Embracing failures as a performance marketer

Note - if you're new to performance marketing, or have even been around for a while, and smash yourself about for those times underperforming results come out of nowhere, then read through and learn a few things from a person that has been there and done that.

There are plenty of articles on LinkedIn that talk about highly technical tactics to analyse and win. I am super grateful for the people that share their data insights because I get to learn and grow from them.

But one article type I rarely see on LinkedIn is how, as a performance marketer, we should deal with campaigns or projects that don't go to plan. In my experience there's usually a lot to deal with... internal client managers, clients themselves, and then senior stakeholders wanting answers. When that happens my world has become real small real quick.

Depending on where I've been in my career, I've handled such losses in one of two normal ways that most humans deal with a crisis - the flight or fight syndrome. The flight way of dealing with failed performance was to just let it all go out into the ether and hope that it wouldn't come back to bite me on the ass. Then I'd spend days sitting around paranoid, waiting for the almighty thud to come crashing down around me. Anxiety? What anxiety?

Then there was the good ol' fight approach. "It wasn't my fault. It was the client! It was the account manager. It was the cat that hissed at me this morning when I walked passed it. It was the way my 3rd grade teacher scolded me in class. It was the colour blue, the number 7, and the smell of liquorice." It was anyone and anything's fault but mine and I'd fight until the death to prove it so. That was energy-draining, peer-pissing-off, and full of client resentments all bundled up nicely to sit in my head and make sure I never slept at night. By now, I was sleeping with, and waking up to, my faithful partner "Anxietay" (you read that right) on a regular basis.

It wasn't until a couple of great managers I worked with told me that a) we're not doctors saving lives and that b) for 99.9% of most instances, a favourable solution could be found if one was sought after with empathy and understanding. How's that for common sense?! Yet, in the heat of the moment and being super passionate about results, I found it way too easy to throw common sense out the window and go with the fight-or-flight mode of operation.

As the years have gone by, but probably more so in the last two years (a special shout out to the crew at Fenton Stephens), I've come to look at performance marketing with an "enlightened" approach. Actually, it's more just a simple of way of looking at poor results and not getting emotionally attached to them. I sometimes wish I could go back in time and tell myself that when I first started out in the digital industry 11 years ago.

Now, when campaigns go south quicker than the speed of light, I sit back, take a deep breath and yell, "WTF just happened!" Kidding. You wouldn't have been expecting that. These days I'm more calm and able to remove myself emotionally from all the noise (clients not happy, account managers giving me their best Darth Vader choking motions, and others scrambling to find what's wrong). Why? Because I've learned to love data like it's an encrypted message trying to tell me a story.

That sounds kind of wishy-washy but it's true. It's almost like a spiritual journey to crawl through the campaign results and backtrack to the start. On that journey, there is a lot of sightseeing, conversations, and activity that shape the results at hand. Imagine for a second you're in a car that travelled over hundreds of kilometres (or miles depending on where you are in the world). Right at the very end of the trip your car breaks down just when you're a couple of hours from your destination. At that moment, you can't think of anything but the problem in front of you. Yet, up until that point, so many things would have taken place:

• You mapped out the journey - taken the client brief
• You packed and put everything in the car - implemented the campaign
• You started chatting about life and things you see - campaign is up and running and you're checking results
• You stop to have a bite to eat, refresh and think about the trip ahead still - campaign analysis, insights, and recommendations
• You are back on the road and life is sweet - the campaign is running smoothly and kicking goals
• And then in a fit of violent rage and smoke, your car breaks down - the campaign has flatlined

This is where a few things can happen (thinking of the car and road trip scenario)

• You get off the car and suddenly remember all of the best profanities in the world
• You're flustered and don't know what action to take next
• You pray to the universe that the engine fairies will magically appear and fix your car
• You get on the phone and call those closest to you asking, "WTF do I do now?"

That would definitely have been me once upon a time because I just didn't know how to clear my mind, take a breath, and step back for a moment.

When a campaign is hitting the dirt, it's time for me to reflect on how the campaign started, what are the objectives, and just where in time it all went wrong. By doing this I put myself in a better position to be able to methodically go about my next best steps. What they are is very dependent on what the challenge at hand is. It's a vastly different approach to how I used to handle such challenges early on in my career. And the real kicker from this approach is - those around me are more at ease with finding a solution because they know I'm grounded. I'm able to deal with the situation with empathy and to be of service. That way, it's much easier for us to collaborate, analyse, and find a way to fix the challenge. No more stressing at peers, no more angst with the client, and more importantly, no more negative self-talk.

Take from this what you will. If you find yourself getting all wound up because of the noise and the poor results, take some solace in the fact that others experience the same thing as you do. But if you allow yourself some time to step away from it all before getting into it - you'll have a clearer head and emotional space to work through it all without getting despondent. Take it from a guy that's been around long enough to know better. Sometimes, it's just as good to work on your internal performance, just as it is to work on your performance marketing.

See you as we trudge the road of happy destiny.