A Trip to the Gym Doesn’t Make You an Athlete
Does a trip to the gym make you an athlete? Or does a well-cooked meal make you a chef? We all know the answers to both of these questions, but why do we often take a different approach professionally - checking in on the greater picture quarterly or just once a year? At Commonstate, we frequently think about short-term gain vs. long-term results in marketing and how we can often forget the forest for the trees. Potentially, sacrificing a greater return tomorrow for today’s win.
The days of purchasing leads, cold emailing prospects, and instantly booking sales calls are over. A new era of marketing is here, and we’re seeing demand generation marketers emerge as companies begin to hire VPs of Growth, Automation Specialists, and Demand Generation Managers - positions unheard of a decade or so ago.
There’s a clear methodology that we’d like to break down at a high level. Whether you think of quality versus quantity, or long-term versus short-term, there are parallels between the two approaches.
When we think of short-term marketing strategies, we think of old-school lead generation tactics, such as:
LinkedIn Lead Gen campaigns targeting generic audiences just to say you got a $30 CPL (cost-per-lead).
Buying leads through third-party content syndication just to increase your MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead) count for reporting.
Launching Google Ads campaigns under one 'All Services' umbrella so you can get immediate traffic.
Purchasing email blasts through third-party companies so you can increase website traffic for one day.
Spending your remaining budget on reach campaigns so you can 'hit' your target budget.
As a daily practice, we try to remind ourselves that usually, long-term is greater than short-term. We believe we should consider this thought process when building out campaigns, conducting reporting meetings with clients, and doing all the nitty-gritty things that come with building a brand (such as writing a blog that may only get read by our mothers, but is SEO rich and a terrific resource for future clients).
Striving for long-term results is how you should approach marketing and demand generation in most situations. Just think, the weight many of us might have gained over the past decade doesn’t come off overnight. These may seem like harsh words, but there’s power in creating consistency, rhythm, and repetition in our foundational marketing strategies. Coming back to the gym, we can all agree that the most important part of working on ourselves is showing up time and time again.
In contrast, here is what long-term marketing strategies can look like:
Building out sophisticated omnichannel marketing campaigns covering the entire customer journey.
Investing in brand awareness and reach campaigns to support your remarketing efforts on Google, LinkedIn, and other channels.
Ungating your content without expecting anything in return.
Growing your email database organically with users who actually want to read your emails.
Sending the right people to your website, but circling back with them 2-3 times through remarketing.
Spending time on your brand, messaging, approach, and strategy; not trying to perfect it overnight.
Focusing on the client experience, real reviews, referrals, and follow-ups. The best indication of what COULD happen online is what IS happening offline. Happy clients are willing to engage, promote, and leave a trail of data for others just like them.
Simply put, play the long game. Marketers and companies who are committed to doing so are shining right now - uncaptivated by the flavor of the month or this week’s social trend. We understand these are tough conversations to have with shareholders, sales managers, and marketing departments. However, Rome was not built overnight and championship teams are formed in the early mornings, late practices, and moments no one’s looking. The future is bright for those who are willing to put in the work. One piece of content, one intentional message, and one follow-through at a time.
