It seems everyone is in a hurry these days. With all of the technology we have at our fingertips, allowing us to do everything fast, we now want that same speed when it comes to our marketing. After all, if you can communicate instantly with someone on the other side of the world via instant messenger services, why shouldn't you be able to get instantaneous results from your marketing?
And, lately, this is the question I been getting a lot from business owners. To answer that question, there are some forms of marketing where you can get almost instantaneous results. Take pay-per-click advertising for example. You can pay to put an ad up on Google, you can have that ad on the first page of the search results for your specific keywords within 10-15 minutes, and you will be able to track your results in real time.
You'll be able to see if people are clicking on your ad, and of those people you'll be able to see who is buying. And you can fine-tune your ads, and your landing page sales copy to constantly improve your results. That's pretty quick results. And that's one of the reasons I love the Internet. Because you know pretty quickly whether or not what you are doing is working.
It's pretty much the same for direct marketing, but it usually costs more.
Other forms of marketing take the slow and steady approach. Things like Article Marketing, Public Relations and Advertising can do a lot to establish your business and generate awareness, but the results may come a bit more slowly.
I suggest you include a mix of "fast" and "slow" marketing tools in your marketing plan. After over 20 years in marketing, it's still the most effective way to build long-term results and a business that can stand the test of time.