Successful selling is a result of constant drips

In Julien Smith's blog post, Waterfall he writes that the majesty and sense of wonder in our natural environment is made by erosion; one drop at a time over a long period, instead of one big waterfall. The same really holds true of anything, including sales. The more time and effort you put into it, the greater your successes.

Over the last few months, I've been talking to a client (a marketing agency) about some potential freelance work. The project would entail helping them with their social media strategy.

As a side note, if you've worked for an advertising/marketing agency like me, you'll likely be able to attest to this. They really do a great job at marketing their clients, but an absolutely horrible job at marketing themselves (of course, there are exceptions to the rule).

During some conversations with my client, they mentioned wanting to create one piece of content that can be used as their showcase piece; but as Mr. Smith's post suggests, a "constant drip" is a more sound strategy, instead of one big waterfall. Successful social selling requires a longer-term perspective. I think creating occasional pieces of content here and there is rather short-sighted and will miss the mark (and this has been corroborated by experts many times over).

Instead of focusing so much energy on one "be all, end all" piece of content, for this client to be perceived as a key player, content needs to proliferate. Not that they want to be ubiquitous, but they'll want to be more involved in the process. For example, joining the social conversation around various key areas of focus for them (like Big Data, since they're also a data company) can help with their search strategy (link building). Also, creating relevant, digestible content for their blog can help drive traffic organically to their site. Successful social selling is not a do-one-thing and that's it exercise. It needs to be more fluid and companies need to go along for the whole ride, as this is how it will pay dividends.

I really believe my client has a pretty compelling story to tell. Their suite of services is a solid value proposition for both existing clients and prospects. It will also help to build brand clarity and remove the stigma that they're just a "marketing" company. And unfortunately, the longer they wait, the further behind they'll get.
 
I've noticed that there are more content-specific roles out in the job marketplace. This has been confirmed by some discussions I've had with folks from various companies across different verticals. 

I'm curious to know if anybody else can shed some light around this. Are you hearing the same thing in your dealings with contacts, colleagues or clients? Please do share.