Damage control was on the agenda at Dreamforce this afternoon. In every industry, including B2B marketing and social media, slip-ups are bound to happen. We are only human, after all. It’s how you respond to errors that makes all the difference.

Below are some tips from Shany Seawright, managing director and partner at Strategic Communications Group, on bouncing back from marketing mistakes:

“No one deliberately goes into the day thinking, ‘today is the day that I’m going to screw up!’ At least no one I know behaves in this manner. And yet we all make mistakes,” said Seawright.

“You get the feeling in the pit of your stomach and the dread builds. You may have missed a deadline, or sent out the wrong tweet, or started a conversation on social that you can no longer control and your client now wants answers. So what should you do? Its time to go into crisis mode:”

“First, take personal responsibility for the mistake. If you try to ignore the issue, sidestep it, or talk your way out of it, the outcome will be a negative one. Instead, be honest, own up to it, and move on.”

“Once you’ve owned up to your mistake, try to understand the full scope of the issue and create a plan to fix it. This might require leveraging other resources with more expertise that can guide you through the process, share best practices and tips to help you solve the problem.”

“Finally, monitor activity against the plan you’ve created and report back. Whether it is a client, or your supervisor, you need to remain accountable for any actions you’ve made to remedy the situation. Be proactive and show results.”