Marketing Podcast Network
Unfudge Your Marketing

Lessons from a Failed Mass Messaging Campaign

May 19, 2026 By MPN
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Buying a list of thousands of contacts and blasting them with mass messages sounds like a shortcut to scaling fast. Jon Goering, founder of Story Trust Media, tried exactly that early in his business, and walked away with zero clients, damaged email deliverability, and a very clear lesson about what actually builds a service-based business. Spoiler: it is not a numbers game.

Jon joins Kristi to unpack what went wrong, why high trust transactions require a completely different approach to outreach, and how shifting to value-led relationship building completely changed his results.

You’ll learn:

  • Why buying a list was not the real mistake and what actually went wrong
  • How mass messaging tanked Jon’s email deliverability and hurt relationships he had already built
  • Why the numbers game approach fails every time in high trust service-based businesses
  • The difference between cold outreach that repels and cold outreach that actually opens doors
  • How Jon shifted from mass blasting to five intentional LinkedIn touchpoints a week and what changed
  • Why leading with value, not with what you offer, is the only cold outreach strategy worth your time
  • Why the people already in your world are often the most overlooked source of new business

If you have ever been tempted by the promise of a bought list or a mass messaging campaign, this episode will save you the time, money, and headache of finding out the hard way.

Connect with Jon Goering:

  • Website: storytrust.media
  • Free email newsletter and private podcast available at storytrust.media

Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe, share, and leave a review so you never miss a chance to unfudge your marketing.

Learn more about Kristi and get in touch with her to learn how to Unf*dge YOUR marketing: kristimitchell.com

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