Once you begin a new marketing program, it can be hard to remain patient while waiting for results. You may be wondering how long it will take to see an ROI.
It’s a fair question. How long? As in most things, it depends.
Great results are possible, but there can be a gap in timing between reality and expectations.
To set realistic expectations, let’s look at a few industry benchmarks related to the time it takes to see marketing results.
How long will it take for your marketing program to pay out? "The Slog"
Even if your marketing team is doing everything right, it’s easy to feel frustrated and disappointed.
We came across a presentation by Rand Fishkin, founder and former CEO of MOZ and co-founder of Inbound.org, that illustrates this really well.
While Rand developed this visual idea about achieving SEO results, in our experience it applies to achieving ROI from your marketing efforts in general:
In Fishkin's analysis, the time to see ROI for SEO work is roughly six months, and he labels the waiting time “The Delta of Disappointment: Reality vs. Expectations," aka "The Slog."
In our experience, this is similar to building and executing an online marketing program. It takes the right combination of strategy, investment, implementation challenges, and ongoing effort to achieve and maintain results.
What 13,000+ growth-oriented businesses experience
Here's another data point: HubSpot counsels patience during the first 12 months of an inbound marketing program, based on the experience of 13,000+ inbound marketing customers.
Why the wait?
Many factors impact individual business results. In a nutshell, buying behaviors are different in every industry, and it takes time to develop the right marketing foundation, including content, relationships on the social web, data for conversion optimization, and internal capabilities, just to name a few.
Bottom line: Months … or years?!
Big company or small, implementing a new marketing plan to achieve growth goals is a long game. Deciding where to invest, and having the patience to wait for results, is key.
Remember, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” Achieving results takes time and patience; developing the strategy, foundation, capabilities and routines to execute a marketing program allows it to work at its maximum potential.
By the available benchmarks, you should be seeing a path to payout by months 9 to 12, on average. Of course, “your mileage can vary.” Does that timeline surprise you?
Check out three factors that can impact your marketing results timeline and show where to push the throttle for faster results.
Contact us for a Whiteboard Consultation, to learn the fastest route to marketing ROI for your business.
