We have seen it before.
A business owner decides it is finally time to start marketing. They have been relying on word of mouth, repeat customers, referrals, or simply hoping people find them. However, inevitably their funnel runs dry.
So they make the investment and start marketing.
The website is updated, the ads are launched, their social media starts getting active. Then comes the question we hear way too often:
“So…where are all the leads?”
We understand it. You are investing your hard-earned money into marketing, so you want to see something come from it. Every dollar you put into investing in your business is another dollar that doesn’t come home with you to pay your bills, put food on the table, or go on that vacation you deserve!
However, the reality is that if business is needed now, then the best time to have started your marketing was 6 months ago.
There are a lot of things that have to happen before marketing becomes a consistent source of business. Understanding that process from the beginning can save you a lot of frustration and worry.
Marketing rarely produces consistent results overnight. SEO, PPC campaigns, social media, content marketing, and brand awareness all work on different timelines. For most businesses, sustainable lead generation requires consistent investment, testing, and optimization over time.
People Can’t Buy From a Business They Don’t Know Exists
Marketing does not need to be complicated.
People simply need to know you exist.
You could have the best product in your industry. You could provide the best service in town. You could have the friendliest staff, the best prices, and a five-star reputation. But if someone has never heard of you, how are they supposed to become a customer?
One of the first jobs of marketing is getting your name in front of people and making it familiar.
Think about it as a consumer for a second. There are probably companies you have never done business with, but you know exactly who they are. You’ve seen their name, you know their logo, you might even remember their jingle!
You may have never needed their product or service before. But when you do need them, there is a good chance their name will come to mind.
That is textbook marketing doing its job!
Especially for a small business, building that familiarity is incredibly important. Before someone can choose you, they have to know you. Before they can trust you, they have to become comfortable with your brand.
The Right Person. The Right Message. The Right Time.
Just because someone now knows your business exists, it does not mean they will automatically turn into a lead.
Different marketing strategies also work on different timelines. A PPC campaign can begin generating traffic and opportunities practically right away, while SEO / GEO, content marketing, and social media typically require more time to gain momentum.
That doesn’t mean one is working and another isn’t. They simply play different roles in building a consistent pipeline of new business. They are meant to work in tandem, but at their own pace. Together, these strategies help build the well-rounded online presence businesses need today to stay visible, relevant, and competitive.
You need the right person, the right message, at the right time.
Let’s say you own a plumbing company, and we run an ad that gets in front of 10,000 people. Great! Now 10,000 people have seen your business.
What if none of those people needs a plumber today? Did the marketing fail? By no means!
Maybe six months from now, one of those people wakes up to a flooded basement. Guess who they might remember? The plumber whose name they have never heard? Or the plumber whose name they have seen over and over again?
Marketing is about putting your business in front of the right people so that when the need eventually comes up, you have a seat at the table.
We Don’t Have Magic Pixie Dust
A good marketing agency can help you avoid expensive mistakes and identify opportunities. Through strategies like SEO, PPC campaigns, social media, and content marketing, we can put your business in front of the right audiences. We can improve your messaging, analyze the results, and make adjustments based on what the data tells us.
One thing we can’t do is control the market. We cannot force someone to need your service. We cannot force someone to choose you.
We cannot make guarantees on how many leads you will get within a certain timeframe. Anyone who tells you otherwise should probably make you a little nervous.
We don’t have a bottle of marketing pixie dust that we could sprinkle on your business and suddenly have 100 new customers calling tomorrow. If we did, the entire world would know the name Indigo Business Solutions!
What we do have is experience, expertise, strategy, creativity, data, and a whole lot of time spent figuring out what actually works.
You Need a Boat Before You Can Go Fishing
One of our favorite analogies to explain marketing is this:
“You need a boat before you can go fishing”.
In other words, you need a foundation before you can reel in leads. Matt, our Director of Client Services, covered the full analogy in a previous blog post, but it fits especially well here when talking about setting realistic expectations for your marketing.
When you first start marketing, you are building the boat.
You are building brand awareness. You are establishing your messaging. You are figuring out your audience. You are creating consistency. You are collecting data. You are learning what gets people’s attention and what makes them take action.
Find a Marketing Partner You Can Trust
When you start working with a marketing agency, you need to trust the people on the other side of the table. You need someone who will tell you the truth, not just what you want to hear.
A good marketing partner should be confident in their ability, but they should also be honest about what they cannot control. They should be able to explain what they are doing, why they are doing it, what the expectations are, and how you are going to measure progress.
Most importantly, they should be willing to build the strategy with you instead of making promises they cannot keep.
If you’re ready to invest in your marketing and want a partner who will be honest about what it takes to get results, call me. I’m ready to help you build a strategy that makes sense for your business, your goals, and your budget, and most importantly, gets real results.
