I made a mistake! Now what?

Mistakes happen, and it’s ok! Making spelling slips or design faux pas is all part of the learning process. Unfortunately, in marketing there’s often little tolerance for errors—whether it’s a typo, a formatting issue, or a mishap that sneaks through the publishing process.

There’s usually a reason something imperfect makes it into the public domain: workload, urgency (most things in marketing feel urgent), or the sheer multitasking that marketing generalists juggle every day. The truth is, marketing fails are more common than you think. The digital space is forgiving—posts can be updated quickly—but email and print are far less so.

So if you make a mistake and the world (or your manager/client) comes down on you:

• Step one: take a deep breath. It happens to everyone.
• Step two: think about how it could have been prevented.
• Step three: acknowledge it. A simple “whoops” and a quick explanation of how you’ll do things differently next time goes a long way.

At our agency, we’ve built processes through trial and error, creating safety nets to keep mistakes to a minimum. The most effective one? Having someone else check your work. Fresh eyes can catch what yours miss.

When possible, embrace slow and right over fast and wrong. Push back if you need more time to produce something accurate and polished—it not only protects the quality of your work, but also helps others understand that design and content creation takes time.

And most importantly—remember: it’s not heart surgery. Mistakes can be fixed, and every slip is a chance to refine your process.