I have worked in technology/software businesses for many years and over the last 3 years, as a Marketing Consultant/Part-time Marketing Director. Something that occurred to me today, is that marketing takes time. It really does. People often think they need to do a quick campaign and the results will show instantly – or hire someone and get an instant result, else they are fired.
They may get an instant result in some types of businesses, but in my experience, it has taken time – Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a classic example of this – as I learned from an SEO expert. You don’t go from page 15 to 1 in weeks – even months. So be patient. Measure what you do absolutely and come back and look at it after a period of time, but don’t give up or judge immediately. If after a while, something doesn’t work, then it is right to assess your plan, as much of this can be trial and error. Here are some examples of mine of marketing – taking time:
- In a company I worked in full-time prior to being freelance, I started working there to launch a new product, which was in the early adopter phase of the product lifecyle. We had a lot of sales people behind us, to help push the product etc. And I became impatient that we weren’t selling as much as I would like. But the CEO wisely said that these things do take time. It didn’t happen overnight and required a lot of determination and training, support etc for sales. But it happened.
- More recently in my own case with SEO. I started out and set up my website, thinking there are lots of marketing consultants out there, so I will struggle to get to page 1 or even 2, but I localised and made my SEO locally relevant. And at the day of writing (these things on google change by the day), I come up on page 1 for key terms that people will search on. That has taken time.
- And a third recent example, is with one of the companies I work with. We started sending out simple emails -with a blog and other content. We didn’t necessarily get instant replies to the emails. But over time, those contacts are choosing to get in touch and the sales process has re-commenced.
Patience. It really is a virtue. Along with determination to keep trying different ways, different angles until you get the results. Patience and tenacity.
