At some point in your career, you must have made a dumb marketing mistake. Tell me I can’t be the only one. You know what I mean—something you overlooked or got away from you, and you just didn’t catch it. You may have swept it under the carpet, and no one noticed. Lucky. But who’s going to be bothered by it the most? We are!
So, here’s my true confession. I recently wrote and developed a direct mail postcard targeting two segments. I pored over the copy until I thought the messaging would be persuasive and factual. I spent hours laying out the design to grab attention while making the most of our brand colors and the limited space. And then it went to our trade printer and mail house.
After it dropped and I received my own copy, I realized what I had done. As Homer Simpson would say if he were my partner, “D’OH!”
I hate it when I notice the most obvious boo-boo after the fact. No matter who proofread my piece, it would have taken another marketer to pick up on my mistake. And a few simple words will likely make the difference between people calling us—or not.
We’re marketing customized pre-designed and graphic-designed holiday cards. Realizing that packaging/bundling has been de rigeur in marketing these days, we created an affordable custom package that included graphic design, a choice of stock images or an image the client provides, printing them on 14-pt card stock with a printed return address on the matching envelope. Clients can have the cards scored and delivered to their doors for signing and mailing, or we can insert their electronic signatures, insert the cards into envelopes and mail them from our trade mail house at reduced bulk rates. Innocent enough, right?
Here’s where I screwed up. The most expensive option is to order a small quantity of 250, in which case, the cost of a custom-designed card and envelope set would be around $2.06. Prices go DOWN from there. The more people order, the cheaper the unit price. Duh. At 5,000 cards, for example, the unit cost per card/envelope would be less than 30 cents! So, what did I say in the copy?
“Custom prices start at just $2.06/card and envelope set.”
Oh, no! Do I have a self-destructive thing going? I beat myself up for two days after that!
So, why am I embarrassing myself and sharing this story with you? Because, chances are that you’ve had a similar experience. Somewhere in the recesses of your past, you did a dumb thing. We’re all human—no matter how good we are as marketers. And it was cathartic for me to share this. Was it good for you?
Your turn. Come clean. What’s the biggest marketing boo-boo story you can share with the rest of us?
Tags: Content, Direct Mail, marketing mistake, postcard, Pricing
Elaine,
Commented over on LI too.. nothing new to add or great example. I’ve overlooked great PR hooks, better headlines, or missed timely opportunities… that kind of thing. Mistakes will happen so the best thing to do is own up to it, get it fixed. Then go back and look at where the problem occurred so you know it won’t happen again. FWIW.
Thanks, Davina. Good point.
Elaine, I’ve run ads before with a vendor that I’ve trusted– sans a “proof”. The vendor either ran the wrong ad, or had a typo that I would have caught had I asked for a faxed proof prior to running the ad. The onus was clearly on me from a quality control perspective.
Paul, I’ll bet this is a common boo boo. It happens when we’re rushed and late on deadline. Thanks for fessing!
Elaine,
Your Post might be one of the most honest posts I have seen from a Marketing Professional!
Very few people will honestly step up and say – I’m human and I can make mistakes. I know I am and have made my share of mistakes along the way – some of them real doosies. Whether you know it or not, you actually hit the answer – we often don’t reach out and ask for a little help – and just because I said it doesn’t mean I always do it. Sometimes our biggest mistake is not “learning” from the small ones along the way.
Someone once told me Wisdom is nothing more than knowledge plus experience. Knowledge is the easy part of the equation – it’s the “experiences” – both positive and negative that usually keep us up at night; however, without any negative experiences, life would get very boring.
Let this one go and chalk it up to one of the negative experiences that comes with the territory. You’ll sleep better!
Thanks so much! I believe that we’re always learning, no matter how “wise” or how much experience we have. Thank goodness this boo boo was on my behalf and not for a client! I’m totally anal when it comes to our clients. Our own marketing is done in between.
You’re right – we need to reach out and ensure that we’re checking everything. And even then, we are mere human beings. The funny thing is I wonder if any recipients will notice my error. The piece looks great. We just may not receive as many calls as we may have hoped. The only boss we’re answerable to is… us! And we’re our own biggest critics, aren’t we?
Thanks for your comment!
Thank you Elaine. I feel normal again. See you again soon! ~Paul
What’s “normal” anyway, Paul? I like being creative and a bit off the wall.
Thanks.
[...] I Screwed Up, So?: Why is it when it comes to social media (and marketing & PR) we only hear self-patting back [...]
Elaine,
I enjoyed reading your refreshingly honest blog post. I wonder, did you contact all your customers to advise them of the real starting price? I think all your readers can learn from your mistake!
I run a translation and localisation agency. We help our customers localise their marketing campaigns in more than 50 different countries. You can imagine the probability for boo-boos increases exponentially when you’re working in a language you don’t speak! We help our customers avoid the most obvious mistakes, but you’re not in bad company. Some of the world’s biggest brands have made huge marketing blunders. Take a look at this for a little light entertainment – you have to guess whether the marketing blunder actually happened or if it’s just a myth (Can you sniff the myth?): http://www.conversisglobal.com/Truth_Myth/
Anyway, thanks for the post.
Best,
Gary
Thanks, Gary. This was a prospect mailing and we plan a follow-up in the next week or so. Loved your truth or myth quiz! Very amusing.
Thanks Elaine. Good luck next week!
We’ve all done this! thats why I always get someone else to proofread/commonsense-check my stuff. Another pair of eyes and brain is crucial – I get totally word-blind after a while! M
Thanks, Matthew. I agree wholeheartedly. I believe in proofing copy over and over. The overlooked content, in this case, wasn’t about grammar or typos. It was a sales/marketing component, which proofreaders are not going to catch. Even after being in this biz for decades, I am still learning every day. And, I will never make that error again!