One of the most important skills you need in marketing is empathy.
This year has certainly given us plenty examples of what being tone deaf—or worse, overtly offensive—can do to your company’s reputation, up to and including completely wrecking it in an instant (see the latest example: CrossFit).
No amount of tools, clever copy, slick design, half-hearted apologies or anything else will fool anyone if the “real you” is blind to or incapable of feeling others’ pain, and unable to appropriately express sympathy and humanity towards them.
As Maya Angelou said so eloquently, “When you know better, you do better.” If you don’t know better, then seek counseling.