Some bad advice is legendary. Like, “Floor it! There’s never any cops out at this time of night.” Or “Go ahead---what’s the worst that can happen?” (Which always precedes something truly terrible.)

But what about bad business advice? What’s the worst advice you’ve even received? Did you take it? (And spend considerable time trying to counter it?) Or did you ignore it?

Here’s how some of the Facebook friends of MarketingProfs answered the question, “What’s the worst marketing advice you ever received?”

“If you build it, they will come.” (Meg, Black Dog Education)

“You don't have to ask [people] what they want.” (Shareena Ali)

“[You] have no competitors for your ‘unique’ product/service.” (Kate Donlon)

“If we make a brochure, we'll increase sales.” (Amanda Brandon)

“Had a client who hired us to do a logo, and then wanted us to put five icons into the logo.” (Adam Kleinberg)

“If you just [advertise], you'll get customers.” (Abnormal Marketing)

“I can get you to page one on Google ... that's all you need.” (Doug Sherwood)

"I'm too busy with project work, so there is no need to market." (Cathy McKay)

“Just have the intern do it.”  (Ann Swanson)

“‘Join Share A Sale’ ---an affiliate program that costs a lot of money and delivers a lot of spam ‘coupon’ sites.” (Steve McNamara)

“A/B testing can wait.” (Marketing Sutra)

“Let us go through and delete all bad reviews on social sites for you ... ” (Signs By Tomorrow)

“We're going to do the same things as our competitors, but we'll do it better.” (Patrick Ifonge)

“Worst advice I ever got was from R&D on a new product launch: Even though we don't have product in the warehouse, go ahead and launch anyway. Production will catch up with inventory before your first orders come in." (Greg Sabala)

“Develop the business and if they are interested THEN we'll send them the proposal.” (Nameer Khan)

Your turn: What's the worst marketing advice you ever received?


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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

image of Megan Leap
Megan Leap is Online Marketing Manager at MarketingProfs, where she develops innovative, high-ROI social media campaigns. Previously, she was Online Marketing Manager at ion interactive, a leading provider of landing page software, where she spearheaded their social media strategy from the ground up. She's also consulted with leading brands on social media strategy and campaign management. Follow her on Twitter @MeganLeap.