Excitement-to-Impact Test
Use the maker's genuine excitement as an early signal of campaign potential.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 95%
The Excitement-to-Impact Test uses the responsible maker's energy as an early qualitative signal when selecting creative work. Ask how eager the owner is to release the campaign and why. Genuine excitement may indicate novelty, a strong audience insight, meaningful personal fit, or an unusually compelling execution idea; it also tends to improve craftsmanship because the owner voluntarily invests more attention. Low energy can reveal that a campaign is derivative, forced, or disconnected from the people producing it. When a necessary concept feels flat, the team should search for a more interesting angle, collaboration, or use case. Excitement does not prove demand, so selected ideas still require testing and measurement. Its role is to filter creative options before resources are committed.
Origin
Extracted from Marketing Against The Grain through the host's experience building and scaling HubSpot and Erica Wanger's sponsor-collaboration example.
Core principles
- 01The creator's energy transfers into execution and audience response.
- 02Excitement often signals that an idea is novel or personally meaningful.
- 03People usually execute work they care about with greater quality.
- 04Enthusiasm is a leading indicator, not a substitute for market evidence.
How to run it
- 1
Ask for the Energy Level
Have the owner rate and explain their eagerness to release the work. Listen for spontaneous specificity rather than polite agreement.
Pro tip Ask what part they cannot wait to show people.
Watch out Do not confuse performative enthusiasm with genuine ownership.
- 2
Diagnose the Source
Determine whether the excitement comes from customer value, novelty, creative challenge, personal relevance, or merely internal amusement. Favor energy connected to an audience mechanism.
Pro tip Strong concepts often combine personal excitement with a clear reason customers will care.
Watch out Team amusement alone may not translate outside the company.
- 3
Compare Candidate Ideas
Use energy as one input when choosing among plausible campaigns. Prefer concepts whose owners are eager to improve and advocate for them.
Pro tip Compare ideas with roughly similar strategic value and cost.
Watch out Do not discard mandatory or proven work solely because it is less exciting.
- 4
Rework Flat Concepts
If an important campaign feels dull, hold a jam session to find a more novel partnership, demonstration, or narrative. Reassess the owner's energy afterward.
Pro tip Invite the partner or customer into the redesign session.
Watch out Cosmetic changes rarely repair a concept lacking a compelling core.
- 5
Test Audience Transfer
Launch a bounded version and measure whether internal energy produces external engagement or conversion. Keep the signal only if results support it.
Pro tip Review both execution quality and audience response after launch.
Watch out Enthusiasm cannot rescue an idea that customers consistently ignore.
In the wild
Erica Wanger noticed that she was less excited about one podcast sponsor. She met with the company's marketing leader to invent a novel use of its technology that both organizations found genuinely interesting, giving her something she could enthusiastically explain during the ad read.
→ A routine sponsorship was reframed as a collaborative experiment with more authentic energy.
A team has two viable webinar concepts. The assigned expert speaks mechanically about one but eagerly sketches demonstrations and audience questions for the other. The team pilots the second concept while retaining normal demand checks.
→ The chosen webinar receives stronger preparation and clearer audience enthusiasm.
Common mistakes
Mistaking Noise for Conviction
A loud personality can appear enthusiastic without possessing a meaningful insight. Ask for the specific mechanism behind the energy.
Ignoring Audience Evidence
Internal excitement is only an early signal. A campaign that fails external tests should be revised or stopped.
Using Excitement to Avoid Routine Work
Some essential operational work will never feel thrilling. Apply the test primarily to discretionary creative choices.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for choosing among campaigns, content concepts, partnerships, and launches with similar expected costs.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal as the sole decision criterion for compliance work, maintenance, or proven performance marketing systems.
From the transcript
“there's a direct correlation between how excited the person is who's doing the marketing to get the thing out is to how well it's going…”
“If you're excited about it, you tend to do a better job on it.”
“If you don't believe it, nobody else will.”
From the episode
Inside the Hidden Playbooks of Businesses That Actually Win