Can Growth Always Be Accelerated?

Modern marketing is built around the idea that almost everything can be improved through optimisation. Spend can be reallocated, conversion can be increased and customer journeys can be made more efficient. That mindset is useful, but it can create an unrealistic expectation that growth should always respond immediately to intervention.

Some forms of growth simply take time. Brand preference, category understanding, customer trust and pricing power are built through repeated exposure and consistent experience. They rarely move at the same speed as paid acquisition or conversion rates.

The danger for CMOs is applying short term expectations to long term assets. When every investment is required to demonstrate an immediate return, organisations naturally favour activity that produces visible results quickly, even when slower investments may create more enduring value.

Know what can be accelerated

Some marketing problems respond well to optimisation. A weak landing page can be improved, an inefficient media plan can be corrected and a poorly performing customer journey can be redesigned. There is little value in being patient with something that is simply not working.

Other investments behave differently. Entering a new market, changing brand perceptions or creating demand for a new category may require sustained investment before the commercial return becomes clear. Attempting to accelerate these processes too aggressively can lead to constant changes in strategy before the original strategy has had time to work.

The CMO therefore needs to understand the natural time horizon of each investment. Good capital allocation is not only about deciding where to spend. It is also about knowing how long an investment deserves before it is judged.

Patience is a commercial decision (& sometimes strategic)

Patience should not be confused with a lack of accountability. Long term investments still require evidence, clear objectives and disciplined review. The difference is that they should be measured against outcomes appropriate to their stage of development.

This is where senior marketing judgement becomes important. Data can show what has happened so far, but it cannot always tell an organisation whether to continue with conviction or change direction. That decision requires an understanding of markets, customers and the economics of the business.

The best CMOs therefore know when to accelerate and when to allow something valuable to compound. In a business environment obsessed with speed, the ability to recognise which growth cannot be rushed can itself become an advantage.