So, you are a business hoping to get some footing in the digital world. Perhaps, you are either new to business or new to internet marketing. Or you may not be new to these worlds, but you want to set up a new product that you want people to know about and appreciate. No matter what the case may be, you go to the internet and you start your campaign. You create a beautiful blog, an alluring image, and a call to action that would make potential clients sweat with anticipation. And then, you wait. You check your analytics to see who has visited your new page. Nothing, yet. A few weeks go by. Not a lot of traffic or none at all. This may not be what you were expecting. Then a question comes to you, “How long does it take to get results from my digital marketing efforts?”
We at MyCity Social have the answers for you. We are an SEO Marketing company serving the businesses of Tampa, FL. Therefore, we know SEO and social media marketing, their benefits, and their challenges. To learn how long it takes to see results from your inbound marketing agency efforts and what affects the time frame, read on.
Breaking Down How Long Inbound Marketing Time frames Take
Short answer: it depends. Now, that answer may not be pleasant. After all, we live in a society of immediate gratification. We want results, and we want them now! Otherwise, we want answers as to when we get those results. However, as with many things, the answer is not that simple. The results vary on many factors. For example:
- Industry – What industry you service can affect how long it takes to see results. If clients do not search for your products or service often, you may not see very quick results. Also, to whom are you marketing?
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- Business-to-Business: Because businesses usually already have the services they’ve decided to use, they may not actively search for new solutions. This means it could take a little longer to see results if you are marketing to other businesses.
- Business-to-Consumer: Consumers, however, are always searching for something. Therefore, you may see faster results when marketing consumer products. Also, if you are dealing with products they already want and understand (like food), you will definitely see faster traffic.
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- Budget – This is another big contributor. How much money you put (or can put) into your marketing efforts will determine how often someone will “see” your content. When you are open to paying for ad space, if anyone searches a term related to your product or service, your ad may show up on the top page. Or, it may show up on someone’s social media account. Either way, you have a better chance of being seen if you pay for views than if you don’t. However, if you plan on using paid ads, you’ll need to budget out how much you’re willing to pay. Paying a little and having consistent advertising is better than paying for one ad campaign only to stop.
- Product Life Cycle – The stage your product or business is in on the product life cycle can also determine the amount of traffic you will get. This will also determine how much of a marketing effort you need to put in. These stages include:
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- The Introduction Stage – In this stage, the public is just becoming aware of your product or service. Therefore, how much demand there is for your service will depend on how new your product is and how much competition you have. Either way, it is important for you to build brand awareness for your product. You may do this with paid ad campaigns.
- The Growth Stage – After putting in the effort during the Introduction Stage, now the public is more aware of your product, and sales may increase. Consumers also come to trust your brand. As you now have a wide audience, you may see increased results in your ad campaigns. With more money and clientele, this is a good time to invest more in your marketing efforts and establish yourself as an authority.
- The Maturity Stage – At this stage, you or your product is established. You face more competition and challenges, so increasing sales is not as easy as before. However, people definitely know who you are. Therefore, when you put an ad campaign, you will see much faster results. You can maintain your authority with online or social media reputation management.
- The Decline Stage – Hopefully, your company will never go through this stage. However, products (unlike companies) are more likely to go through this stage, even with advertising. At this stage, your product “dies.” No one is as interested as before. People are no longer searching for it. Very few of your campaigns regarding a product in this stage will net results.
Actions That Increase Marketing Campaign Results
Now, you may have noticed there were no numbers, yet. That is because, like in algebra, everything is variable. These variables also, sometimes, multiply with one another. So, getting definite answers may seem impossible. However, there are some practices you can employ to increase the speed at which you’ll see results.
- SMART Goals – Even though we cannot use general math to predict your results, you have comprehensive knowledge of your product, company, and current results. With that in mind, you can create goals to determine what you want to achieve and when. S.M.A.R.T. goals are:
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- Specific – Know what you want to obtain. Do you want to increase sales? Increase traffic to your website? Reduce how quickly people bounce away from your blog? What do you want?
- Measurable – Give a specific number to compare your results against. For example, perhaps you want to increase your sales by 30%. If you don’t achieve that number, you can determine why. Or, you can see what actions bring you closer to that goal.
- Attainable – For your level, your industry, your budget, what is realistic for you? Don’t expect the turn-over rate of Amazon, if you are a new business. Also, if your product has not seen a lot of sales, doubling your sales in a short time would not be feasible.
- Relevant – Of course, all your goals should be relevant. If they do not increase sales or solve a business problem, you should leave those goals alone. Also, if a goal is not right for your business size (like having an expensive website), it is probably not relevant. Yet.
- Time-bound – Your goal should have a specific time frame. That way, you can measure what you are doing and how long it took to get there. That way, you can adjust the variables later. If it took you three months to get a 20% increase in sales, you’d know what to adjust to get the same in one or two months.
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- Content Marketing – Having great content is a great way to keep people interested in your product or service. Also, it is great for establishing authority. Companies who blog 20 times a month acquire five times the traffic as those who blog four times a month. Remember, however, your content must be relevant and consistent. Content marketing does not produce immediate results, but it will pay off in time with consistency.
- Social Media Marketing – This can take a lot of time. The reason is that it is difficult to determine which metric to track. Sure, you can measure shares, followers, and likes. However, to see a return on investment will take some time. You can rest assured, though, that increased visibility on social media does increase sales.
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – A topic that goes well with the two above it. As you write your blog and social media pages, making sure you optimize them for maximum visibility will greatly help your marketing efforts. Do they have keywords that clients use in their searches? Do your pages load quickly enough that Google’s algorithms rank them highly in their charts? Is the content you provide relevant? Your search engine ranking will also depend on competition, target audience, meta, and geographic location. All of these serve to answer one question, “How do I make my page, service, or company more highly ranked in the search engines, so I can be found more easily?”
- Pay-Per-Click (PPC) – Often seen as the fastest way to see results, you basically pay social media sites or search engines to post your content where it can be found. However, this greatly depends on your budget and goals. Depending on your research, you may see results immediately, in six months, or in nine months.
Contact Us To Get The Most From Your Marketing Efforts
Because of the many variables that come with marketing, you may realize that optimizing your efforts could take a lot of time and energy. However, we at MyCity Social have specialized in helping companies in the Tampa, FL area maximize their digital marketing results. Whether you need blogs, SEO services, or social media marketing help, we have you covered.
