Great marketers are dreadful people.
You send them a link to your new article, asking for a quick proofread, and they hack it to pieces.
You ask them what they think of the website you’re about to launch, and they reply with the words “I really dislike the following…”
You brag about your latest SEO win, and they immediately dive into analytics to see if it really was organic search that led to the flurry of enquiries, or was there something else on which you’ve been piggybacking?
They always see the negatives. The flaws. The missed opportunities.
And that’s what makes them so important.
There’s little value in someone highlighting the good stuff. As lovely as it may feel.
The value is in the critique.
It’s not an excuse for being a total ass and how we deliver the critique matters, but our job is to find the loose thread and start pulling. And if we notice the atmosphere has become just a little tense, good. It probably means we’re getting somewhere.
