Over on the Duct Tape Marketing blog, John answers the question – "How long should it take for my marketing to work". You probably aren’t going to like the answer, but you should read it anyway. As John states – "…marketing is not an event, it’s a business long practice. "
Building your marketing system takes time and effort. It’s easy to become impatient and try to jump straight to tactics or what John calls the "marketing idea of the week syndrome". But jumping straight to tactics generally turns out to be more expensive and less successful for the following reasons:
- If you jump straight to tactics without first defining your strategy (target market + core difference) you have to take a "shotgun" approach to marketing by trying to reach as many people as possible and hoping that the right person sees it.
- If you take the shotgun approach, you spend more time responding to non-qualified leads.
- Without a well developed marketing strategy, you are more likely to end up competing based on price – rarely a good idea for the small business.
- Without a system, it is difficult (impossible?) to track what works, what doesn’t and the effect of minor adjustments to your tactics.
- Without a system, marketing seems like an insurmountable task which leads to procrastination.
That’s not an all-inclusive list, but you get the idea. Make it easier on yourself – take the systematic approach.
