Scary Stories: 5 Marketing Mishaps and how to avoid them
No matter how experienced the marketer, they're lying if they say they don't still get nervous when hitting 'send' on a campaign they've worked on for months. It's that nerve-wracking moment of "Here's hoping everything goes right" as you put your hard work into the hands of the tech gods that be.
After years in the trenches, we've seen it all and lived to tell the tales. So dim the lights and gather 'round as we share five marketing nightmares that haunt us, and more importantly, how you can avoid becoming the next cautionary tale.
1. The Typo That Haunted Our Inbox
The Horror: Picture this: You've spent weeks perfecting your email campaign. The copy is chef's kiss, the design is flawless, and your CTA is irresistible. You hit send to 100,000 subscribers and immediately notice it - a glaring typo in the subject line. Or worse, you've scheduled everything in the wrong time zone, so your "Early Bird Special" arrives at 3 AM.
The Remedy: Implement our 10-point pre-scheduling checklist:
Run spell-check (yes, even if you're a grammar guru)
Read everything backward to catch visual errors
Preview on mobile AND desktop
Check all links (seriously, click every single one)
Verify image alt-text and loading
Confirm time zone settings match your audience
Test personalization tokens with real data
Review your from/reply-to addresses
Double-check your segment selections
Have a fresh pair of eyes review everything before scheduling
Pro tip: Create a "test send" list that includes yourself and team members across different email clients. Or better yet use a tool like Litmus to test your sends. If it looks good on Outlook, you're golden.
2. The A/B Test That Tested Nothing
The Horror: You're excited to finally run that A/B test everyone's been talking about. You split your audience, send both versions, and... the results are inconclusive. Why? Your test segment was only 500 people, and the difference between Version A and Version B was statistically meaningless. You've essentially just guessed, but with extra steps.
The Remedy: Size matters when it comes to testing. Ensure your total audience is at least 5,000 people to achieve statistically significant results. But here's where most marketers go wrong: test your ENTIRE audience in the A/B split, not just a small segment. And never make decisions based on a single test. Run it multiple times to confirm your findings aren't just a fluke or influenced by external factors (like that surprise snowstorm that kept everyone offline).
Remember: A/B testing isn't about having a "winner" - it's about learning what resonates with your audience. Sometimes the most surprising loser teaches you more than the obvious winner.
3. The Website That Couldn't Handle Its 15 Minutes of Fame
The Horror: Your BFCM campaign worked. Maybe too well. Traffic is pouring in, your product is trending on social media, and then... the dreaded loading wheel of death. Your website crashes. Potential customers bounce, sales evaporate, and your brand reputation takes a hit - all because your infrastructure couldn't handle success.
The Remedy: Before launching any major campaign, conduct a load test on your website. Work with your development team or hosting provider to understand your site's capacity and prepare for traffic spikes. Consider implementing a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to distribute the load, enable caching to reduce server strain, and have a scalability plan that can kick in automatically when traffic surges.
Also, keep your crisis communication plan handy. If things do go sideways, acknowledge it quickly with your audience and provide updates. A little transparency and humor can turn a disaster into a story about a brand that cares.
4. Personalization Gone Wrong
The Horror: Yes, personalization is all the rage, but only if you get it right. There’s nothing worse than sending a "We miss you!" re-engagement campaign to your most active customers or an “exclusive” discount that goes out to your entire database.
The Remedy: Before any segmented campaign launches, export your recipient list and spot-check it. Does it make sense? Are the right people included and, just as importantly, are the wrong people excluded? Create suppression lists for sensitive campaigns and use naming conventions that make it crystal clear what each segment contains.
If you DO make this mistake, own up to it quickly and transparently. Reach out to the customers impacted and apologize for the oversight in a human way and you’ll come out of this without losing brand equity. (We’ve never received an “Oops” email we didn’t click on and we bet you haven’t either).
5. The Content That Should've Stayed Dead
The Horror: We all remember the backlash American Eagle got for their Good Jeans ad. Tone-deaf content spreads fast and the internet never forgets. We've watched brands schedule cheerful promotional content that went live hours after breaking tragic news, creating a PR nightmare that lasted months.
The Remedy: Establish a social listening protocol and content approval process that includes diverse perspectives. Before publishing, ask: "Who could this offend? What's happening in the news today? Is this the right time?"
Create a pause button protocol: designate team members who have authority to halt scheduled content if world events warrant it. Build in buffer time between creating and publishing content so you can catch things that seemed fine yesterday but feel wrong today. And most importantly, if you do make a mistake, apologize sincerely, take accountability, and do better - not a "sorry you were offended" non-apology.
The Silver Lining in Every Scary Story
Here's the thing about marketing mishaps: they happen to everyone, even the most seasoned professionals. The difference between a branding disaster and a learning experience is often just preparation, processes, and the ability to respond with grace when things go wrong.
After years of helping clients navigate (and sometimes rescue) campaigns, we've learned that the best marketers aren't the ones who never make mistakes - they're the ones who build systems to prevent them, act quickly when things go sideways, and treat every mishap as a chance to improve.
So this Halloween season, don't let fear paralyze your marketing efforts. Instead, learn from these cautionary tales, implement safeguards, and launch your campaigns with confidence (and maybe just a little bit of that healthy nervous energy that keeps you sharp).
Now if you'll excuse us, we need to triple-check that our email is actually scheduled for the right time...
Want to avoid these marketing nightmares? Our team has battle-tested checklists, processes, and strategies that keep campaigns running smoothly - even on the scariest of days. Schedule a FREE strategy session to learn how we can help you launch campaigns that thrill your audience without giving you (or them) a fright.