If marketing was a magic bullet, I would sell it. I would be rich beyond rich. Unfortunately, there is no magic bullet. There is, however, a recipe that, when followed time after time, will produce results. I know this from growing up in Iowa. No, I did not grow up on a farm, but my parents did and we still have them in our family. Every year I witness the natural rhythm of sowing and reaping. A farmer sows in one season, reaps in another. To this day, I will drive out to the family farms and listen to the corn grow. It’s a fantastic sound and a process that few will understand. Similar to marketing. There is a rhythm. There is a process. You know that you know when you’ve found the right rhythm. Once in place, you nurture it and listen to it grow.

Marketing is an investment. You will reap where you sow. Nothing happens overnight, and nothing happens in an instant. I had a mentor tell me one time, “Liliana, marketing is a process not an event. If you can help your clients understand that, everything will change.”

We had the pleasure of working with a national sporting group for 7 years. They were looking for a way to grow attendance in a market that was hard to crack. The market would suggest the event they were trying to do would work. They had all of the right ingredients for the event, and the market conditions were perfect. However, on their own nothing was happening. When we got the call to help, we were excited. We rolled up our sleeves and went to work. The first year we saw a huge 50% increase. Each year after that we continued to grow the event until it was the largest ticketed event of their season! The biggest compliment came as other similar businesses in town tried to copy the event with no success.

What makes the difference? Strategy. It isn’t enough to have a great idea. It isn’t enough to have the perfect products or solution for the consumer. It requires communication of your message to the right people, at the right place, at the right time. All of marketing is a conversation moving people forward to ask the question you want them to ask, so you can provide the solution they are looking for. Marketing strategy is about creating a demand. Marketing strategy is about making people care when they didn’t know they cared. The right marketing strategy will bring you clients who didn’t know they needed you.