I have been traveling a lot of rural roads this past week. Right now is when farmers are harvesting their crops. On a rural road, that means a lot of slow moving activity. After following a piece of farm machinery down a winding road at 20 mph for what seemed like forever, I began to think about farming and marketing. Seeing I had a lot of time to ponder all of this, I let my mind wander into what had transpired to get the farmer to the harvest. Maybe the smell of whatever they were hauling up in front of me was getting to me, but I found there to be several truths in the world of farming that parallel marketing.

Planting has to happen prior to any growth

If you want to get to the harvest, you have to plant when the season is right. The same could be said about sales and marketing. If sales are your harvest, you have to first market what you are selling in your customer's springtime. This is the season when your potential customers are receptive to your marketing message, just like the soil has to be ready for the seeds the farmer plants. If the soil has not been tilled, or it’s too cold or wet or any other condition that can impact the readiness of the soil, it is not time to plant. On the flip side of things, there are seasons when the time is right to market to your customers. Don’t let it slip by.

Planting does not guarantee a successful harvest, but not planting guarantees certain failure

Does marketing guarantee sales will happen? I get that question a lot and the answer is no. There are no guarantees with marketing because you are working with people who have opinions, emotions and ulterior motives. However, I can guarantee one thing about marketing: if you don’t do it, you will fail when it comes to sales. Much like you would never expect to harvest any crops if you had not planted any seeds, stopping all marketing activities is akin to skipping the planting process.

There are crucial moments in the life cycle of crops where something needs to happen to grow to the next stage

If the temperature does not rise to a certain point, seeds will not germinate and grow. If it doesn’t rain during the early development of plants, they die. If pollination doesn’t happen at a critical time, the production of grain is stunted. The same can be said of marketing. There are critical moments where a customer has to take the next step. A potential client becomes aware of your brand. They show some interest and want more information. They inquire about quality and price. They compare your offerings to your competition. They decide to make a purchase. All of these steps are critical transition points in moving a customer closer to a sale. Marketing has to help them make these transitions. It is important to recognize these transition points just like a farmer understands the crucial moments in the life cycle of his crops.

Harvest does not happen right after planting

For all you "have to have it now” freaks, understand that marketing takes time to work. Just like seeds need time to grow into plants, which need time to produce grain, which need time to mature before you ever get to the harvest, so marketing needs time to work before you can make a sale. Awareness marketing lets the customer learn about your brands before you try to sell them anything. That is the focus of much of content marketing. No one wants to buy from you until they are convinced your brand is good. Then they will be ready to transition to first time sales marketing. Marketing requires patience, just like planting seeds. Now when it is time to make a sale, get to the harvest. Marketing should push for the sale when the time is right. The trick is knowing what season you are in with your customers.

So as you experience the harvesting of crops, think about your marketing. What are the steps you are taking to get your customers to the point they are ready to buy from you? There’s a lot you can learn about marketing from a farmer.