We all know a marketer’s worst fear; having their message be misunderstood. When this happens, there is a chance that your customers will forgive and forget. However, that is not always the case. Because of social media and the ability to voice any opinion at any time, marketing mishaps can shift the perception of your brand for the long haul. The goal is to avoid making marketing mistakes in the first place, but no one is perfect. Here are five steps that will help your brand recover if your marketing campaign doesn’t land well. (according to zoho.com) 

1. Listen to what people have to say– in order to learn from your experience and ensure that nothing similar ever happens again in the future, you need to understand where you went wrong. It is important to listen to your consumers and value their opinion. Once you hear what they have to say, own up to your mistakes and take responsibility for your actions. 
2. Think like a customer- remember, your marketing campaign can flop even if it wasn’t offensive. Maybe it wasn’t unique. Maybe it didn’t highlight what made your brand different from the rest. Maybe it didn’t do anything wrong, but it didn’t do anything right either. Put yourself in your customers shoes and ask yourself if you would remember the marketing campaign that you just created. If not, go back to the drawing board and rework it so that your customers are engaged. 
3. Analyze your numbers- you need to dig deep. Sometimes just looking at a metric does not tell the whole story. If something has a lot of views, it doesn’t mean that everyone watched it. They could have clicked on your video and then exited out because they found it boring. If you look at the data and you see that a lot of people clicked out of your video at the same part, go back in and make changes. Do people click away once they see numbers? Do they click away when the music cuts out? Pay attention to these minor details and it can make a major impact on your brand. It helps to have analytics installed on your website, to use a CRM platform to track different messages, and to compare analytics from different forms of communication.  
4. Do one thing at a time- do not feel rushed to jump into many different avenues after (or before!) a marketing mishap. Like with anything in life, it is best to fully dedicate yourself to one thing then it is too spread yourself too thin and try to cover too many bases. When you do this, you are not fully dedicating yourself to one task, and are missing out on an opportunity to excel in something. So learn from your mistakes, and take your time to fix it. Focus. 
5. Hire an Expert- Remember, marketing takes up an entire section of your business plan because without it you don’t have a business. Too many business owners waste time and energy trying to tackle marketing tasks that they don’t understand. When faced with any challenge it’s always better to meet with an expert, come up with a budget and use what you’re good at to earn the money you need to hire the right help.

Remember that every business has its failures and it is okay to make mistakes as long as you are willing to learn from them.