When Marketing Fails the Gut Check Test 📝

Hello Reader,

Six years ago I wrote a newsletter that changed the trajectory of my business. It wasn't the best piece of writing I'd done, in fact, it was kind of mediocre (I have high standards for myself). I was basically doing a "thinking out loud" processing of what was really bothering me about marketing at the time.

And it turned out, a whole lot of other people agreed with me—and it sparked a bunch of great conversations, connections to like-minded folks, and, after a few years, my re-committing myself to the strategy side of my business.

Unfortunately, not much has changed—and I'd argue that things have gotten worse in many ways. (I feel like this is demonstrated by how Honest Marketer, a cool initiative I mentioned in that newsletter is no longer.)

What has changed, however, is that I believe "consumers" (that's me and you) are more savvy about when marketing doesn't feel right, or when companies' messages don't feel authentic or aligned.

We see this in surveys about the growth of the values-driven consumer, and in anecdata—I consistently have conversations with folks concerned about if a company they do business with is a match for them or not.

I recently had this experience when I got a price increase email from a software as a service company I've used for over eight years. I don't mind price increases when the value is there, but I do mind them when I see the company or CEO spending a lot of time online posting about how much money they're raking in or the massive brand deals they've signed. Then it feels... not great. That, "Oh I thought this company cared about their customers, but well, maybe not the little guys," feeling, if you know what I mean.

It's that disconnect that feels plain BAD. I thought this company was about folks like me, and then I got hit with the reality that they aren't thanks to their marketing.

Or, recently a fancy handmade fountain pen company that's beloved by artists came under scrutiny because they used AI images on their new product launch page. People felt betrayed because they believed that this company had a relationship with artists, but turned around and used software trained on stolen artwork to market their product.

Again, that disconnect feels terrible.

A beloved local bookstore recently found themselves in hot water for something similar and the blowback from loyal fans was brutal.

I have endless lists of these issues—and many are relatively small marketing mistakes that had massive ripple effects on people's perception of the companies and their leadership.

When I make recommendations to clients, I often say, "How does that feel to you?

I ask that because I want to do a gut check to make sure nothing is misaligned because I know just how catastrophic that can be. Sometimes even "best practices" aren't "best" for an individual company because of this.

Now that's not to say you're not allowed to mess up—we all mess up and miss how people will respond to our messaging.

If I were that tech CEO whose money marketing was shockingly ill-timed? I'd own it and apologize and create legacy plans for my existing customers. I'd also do a serious rethink about messaging in general.

If I were that pen company? I'd commission original artwork from my most loyal artist fans for my next product launch. (They did apologize, but it was rather milquetoast and they took no further action.)

Fixing misaligned marketing missteps doesn't have to be that hard.

We don't need to get it perfect the first time, every time, but if we do start with the "How does this feel" question, and actually take it seriously, we can do a lot to prevent people wondering if we don't mean what we say.

If a trusted advisor or contractor or "guru" tells you to go against that gut feeling, you can say "no." If they don't understand, well, that's their problem. And if we screw up, sincerity can heal a lot of hurt.

Onward & upward,

Sarah