In business, as in life, things do not always go the way you expect them to, even if you made ample plans and preparations.
With the emergence of the Internet and social media, brands are coming under close scrutiny. One blunder can prove costly to a business as a video becomes viral.
But what if it is your brand that has made a mistake? What can you do to bounce back from a marketing disaster? Here are a few tips from a trusted branding agency in Dubai.
Change your mindset
Mistakes can and will happen. It is not a matter of if, but when. Before significant mistake crops up, you have to change your mindset and accept that such is part and parcel of running a business. Accepting that simple truth will make it easier to face the challenges ahead.
That is not to say that failure is something that is easy to accept. It isn’t. But if you embrace the idea that you can make mistakes and learn from these, you are providing yourself and your brand fuel for growth.
Own the mistake
When a blunder happens, whether intentional or not, the first instinctive move most people make is to find a person to blame.
When you are running a business, you cannot afford to do that. In fact, one of the first crucial steps that you need to undertake in the face of a marketing mistake is to acknowledge it and apologize for it.
Owning a mistake is difficult, especially when you have an established and beloved brand. But that action demarcates the line between businesses that have successfully bounced back from a blunder and those that didn’t.
Furthermore, your employees are looking at your response as a leader. If you set your ego to the side, your employees will see and feel that making a mistake is not the end of the world and that your company is a safe place.
Evaluate the situation
Owning your mistake means issuing an apology and reaching out to the people affected by the incident, including your loyal customers and stakeholders.
At this point, you should evaluate the damage that has been done to your brand as well as possible strategies that you can enforce to prevent this blunder from happening again.
After that, you have to look at the problem under a microscope, identifying the different factors that have led to this incident from an objective viewpoint.
As much as possible, avoid drawing premature conclusions until you have all your facts straight. Talk to everyone involved. You need to get to the bottom of the truth, not a version of it.
Try to remain calm. When you are in the eye of the proverbial eye of the storm, it can be easy to overreact and act rashly in response. Look at the situation closely and calibrate your response accordingly.
Plan for recovery
Once you have all the facts surrounding the incident, the next step that you need to take is to devise a plan that will help you bounce back stronger.
From a branding perspective, that may entail a few things, starting with your brand persona. Before you resume your marketing campaign, you need to look closely and evaluate the buyer persona you have formulated. After the incident, you need to visit your brand persona in order to assess if it is still relevant. In some cases, you may need to move away from that and formulate a new one.
Next, check the communications and marketing channels your brand is currently using. Are these channels appropriate for the message you wish to send? Remember, sometimes, the medium is the message. Before sending out a message, make sure that you are using the right one to save money and effort.
Finally, pay attention to the message you send out. Initially, after a significant blunder, you might find it difficult for your message to resonate with your target audience. Keep at it and try to keep a positive attitude.
Move forward
A mistake is not and should not be the end of the world for your brand. If you look closely at the best branding agency portfolio, you will see some recognizable brands that have committed grave mistakes. Where are they now? Most likely, you have forgotten about the mistakes they have committed.
The essential thing to remember is that your audience is looking for authenticity. And the best way to show that is to prove that you have learned from your mistakes, and use that to offer better products or services that exceed the expectations of your customers.
And at the same time, let your actions and confidence inspire your team to move toward a positive direction. Take your mistake as an opportunity for growth, and soon, that mistake will become a thing of the past.
