This is vital for any business to know, but even more so when you’re on a tight budget.
The short answer is you can expect to see some uplift after three months, and then you should start to see some real results between six and 12 months.
There are a number of factors that can influence the amount of time it will take to see results which we will explore further in this blog.
When will I actually start to see results from digital marketing?
It’s easy to think that digital marketing will provide instant results. And, in some cases, it can. But it’s very rare.
Digital marketing should be a long-term strategy. If you’re investing and hoping to see instant results, then you will be disappointed. Especially if you’re starting from nothing.
It takes time and effort to build an effective online presence and to start driving leads and sales for your business. It can take a couple of months to get all your digital marketing activity set up. You’ll need to invest in building a website and getting it optimised with the right content. This can take a while, but it’s an essential starting point.
Once the website is up and running, it can take a while for Google to start ranking it.
A timeline of what you can expect
So, roughly when can you expect to start seeing results from your digital marketing activity?
0-3 months
If you’ve planned your digital marketing strategy effectively, the first few months will be building months. You’ll get your website up and running and optimised and start driving traffic to it. You’ll certainly see an uplift on some metrics, but you are going to be spending money without a direct return at this point.
3-6 months
As your website starts to rank and you put your digital marketing strategy into place, it’s likely you’ll start to see some of the results you’re after. You probably won’t be the full way towards your goals, but you’ll be making a start.
As your website ranks and you drive traffic to it, now is the time to make tweaks to ensure that you’re going to hit your goals over the following six to 12 months.
6-12 months
After six months, you should be starting to see some real results trickle in. You should have a lot of your activities refined and should start to break even on your activity.
12+ months
This is when you can expect to start meeting your goals and being able to set new ones. With a full year of data behind you, you’ll be able to account for seasonality, and you should have a good understanding of the activities that are working well and which need further refinement.
So I won’t see results overnight?
No, digital marketing isn’t going to start bringing in sales overnight or instantly. It’s a long-term strategy and investment that builds over time.
If anyone ever tells you they can get instant results for you, it should be a red flag, and you should avoid working with them! Anyone who promises instant results will be making promises they can’t keep and might employ black-hat techniques that can harm your efforts over the long term.
What can impact the speed of your digital marketing results?
Whilst we can provide a rough timeline of when you can expect to start seeing results from digital marketing, it can be influenced by a range of different factors - all of which you should bear in mind.
It can be frustrating while you’re waiting for digital marketing to work, but it will pay dividends if you choose to stick with it.
Your starting point
If you’re starting from nothing with no website and no existing digital marketing activity, it’s going to take you a lot longer to see results than someone who already has a website and has done some groundwork.
When you’ve already made a start, you have some data to work with, so you might start to see results a little bit quicker. Just remember it takes time and work to generate momentum with digital marketing so being consistent and keeping activity running is essential.
Chopping and changing when you don’t see results instantly is only going to slow you down!
Your budget
The amount you intend to spend on digital marketing will determine how quickly you’ll start to see results.
When it comes to digital marketing spend, you’ll usually have two main costs - your ad spend and the cost of any specialists you employ to help you. The more you have to spend, the faster you’ll start to see results. Remember that if you’re targeting a wider area or are in a more competitive market, it’s going to take more spend to catch up.
When you choose to use a specialist such as a freelancer or a digital marketing agency, you can either pay on a monthly retainer with a set number of hours or agreed work delivered. Or, you can pay a larger amount upfront to get you off to a quicker start.
Learn more about how much digital marketing costs for small businesses in our blog.
Your industry
If you’re working in a competitive industry, it will be hard for you to outrank your competitors within just a few months. If you have a good product or service in place, you should slowly be able to start competing with the bigger players, and digital marketing will help you to reach a new audience and convert them into customers.
The amount of knowledge and resources you have
If you understand how digital marketing works and the facets involved, you’ll be in a better position to find the help you need and get started. You will also understand what you’re looking to achieve.
If you don’t understand digital marketing at all, you might want to gain a base knowledge of how it can help you before you make a start. This will help you to develop a better understanding of what your agency or freelancer is doing for you.
The channels you use
When it comes to digital marketing, there are a range of channels you can use. The ones you choose can have an impact on how quickly you’ll see results due to the nature of each of them.
- SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) - SEO is a long-term strategy. You can expect it to take anywhere between three to six months before you start seeing results. And, if you’re in a more competitive market, it can take longer and even more work.
- PPC (Pay-Per-Click) - PPC can start to deliver results in just days and is a shorter-term strategy than SEO. But, you will need to optimise your campaigns for success and refining your strategy and finding something that works can take a few months.
- Content marketing - again, content marketing is a long-term strategy. It can take up to a year to see results from your content efforts but once it starts to work, it will continue to deliver over the long-term.
- Social media - like any other activity, the time frame in which you’ll see results from social media marketing can vary widely. Building a loyal following organically on social media can take months, but you’ll keep this audience for years to come. Paid social advertising can provide much quicker results but will still require optimisation.
The economy
Remember that digital marketing and the success of your business can also be impacted by wider factors.
The economic climate can have a huge impact on the success of your digital marketing campaigns. When consumers are spending and have spare money, it will be much easier to drive them to buy from you than when the economy is experiencing a downturn. You can have a highly effective digital marketing strategy, but it won’t make a difference if there’s no one in the market!
What do we recommend?
Patience! It can often take a while to start seeing results. If you work with an agency or freelancer you can trust, this will help you to be patient. If you’re not working with someone you trust, you’re unlikely to see results, and you will probably want to pull the plug before digital marketing has had its chance to work for your business.
Knowing what you want to achieve and where you’re starting from will help you to get up and running and start to build the foundations of the results you’re looking for.
We offer two digital marketing packages. They’re based on results we’ve driven for small businesses like yours in the past. We’ve found a formula that works, and we want as many small businesses to dip their toes into digital marketing as possible.
These packages will help you to get your strategy off the ground and start driving results for your business.
If you’d like a digital marketing package that works for you, take a look at our exclusive small business digital marketing packages.
