I’ve been reading Malcolm Gladwell’s Revenge of the Tipping Point, a rather dark hearted return to the book that made him a household name. It was a far more innocent me who read The Tipping Point and was rather taken with a concept of marketing that emerged from it.
In Gladwell’s first book he discusses how small, seemingly insignificant events or actions can lead to dramatic shifts in outcomes. In marketing, that suggests that a product, idea, or message reaches a tipping point when it spreads rapidly after gaining enough momentum.
Key factors include connectors (influential people), mavens (knowledgeable individuals), and salespeople (persuasive figures). Understanding and leveraging these human dynamics would switch a marketing effort suddenly from slow growth into a viral success.
Older and wiser me would put it down to a simpler group of laws: success makes future success easier (compounding); advocates matter (fans); and your long journey will always look to someone like an overnight success (inflection). You can even say that compounding x fans = inflection.
Marketing isn’t a vending machine where you pay your campaign in, and tasty customers drop into your slot to be grabbed. Regrettably, endless talk of funnels has led some business leaders to expect that it is.
But it’s also not a slot machine where you either win or lose and your campaign either delivers X number of leads or is wasted. Everything you do in marketing has an effect—often one you can’t see right away.
The real value comes from the long game, where every action compounds until you hit a (ahem) tipping point, and suddenly, your brand is the one everyone knows.
Welcome to the world of unintended consequences—where marketing decisions today lead to surprising (and often brilliant) results tomorrow.
The Myth of the Marketing Machine
Some founders (and CROs) believe marketing is a machine: insert budget, get leads. But real marketing runs deeper. The best results happen slowly, as your brand takes root in customers’ minds. You don’t see instant results because trust and recognition take time to build. Over time, you become the thing people think of when they need your product. That’s the tipping point, where your long-term efforts compound, and growth takes off.
There’s a classic debate: brand building or lead generation? It’s not either-or. Lead gen builds your brand, and brand-building helps generate leads. They feed into each other.
If you focus only on short-term leads, you risk burning out your sales pipeline. On the flip side, focusing only on brand-building can leave you without immediate sales. The key is balance. Lead-gen campaigns should reinforce your brand, while your brand creates trust that speeds up conversions.
Think of brands like Apple or Nike. They didn’t become household names overnight. Their efforts compounded over time, creating momentum. Smaller businesses see this too—steady, consistent content and engagement create long-term relationships that eventually lead to a tipping point.
When customers see the value in your brand and content long before they’re ready to buy, you’re positioned to win their business when they’re finally ready to pull the trigger.
I often say that marketing is about creating an environment in which sales can happen. This is especially the case with high value B2B engagements where the consideration time is lengthy.
You want customers to think of you first when they’re ready to buy. This is where smart content marketing and relationship-building come in. Every blog post, social media update, or email you send lays a breadcrumb back to your brand. Over time, you’re not just an option—you’re the option. When customers are ready to buy, they don’t need to look elsewhere. They already trust you.
Indifference
One unintended consequence of modern marketing is buyer indifference. With so many brands vying for attention using the same tactics, customers can tune out. They’re bombarded with messages that all feel interchangeable, leading them to become desensitized. You must shift from over-reliance on quick-win tactics and invest in long-term brand-building. When your brand stands for something meaningful, customers are less likely to ignore your message—and more likely to choose you when the time comes to buy.
Convincing the C-suite that marketing is a long-term game isn’t always easy. But the best marketing strategies come from the top down. A founder or CEO who truly understands marketing doesn’t treat it as a side project—it’s a core part of the business strategy.
When you see marketing that way, it becomes a growth engine, aligned with both sales goals and brand building. You may not always see immediate results but trust the process. Every action you take is moving the needle. When it all starts to compound, you hit the tipping point.
Shameless Self Promotion:
"There are only two things in a business that make money–innovation and marketing, everything else is cost." - Peter Drucker
If you are a founder, everything you need to know to lead marketing that works is in one place. https://foundational.thinkific.com/courses/marketing-for-founders.