The occasional typo, grammar mistake, or misplaced punctuation mark can be forgiven- after all, nobody’s perfect (unless you are Beyonce, in which case, I take that back). But during our time, we’ve seen our fair share of marketing fails that have left us cringing.
No longer do we see meticulous rounds of editing and proofreading before copy can be sent to print. With the power of social media, copy can go live, and viral, with just one click of a button. That’s why it is more important than ever before to review and proof your copy before hitting send!
Once something is online, it’s there forever. Best case scenario, what you have to say receives a positive reception. Worst case scenario, you face public backlash and alienate your audience. The difference between the two? Taking the time to properly proof and edit your copy.
Today, we bring you three real life marketing mishaps that you will definitely want to avoid.
Writing copy for online is not the same as writing copy for print. The two are not synonymous and as we can see from this example, online copy is unlikely to translate well in print.
When writing for online, it is important to consider search engine optimisation (SEO) to improve visibility and ranking on search engine results. To achieve this, online copy often includes hyperlinks and references to online resources to offer further reading.
Credit: @taylor.owen on X
How this epic copywriting fail made it all the way to print is truly a mystery, but it sure did give us a laugh. While it isn’t ideal typos can be easily corrected when content is published online, but mistakes are more difficult to correct once content has been printed.
Not only are errors in print time-consuming to fix, but they can also end up damaging your company’s reputation. Luckily, in this example it’s easy to see the funny side, but not thoroughly proofreading your work can have much more serious repercussions.
To avoid this marketing mishap, take extra care when reading through your copy before submitting it to print!
Credit: Waitrose
Here we see how punctuation can change meaning. There is a cannibalistic difference between “I find inspiration in cooking my family and my dog” and “I find inspiration in cooking, my family, and my dog”. The same can apply to hyphens, colons, and other punctuation marks so it is important to know how to use punctuation properly.
Credit: Tails magazine
At M.A.D, we are armed with an impressive set of skills, knowledge, and expertise to avoid marketing fails like these. We ensure you get accurate and carefully crafted copy every time. For more information about our services, click here.
If you require further information about any of our services or you’d like to join our M.A.D tribe, we’d love to hear from you!
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