The document serves as a survival guide for marketing emergencies, emphasizing the importance of remaining calm, assessing the situation, and taking action effectively. It outlines steps to manage responses, learn from past incidents, and prevent future occurrences, framing the process as an opportunity for business growth. The guide encourages prioritizing empathy and clear communication throughout the crisis management process.

1. Marketing Emergencies:
A Survival Guide
Sarah Esterman | @sarahesterman

2. @sarahesterman
Let’s chat about:
🐱 cats
🌱 plants
✉ email
😍 your favorite emoji

3. #SearchLove | @sarahestermanMarketing Emergencies: A Survival Guide
Who’s had to deal with a
marketing emergency?
(Raise your ✋)

4. #SearchLove | @sarahestermanMarketing Emergencies: A Survival Guide

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How did it make you feel?
( 👍 / 👎 )

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How I want you to feel about your
emergency-handling skills…

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(Like a badass.)

9. A few of Simple’s
incidents

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RIP robots.txt 😬

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Subject: Apology for a
not-so-sweet Valentine

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23. How to handle a marketing
emergency
#SearchLove | @sarahestermanMarketing Emergencies: A Survival Guide

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Keep your cool

25. Confidential 25
Breathe.

26. Confidential 26

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Be kind 🤝

28. Confidential 28
Choose your
words.

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What’s said What’s heard What to say instead
How could this happen?
How could you be so stupid to
mess this up?
How can we support you?
It’s not my fault. It’s somebody’s fault. How can we move forward?
You should’ve done X, Y, Z. I’m better at your job than you.
How can we ensure this doesn’t
happen again?

30. Confidential 30
Know the
facts.

31. #SearchLove | @sarahestermanMarketing Emergencies: A Survival Guide
Assess the situation 🔍

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🤔 What happened? Succinctly describe the incident in a sentence or 2.
🔢
How many people were affected? How does that # related to your overall
customer-base or goals?
💸
Is there any $ to be lost? How much? How does that line up to your higher-
level business goals?
👟
How would you feel in your customers’ shoes? Outline what happened from
your customers’ perspective. Is the incident confusing?
💔 What are the consequences? Could it affect new customer numbers? Could it
affect retention of existing customers? Could it affect trust?
What to ask

33. #SearchLove | @sarahestermanMarketing Emergencies: A Survival Guide
Take action 👉

34. #SearchLove | @sarahestermanMarketing Emergencies: A Survival Guide
Do I need to respond to this incident?
Does it potentially cause a
lot of confusion?
Were a lot of customers
affected?
Respond!
Let it be.
Is the benefit of
responding greater than
the damage if you don’t?
No No
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Ways you could respond:
• Fixing a thing
• Email follow-up
• Social call-out
• 1:1 customer relations

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Learn 📚

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📊
How was the response to the response (or lack thereof)? Are there any key
metrics to note?
👍 What went right? Where did your team shine in response to the incident?
💩
What went wrong? Where could you improve upon your response in the
future?
💪
What would you do differently next time? How would you change your
response if you had to do it all over again?
✨
How can you keep this from happening in the future? What change will you
implement to prevent future snafus?
Learning review Q’s
Tip: acknowledge your hindsight bias and avoid the “should’ve”s

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Gain perspective ✨

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⭐
Stars are so far away that looking at them is literally looking
back in time.
💌
Responses to emergencies can benefit your business and
your brand.
🐱 My cat really loves me.
Perspective-keepers

39. Sarah Esterman
Digital Marketing Director + Cat Enthusiast
@sarahesterman
linkedin.com/in/sarahesterman
sarahesterman@gmail.com