Let’s talk about something I see all the time.
An IT business decides to do some marketing. They run a campaign, maybe post a few things on LinkedIn, and send an email to their database. But after a few weeks of crickets, they get frustrated. No instant pipeline, no big wins, and back it goes into the too-hard basket.
Here’s the thing. Marketing doesn’t work like a quick cash injection. It works like compound interest. You don’t see the payoff on day one, but if you stick with it, the impact builds and eventually starts to snowball.
This is the biggest mindset shift I want MSPs, software vendors, and solution providers to make. The businesses that win aren’t the ones with the flashiest launch campaign. They’re the ones who keep showing up.
It Starts Slow. Then It Builds.
Think about compound interest. You put in small, consistent deposits and let them grow over time. It’s the same with marketing. Each post, blog, campaign, and email might not create leads overnight. But together, they start to build momentum.
At the beginning, it takes effort. Your flywheel is slow to turn. But as the pieces start working together – content, SEO, email, social, nurture – you gain speed. And eventually, your marketing engine becomes self-sustaining.
We see this with our clients all the time. The first couple of months are quiet. But somewhere between month six and twelve months, things click. Web traffic jumps. Leads come in. Referrals increase. The groundwork starts to pay off.
Foundational Marketing vs Revenue Marketing
In the early stages, you’re laying the foundation, building brand awareness, creating visibility, and earning trust. It might not feel like much is happening, but that foundation matters. Over time, your marketing shifts into revenue mode. Now you’re seeing real leads, having better sales conversations, and closing deals that started from content you posted months ago.
Foundational marketing builds the base. Revenue marketing builds the pipeline. Both are necessary. But you only get to the second stage if you stick with the first.
One-Off Campaigns Don’t Cut It Anymore
I’m not saying campaigns don’t matter. They do. But one campaign won’t build your brand. One EDM won’t fill your pipeline. One whitepaper won’t get you noticed.
What works is consistency. Repetition. Creating a rhythm in your marketing that builds trust and keeps you top of mind. If you show up once and disappear, your prospects will too. If you show up regularly with helpful, relevant content, people start to pay attention.
The Marketing Flywheel
Instead of thinking in funnels, we think in flywheels. Attract. Engage. Delight.
Your goal is to keep the wheel turning, not restart it every few months.
When it’s working well, your marketing creates more marketing. Happy clients refer others. Good content gets shared. Traffic and engagement go up without paid promotion. Your flywheel keeps moving and your business keeps growing.
What to Expect When It’s Working
If you stay the course and keep your flywheel turning, you’ll start to see:
- More qualified leads
- Shorter sales cycles
- Increased customer retention
- A predictable, scalable pipeline
It won’t happen overnight. But if you do the work and keep showing up, it will happen.
Want to Build a Marketing Engine, Not Just a Campaign?
At Inception, we help IT businesses move from stop-start marketing to momentum. We create strategies that build over time and deliver real results.
Download our sample 90-day content and campaign calendar to see how we plan, pace, and execute marketing that compounds.