Some days, it doesn’t seem like we have time to drink the recommended eight glasses of water, let alone wait around for the return on investment of a new campaign strategy. In the communications industry, patience truly is a virtue. While we continue to find ways to make our work more efficient, sometimes, like in the case of launching a new branding strategy, patience is the best course of action, especially in situations where we are experimenting with a new tactic.
Marketing and PR isn’t a hard science like math- answers aren’t yes or no. It’s an industry where we must have patience to continuously evaluate and reevaluate our progress to address the changing needs of our communities. Having the patience to analyze, regroup, and restructure our approach helps us create more effective and long-lasting campaigns.
For example, when we’re building out social platforms for a new client, it takes time to build trust, reliability, and strong relationships. Building a community following, one that is truly engaged in the content takes time and patience. Likewise, crafting an exceptional campaign begins with market research before moving on to deliverables, and by following up with an analysis or debrief when the campaign concludes. By investing the time and being patient, you’ll give each aspect of your campaign the due diligence it deserves, often leading to stronger, more positive results.
Here’s the bottom line- effective campaigns don’t happen overnight. Branding, marketing, and the fruitful effects of public relations, should not be confused with guerilla sales strategies. Marketing and sales blitzes are two very different animals. Marketing is the marathon – the positive effects such as increased trust, strengthened relationships, and reinforced credibility happen over time. And while it’s enticing to try to speed up the process, as the adage goes- good things come to those who wait.