Avoiding Anger as a Marketer

We understand how much work it takes to be successful as a marketer. When a marketer gives maximum effort and things don’t go to plan, it can be easy to get a little agitated. Maybe it’s because Joey Armstrong just watched Star Wars, but he wanted to point out that anger does nothing but lead to the dark side for marketing professionals. Today, Armstrong will look at a few different ways anger can work against a marketer’s goals.

The most common place for the public to see a marketer’s anger is in their responses to reviews. When a review attacks your brand, it can be a tough pill to swallow. It’s hard not to take it personal when you are doing everything in your power to help your company succeed and someone is out there claiming a dissatisfactory experience. However, if a marketer chooses to respond to a negative review with anger, they will only further damage their reputation. A negative review must be dealt with as an opportunity to rise above. If the review doesn’t have inflammatory language, it’s wise to respond directly and thank the person for writing their experience. Then, as quickly as possible, the conversation should be taken offline. A positive response will show that your brand cares and is looking to help all their customers.

When a marketer works for an agency, anger can fester when they don’t receive approval on a piece of content they worked hard on or a strategy they suggest. This anger doesn’t do anything but waste more time. Instead of reacting with anger, a marketer should start to examine what led to the content being rejected. A lot of the time this happens because there was not clear communication upfront. Rejections should be utilized as opportunities to review the process and see where communication can be tightened up. Taking the time to get ideas approved ahead of time is a great start. This will help eliminate the back and forth and ensure that your vision is aligned with the client.

Finally, anger can come from marketing jealously. Marketing is a very competitive field. There will be times when a competitor comes up with an idea that outshines what you are working on. Anger is natural, but it shouldn’t become an overwhelming sensation. Instead it should be turned into motivation to tighten up and go back to the drawing board.