One of the most common questions clients ask is, “How long does content marketing take to work?” As we live in a fast-paced world, people expect to see results as soon as possible, but when it comes to digital marketing, it’s important to not set false expectations for how quickly you’ll see the results you’re striving for– remember, all good things take time!
As you begin reaching your target audience, results will vary depending on what aspects of your marketing strategy you’re looking at. Some tactics may need more time to build and others may take less to kick-start. Below, we’ve provided a few insights into timely results for some of the most popular digital marketing aspects to help provide context for your marketing efforts and hopefully reduce stress and uncertainty as you look to measure success.
SOCIAL MEDIA
The amount of time you start seeing social media deliver results correlates directly to where you are in terms of social media presence. If you’re starting from scratch and creating a brand-new account, the biggest hurdle in the beginning will be building your audience from nothing. Therefore, your primary focus should be gaining followers through brand awareness and engagement campaigns. This process typically takes around 3 months or more to get a good enough following to really provoke engagement.
If you’ve already built a good social media presence and decent following (or whenever you reach that point), we would recommend implementing a highly intentional, pre-planned 6 month social media strategy to ensure all posts are consistent with your brand image, communicates the right tone, and ultimately targets your audience with quality content that they can engage with.
All in all, beginning from scratch, it will likely take 6-9 months for your organic social media marketing to produce consistent results. Don’t give up if marketing efforts haven’t picked up in a couple of months. Patience is key if you want to build a good page with a good following and quality content that has a clear and concise brand image and voice.
GOOGLE ADS
If you’re after quick results, Google ads are a better option when considering the investment-results ratio in the short term. Campaigns can be set up to start targeting the demographics that you have supplied to your brand’s chosen keywords immediately– possibly creating an increase in traffic to your website in a matter of hours.
However, like everything else, you will still need to allow time for trial and error. Although Google ad campaigns start to work immediately, they will need to go through a “learning” stage. This will allow for a greater understanding of how to better reach your target audience and effectively maximize your budget. The learning stage is an ongoing process of adapting and improving campaigns based on analytics. By continuously searching for ways to improve, your business can keep its competitive edge and continue to exceed the competition.
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
Out of all digital marketing aspects, SEO is a long-term strategy that will require the most patience but is also one of the most effective. SEO requires ongoing work to ensure that your website is optimally formatted and superior to your competitors.
Search Engines need time to assess any alterations made to your website, even if the changes are for the better. It may seem like too much time is being invested into SEO without seeing significant improvements to your rankings; however, all changes are being built towards growth and maximized coverage in the long run.
Ultimately, it could take 8-9 months to see your on and off-site SEO efforts result in the rankings you are looking for. Depending on your starting position, it may even be a year before you reach the first page for your top keywords, but always remember, good things come to those who wait! In the end, though SEO carries the longest timeframe for successful implementation, the foundation you are building is a sturdy, long-lasting one.
How do you get your message in front of the right audience effectively? How do you boost visibility and increase sales while sustaining a profit? These are important questions you must consider when growing your business. With so many companies vying for consumer’s attention on social media, Google, and more, it’s easy to see how businesses lose sight of the path they need to take– that’s what we’re here for.
GriffinWink has decades of experience in all forms of media, both traditional and digital, and our team provides unmatched dedication and success in all that we do.
We understand that media strategy, buying, and placing is a science. Like any science, we start with a question, “Who is our client, and what do they need in the market they occupy?” From there, we will create a direction for your business that will maximize your ROI and achieve digital success.
Ready to ramp up your marketing efforts? Reach out to us or visit our website and discover the endless opportunities we can create for your business.