Four Reasons Effective Marketing Strategies Require Patience

When you have the right ingredients: a valuable service or product, a solid team, and a well-crafted marketing strategy, there can be a strong desire to ‘jump-start’ further success. Adjusting your marketing strategy can seem like a good option, particularly when other elements that fuel business success, like product or team development, require time.

However, turning to marketing to accelerate growth can cause more damage than benefits. The most effective marketing strategies require time and patience.

Slow Down for Effective Marketing

For new and growing companies, executing an effective marketing strategy can be challenging. Assuming a seasoned, knowledgeable marketing team is in place, one of the biggest drivers behind this struggle boils down to impatience.

Be it at the leadership or staff level — or both — the inability to commit to a marketing strategy and see it through can delay or derail the success of a business venture.

Let’s look at four key reasons why you should slow down the next time you’re tempted to alter your marketing strategy.

Results Cannot Be Rushed

Regardless of the business, you need to establish a sound and effective marketing strategy. It should include time for evaluation based on pre-defined performance metrics, as well as provisions for redirection if needed.

For example, if you were launching a blog, it would take time for the site to develop a reputation for sound content, gain traffic, and ultimately track well in search results. No amount of marketing can speed things up in a way that is substantive and long-lasting.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you should continue to devote resources and time to a marketing strategy that underperforms. Be patient, but be prepared to pivot if and when needed. After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Limited Data Yields Limited Perspective

It can be frustrating when a marketing initiative doesn’t net explosive results immediately. However, discarding or dramatically altering a marketing strategy too soon can be as unwise as abandoning a product or service too hastily.

For example, the failure of a single promoted social media post cannot be applied to the marketing tactic as a whole. Of course, it makes sense to discuss why that promoted post didn’t perform as expected. The tactic may warrant further testing. But ‘throwing the baby out with the bathwater’ is never the best approach.

New Does Not Always Equal Better

Many of us, regardless of discipline, have been trained to equate ‘new’ with ‘better.’ Marketers are not immune to this thinking, and while keeping up to date on the latest opportunities is an important part of every marketer’s job, acting on the ‘latest and greatest’ may not always be the best approach for an existing marketing strategy.

For example, when TikTok was launched, it was mostly popular with younger demographics. However, as the platform grew and its demographic appeal widened, many companies became interested in leveraging it.

The problem with the rush to leverage TikTok was two-fold:

• Not every company’s target demographics were on the platform, and they may not be interested in marketing content, even if they were.
• The most popular content on the platform would not necessarily align with every company’s brand integrity and may even harm it.

It is important to be aware of the latest opportunities. But before embracing any new tactic, ask yourself whether it’s right for your brand, your customer base, and your broader marketing strategy.

Pivots Require Balance

Ask any basketball player, running back, or dancer, and they’ll tell you the same: quick, sharp turns require appropriate footing and center of gravity to avoid embarrassment or injury. Implementing major adjustments to your marketing strategy demands a similar balance.

The most successful marketing strategies are holistic. For example, social media is not a siloed activity but one component of a larger strategy. It’s one part of an integrated plan to raise awareness of your brand, increase traffic across your digital properties, and ultimately drive sales. This type of integration means that changing one element of your marketing efforts may have unintended consequences across your larger strategy that could be detrimental to your progress and your brand.

When considering a pivot, incorporate all stakeholders in the conversation and carefully consider all factors at play before making any changes. Facilitating these conversations and obtaining everyone’s buy-in will take time, of course.

Patience Pays Dividends

A lot of work goes into crafting a marketing strategy and seeing it through in a deliberate manner. If you are not patient with your team, you will force them to adapt the strategy to your demands. This can backfire and lead to inconsistent brand visibility, recognition, and authority. Your impatience may even drive some to quit.

Remember, you have taken the time to assemble a marketing team of professionals. You have trusted them with your strategy. Now, you need to give them the time and space to deliver.

We think you’ll also like:

1. 6 Tips for Building a Better Marketing Team
2. 19 Questions You Need to Ask to Build a Killer Marketing Strategy
3. Online Marketing Orientation for Entrepreneurs Series 

[Editors’ Note: To learn more about this and related topics, you may want to attend the following on-demand webinars (which you can view at your leisure, and each includes a comprehensive customer PowerPoint about the topic):

1. The Start-Up/Small Business Advisor Series
2. Which Marketing Channels Should You Use and Why?
3. You’re Ready to Start Marketing. Now What?

This is an updated version of an article originally published on August 31, 2022.]

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