The doomed 3-month sprint

A recipe for failure?

In any marketing process whether it is SEO, PPC or Social Media Marketing, time is of the essence. The correct steps need to be taken in the right time for everything to work harmoniously, and most importantly profitably.

These timelines vary depending on a numbed of different factors:

• the service you choose to work with
• the size of the business
• the industry
• the company’s age
• past history of marketing activity
• the targets that have been set

The Stages

1. Research

   This quite often looked-over but extremely important stage allows the agency to familiarise itself with the product or service. In addition it is always very valuable to get a good overview perspective over the competition.

2. Strategy

   Another critical step that is often sacrificed in the name of urgency. Creating a strategy based on good research and competition analysis is vital for the appropriate direction, execution and end-result of any marketing campaign.

3. Execution

   Following on from strategy execution has to be precise and well-thought without costly errors that can damage consumer confidence. After all, everything we do is for the consumer. The metrics collected from this stage form an integral part of the account optimisation.

4. Optimisation

   The final stage requires the ability to collect, record and analyse data collected through the marketing process, which ultimately leads to the highest return on investment.

Results

What always matters most in a marketing campaign are the results that are produced from it and every company seeks to find some form of return for their marketing spend. But for results to come across in most cases in now saturated markets, takes time. And this time is dedicated to certain stages. As the time needed depending on a variety of factors, it is impossible to pinpoint an exact time for when results should be expected. It could be 6 months, it could be 12 months, in extreme cases of well-funded angel projects it could be 2 years. In some cases for some of the largest US companies it took over 10 years to reach profitability.

Surely, not everyone has the budgets to play the long game, but 3 months is a terribly short time to expect results that will change the business. And yet again, this is due to a variety of factors:

• It can take up to one month sometimes to sort out all the access required
• It can take up to two months to install proper and full tracking of all goals
• It can take 1-3 months to complete the research and strategy stage, that so many ignore to their campaigns detriment

Conclusion

 

Investing in online marketing has become a medium-term rather than a short-term affair. This is due to the market saturation across many industries and the constant fight for the top 10 in search engines and increased visibility in social media. Agencies need more time to deliver what might have been a 3-month project back in 2003, but not anymore.

Those who persevere are rewarded with:

1. Reduced marketing costs
2. Consistent growth
3. Sustainable business model
4. Peace of mind

Everything is possible, it’s just that it takes a little time 🙂