You’ve seen the LinkedIn posts: “Be consistent and patient when posting; leads will come.” But rarely do they explain why consistency matters. For a profession that promotes evidence-based strategies, I wanted to add the evidence to the marketing and give you confidence as to why patience and consistency aren’t just good practice; they’re essential for effective marketing.
These fundamental concepts will also underpin and help you develop your marketing strategy.
You can’t create demand
Marketing can nudge someone already considering a purchase, but it can’t create intent from nothing. It can’t make them act unless they’re on the path to the decision themselves. This is crucial to understand.
Patience and consistency aren’t just good practice; they’re essential for effective marketing
Consider your own experience. Most people don’t act the instant they see an advertising message. But over time, repetition builds familiarity, and familiarity builds preference.
A personal example: I convinced myself, aided by Instagram inundating me with ads and posts on the benefits of running, that I needed new running shoes. It created a sense of urgency and ensured a small set of brands rose to the top of my mind. When I deleted Instagram, the urgency vanished.
Instagram couldn’t force my decision, but it nudged me towards it and shaped the brands I was considering had I gone through with it.
This is what you’re trying to replicate with your LinkedIn posting. Not to convert on the spot, but to ensure the benefits of advice, your advice, are visible when someone is ready.
Understanding this reinforces the need for patience when posting. It brings us to the question: if we can’t create demand, how much demand is there already?
Only 5% are ready for advice
At any one time, 95% of your target market are not actively looking for your advice.
No market is ever fully “in-market”. This headline finding comes from a paper, Advertising Effectiveness and the 95:5 Rule, by Professor J Dawes, Ehrenberg-Bass Institute (2021).
The rule changes on the frequency of purchasing the product or service. Items purchased more frequently (e.g. coffee) tend to have a higher proportion in market at any one time. Infrequent purchase – like financial advice – has less demand. Think 40% for coffee and nearer 5% for advice.
Even when you factor in switching behaviour, the number remains low. Investec (2024) reports 25% of advised clients plan to switch within a year. This equates to a potential 125,000 of existing advised clients looking to switch adviser at any one time. Just 8% of the advised market.
The rest? They’re not ready. Not interested. Not yours – yet.
The advice gap isn’t the real problem
This is why consistency and patience are required. You may be marketing to your whole target market, but it’s unlikely they all need you at that one moment. Your job is to ensure you’re remembered when they enter the 5% from the 95%.
If you’re unknown, you have a 10% chance
When they do enter the 5%, being top of mind matters, and it relates to consistency of your posting.
It’s important because 80-90% of purchasers already have a list of preferred vendors – a consideration set – when they start their research phase. 90% go on to select a provider from that list.
As John Dawes puts it: “People don’t always buy the best product, they buy the best product they know.”
Research shows that most people have a consideration set of between two to five providers in their head with the number varying by product type. For financial services, it drops to 1.4.
So, if you’re not already in the picture, you’re not getting a look-in.
Most people don’t act the instant they see an advertising message. But over time, repetition builds familiarity, and familiarity builds preference
That’s why consistency in messaging is crucial. You need to ensure that you’re top of mind and in potential clients’ consideration set for when the time comes.
Marketing makes you memorable, and memory is what gets you shortlisted.
Consistency creates opportunity
Hopefully all this evidence gives you the confidence to keep posting and showing up.
These principles aren’t exclusive to social media. They’re true for newsletters, seminars, events and even your shopfront. Marketing is about consistently communicating your brand and your value, and having the patience to let it sink in.
In that sense, marketing is much like the advice you give your clients: the payoff rarely comes in the moment of delivery; it’s an investment for your future self.
Harry Webster is head of marketing at P1 Investment Services