came through a solid combination of star power + tv shows. We suggested that your teams consider what content they might create.

Even though that was all true, when I heard the advice this week to “create bingeable content”, I could feel myself tense up a bit. If I’m being honest, sometimes content feels like a chore… another item on the to do list…

But when you hear of successes like Quark Expeditions and Hagarty Insurance - both made known to me by David Meerman Scott - you realize it can be worth the time. I think the secret to great content, to bingeable content, is two-fold.

1. Not only know your niche and ideal customer - LOVE them. Like fall in love with them and who they are and what they want and what they face or aspire to or fear.

2. Be unafraid to create. Get in front of the camera, or try some AI tools, or hire that intern or writer or (eek!) that agency.

The marketing world has been buzzing for a little bit about a long bit that Volvo released - an ad that isn’t an ad as much as a beautiful story that I think does both of the above. I’ve never considered a Volvo. Until I did.

Tell us what you think.

Mastermind 2025

Speaking of inspiration - we are opening just 15 spots for our marketing mastermind.

Be one of the first to join a community of innovative marketing and growth leaders.

• Monthly marketing theme/focus

• Twice a month expert/hot seat calls - held live so we can help you brainstorm but also recorded for you

• An optional (but theme-related) book-of-the-month discussion group

• An optional 30 minute 1:1 session monthly with Rebecca on AI, Marketing, or other business growth topics - you pick the time and the topic!

• Private community chat

• Access to any tools and resources + free access to other training created by Advisory 9 while active

  and more

Initial commitment - just 3 months!

Mastermind starts January 5th.

Visit to join.

Haven’t done a mastermind? 100% money back guarantee - if you show up and don’t feel it brings value in the first month, we’ll refund you.