Marketing is a workout, not a quick fix
By Nikki Dunbar, director, Nix Collective.
If I had a pound for every time someone asked me, ‘How long will it take for the marketing to work?’
It’s a fair question – and an understandable one. When you’ve invested money, time, and trust into a campaign, you want to see results. But here’s the thing: marketing isn’t magic. It’s not a pill you pop and wake up with a queue of customers. It’s a workout plan. A proper one. With sweat, consistency, and the occasional ‘why am I doing this again?’ moment.
You can’t expect to do one set of squats and walk out with quads of steel. And you can’t expect one social post, one email, or one ad campaign to transform your pipeline overnight.
Let’s be honest, everyone wants six-pack results with sofa-level effort. We’ve all seen it – the marketing equivalent of the January gym rush. The new website launches, the flurry of social media activity, maybe even a Google Ads sprint, and then… silence.
Three weeks later, someone says, ‘We’ve not had any leads yet – does this even work?’
That’s like cancelling your gym membership in February. The truth is, results grow. Every post, every newsletter, every brand recognition is another rep. You don’t see it immediately, but you’re building strength, stamina, and recognition behind the scenes.
Marketing momentum
The best brands in this industry didn’t appear out of nowhere. They built their visibility and reputation by showing up – consistently. Every. Single. Week.
They nurtured their audience, refined their message, and earned trust over time. It’s exactly like training: some days you smash a PB, other days you’re just getting through the reps. But every session counts.
So when someone asks me, “How long before we see results?”, my answer is always: You’ll start to feel it before you see it.
When the calls get warmer. When customers already know your name before you’ve introduced yourself. When you’re being tagged in conversations you didn’t start. That’s when you know the muscle’s forming.
Shortcuts don’t work
Here’s another truth that might sting slightly: throwing money at ads without a strategy is like buying an expensive treadmill and using it as a clothes rack.
Quick fixes rarely stick. Yes, a high-impact campaign can give you a burst – just like a pre-workout buzz – but sustainable growth needs discipline. It’s about showing up even when it feels like nothing’s happening.
That means keeping up your blog when engagement is slow. Posting on social media even when it feels like no one’s listening. Sending your newsletter because you promised to be consistent – not because it’s convenient. Those are the reps that matter.
Just like the gym, marketing is personal. Some brands see quick results; others take longer to build endurance. It depends on where you’re starting from, what shape your brand is in, and how committed you are to the plan.
But the formula is the same: Consistency + quality + time = results. There’s no magic formula that replaces that.
You don’t get stronger by doing one workout. You get stronger by showing up, again and again. The same applies to your brand presence. You won’t build trust, awareness, or loyalty by dipping in and out. You’ve got to train it – even when it hurts, even when it’s raining, even when your LinkedIn post only gets five likes.
Patience pays off
If you take anything from this column, it’s this: marketing works. But not if you give up just before it does.
Be patient. Be consistent. Track your progress. Celebrate the small wins. And keep showing up, because that’s how you build real, long-term brand strength.
Results will come – not as a miracle, but as muscle memory.