I have been thinking about a marketing flywheel metaphor, inspired by Jim Collin’s landmark book, Good to Great. In it, he writes about the Flywheel Effect.
The Flywheel effect is a concept developed in the book Good to Great. No matter how dramatic the end result, good-to-great transformations never happen in one fell swoop. In building a great company or social sector enterprise, there is no single defining action, no grand program, no one killer innovation, no solitary lucky break, no miracle moment. Rather, the process resembles relentlessly pushing a giant, heavy flywheel, turn upon turn, building momentum until a point of breakthrough, and beyond.
Marketing activities reflect this concept of the flywheel. You can think of a flywheel like a giant Ferris wheel without a motor.
You push hard in the beginning to get a little bit of movement. Then you push harder to get a little more movement. Team members get in place and help you apply more pressure. Then, you try to push with different sticks and levers to nudge the flywheel forward.
Slowly it moves. And the flywheel makes a revolution.
Then, it gets a little easier to turn the flywheel.
Eventually, it is picking up speed and moving along faster and faster.
Marketing Flywheel
What caused the flywheel to move? That’s like asking, what piece of the marketing made the project/business work? Was it a promotion, an advertisement, the sampling, the color, the influencers, etc.
Attribution is difficult to assign. What tactic got things moving? Which investment pushed the effort forward to help it pick up speed? It is hard to know what marketing activity turns a marketing flywheel and gets it moving forward, faster, and faster.
But, one thing must always be present, persistence. Stop pushing, and the marketing flywheel isn’t going to turn on its own.
Does your business need a marketing coach, guide, or sherpa? Are you generating enough leads? Is your marketing underperforming? I can help.
You can set up a time to chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Our initial conversation is free. You talk, I listen. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com or call me. 919 720 0995. Visit my website at www.themarketingsage.com Let’s explore working together today.
Photo by Cami Talpone on Unsplash
