How Do You Handle Negative Feedback in Your Marketing Campaigns?
To understand how negative feedback can be a catalyst for positive change in marketing, we sought insights from six industry professionals, including Co-Founders and Digital Marketing Managers. Their experiences range from how negative feedback fosters media connection to how overpricing comments ignite a successful campaign. Dive into their stories to learn how criticism can be transformed into opportunities for growth and improvement.
- Negative Feedback Fosters Media Connection
- Criticism Transforms into Brand Authenticity
- Comment Spurs Community Support
- Complaints Lead to Quality Improvement
- Backlash Spurs Transparent Pricing Strategy
- Overpricing Comments Ignite a Successful Campaign
Negative Feedback Fosters Media Connection
We were conducting a media outreach campaign to pitch story ideas based on new data we created in the travel industry. One journalist was displeased with our efforts and gave us negative feedback in an email response.
I responded immediately with an explanation of where we were coming from and why we created the data. I kept it professional and, what do you know, the journalist apologized, and a new media connection was formed.
We now have a journalist from a major outlet that we can reach out to next time we have a unique story to pitch that fits their field of relevance.
Scott Sidders
Co-Founder, Scott & Yanling Media Inc.
Criticism Transforms into Brand Authenticity
In a marketing campaign I played a key role in, we faced negative feedback about perceived communication transparency issues. Instead of seeing it purely as criticism, I personally used the feedback as an opportunity to refine our messaging.
By openly addressing the concerns and providing more detailed insights into our products and processes, we not only resolved the issue for the concerned customer but also demonstrated to our broader audience our commitment to transparency.
In my experience, this instance of negative feedback transformed into an opportunity, reinforcing trust and authenticity in our brand and resulting in enhanced customer relationships and a more favorable overall perception.
Henry Allen
Digital Marketing Manager, Loyalty Lion
Negative Comment Spurs Community Support
In 2020, I was doing a website giveaway for the asphalt paving space and started promoting it on social media—quite aggressively, I might add. I wanted a lot of people to sign up so that we could market to them afterward. Partway through our campaign, this fellow came onto one of my posts, absolutely slamming us, saying we were a scam, total trash, etc.
Well, what do you know, the entire community rallied behind me, blowing up my post and giving it way more reach than I could have ever gotten myself. They were commenting and rebutting his comments, clients speaking about their great experiences with us, and people who knew me personally jumping in to defend us.
It gets better. I ended up reaching out to the fellow and asking what was up. It turns out he was going through a really dark place, was drunk that night, and just thought this post was from another scam marketing pop-up. We chatted on Zoom, and he ended up becoming a brand ambassador. There’s always a silver lining.
Lewis Vandervalk
Owner, Blue Crocus Solutions
Complaints Lead to Quality Improvement
When Starquix was just starting, the quality of the customized prints wasn’t always better than the best. One of our early clients was very hard to please, but our efforts made it possible to perfect a few things.
We got more sales from word-of-mouth referrals than from this customer alone. My insights have been featured in Forbes, Reuters, Investopedia, and Yahoo!
Derek Capo
COO, Starquix.com
Backlash Spurs Transparent Pricing Strategy
Absolutely. We once rolled out a pricing strategy which faced instant backlash as it seemed confusing to our customers. The volume of negative feedback initially felt like an implosion. However, it offered a unique opportunity to reevaluate our pricing structure and strategies.
We took the advice on board, simplified our pricing, and made things more transparent. The revisions resulted in a 20% increase in new subscribers and a 15% decrease in customer churn—a classic example of negative feedback turning monumentally positive.
Abid Salahi
Co-Founder and CEO, FinlyWealth
Overpricing Comments Ignite a Successful Campaign
Initially, we had to cope with comments stating our products were overpriced. We openly addressed the matter and established a trial campaign highlighting the premium qualities of the products, such as quality and superiority, which translated to a higher cost.
We mentioned the required efforts to get the output we have today. In addition, we provided a temporarily reduced price to overcome the pricing concerns.
The negative feedback pointed out a hole in our communication, and by listening and responding, we not only kept a few skeptical customers but also attracted new ones, thanks to our transparency. This approach later benefited us with higher sales and enhanced brand position.
Fahad Khan
Digital Marketing Manager, Ubuy India
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