If you’re like many of us, you don’t consider the spring end of Daylight Savings Time your friend. Sure, “falling back” and gaining an hour of sleep is great. “Springing forward?” Not so much. It’s funny how one little hour can make such a big difference in your life that first week!
A failed marketing campaign can have the same effect on us. We feel deflated and tired. We struggle to get back into a rhythm. We find ourselves struggling to bounce back. While it usually takes just a few days or even a week to recover from a lost hour of sleep, recovering from a failed campaign can take even longer.
But it’s not impossible. You just have to have the RIGHT MINDSET.
STEP 1: Admit you have a problem. We know, we know: this sounds like the mantra of a recovery addict. But it’s true. If you can’t admit that you messed up, you can’t move on. Take the time to acknowledge the misstep, and then go deeper.
STEP 2: Identify the problem. This isn’t always as easy as it sounds, but it’s vital to your recovery. Use this opportunity to figure out where things went wrong. Did your team do enough research? Was it a technical issue? Did you depend too much on a particular customer or set of customers? Did you have problems with a vendor or technology? Were the wrong people involved? Were the right ones consulted? Did you stray too far from your core products or expertise? Be honest and open-minded when you come to your conclusions.
STEP 3: Try again. You can’t grow if you don’t take chances or learn from your mistakes. Keep looking for new ideas and updating existing research. Your next successful campaign is out there!